Scholarships Rock!

I just checked my student e-mail account tonight and, low and behold, I found out that I am receiving a scholarship for fall and spring!! Yay, me! It will cover six hours of tuition which only equates to about $750, but $750 will buy a lot of gasoline or groceries, my friends (well, not a lot but it beats nothing!).

Actually, after two seconds of silent celebration I busted out the calculator. As I've already mentioned, I plan on going to summer school so I can graduate in December. Since my summer school classes start next week (and it's not too late to withdraw for a full refund at this point), I decided I'd better do some quick calculations. The calculator still says it is a better financial move for me to graduate at mid-term, so the plans roll on....

Applying for scholarships has been hard for me since I went back to school as an adult. I generally feel like a) they are intended for teenagers or b) I don't stand a chance or c) I just can't write a bunch of bull glorifying myself like I was able to as a high school senior.

Earlier this spring, I picked up an application for my department's scholarship because one of my professors kept harping on it. I thought, "What the heck...it's worth a shot." But after I got past all the formalities (name, address, blah...blah...blah...), they started in with questions like "Why are you valuable to our department?" Well....I'm not. I guess I could be considered valuable because I make good grades, give good reviews for my professors and pay my tuition bill, but other than that... I ended up wadding it up and throwing it away. I just couldn't make myself write some phony baloney, even if it was for free money.

Later, my professor mentioned how they have, in years past, had money laying around because there weren't enough applicants and how, many times, all the applicants end up getting a scholarship. A girl in my class confirmed it by telling me she had gotten $500 per semester. Hello??? This is information I would have liked to have known before I threw my application away! When I asked the girl how she was valuable to the department, she said she made up something about how she always sings the praises of the department to other people. Niiiice. Why couldn't I have thought of that?

Lesson learned: it never hurts to apply for scholarships. If it does make you sick at your stomach to write sugar-coated nuggets of praise about yourself, just keep a trash can or toilet nearby as you write. It's free money!! F-R-E-E M-O-N-E-Y!!

Good News For My Degree

Yahoo just featured this article about lucrative work-from-home jobs. The good news is that two of the five are areas covered by my degree and one is closely related. Public Relations was listed as #1 which is a big part of Mass Communication. In fact, I will be taking a PR class this fall and I'm looking forward to it. The other is freelance writing. Both of these jobs can be done from home thanks to the internet and cell phone techonology.

A similar field is graphic design--some of which I already do as a photographer and in desktop publishing at school. I actually planned on minoring in graphic design, but took the easy way out instead, relying on credits I had previously earned in English studies to graduate more quickly.

This is a very encouraging article for me because I have been desperately racking my brain, wondering how I can incorporate my soon-to-be-earned degree and my interests with a job when I live in the middle of nowhere.

It's good to know that there are viable options out there. However, I know for a fact that it takes a lot of work to be a freelancer. Jobs don't come to you--you have to bust your behind to find them and then win them (just b/c you have a great article idea doesn't mean the magazine wants it). This is one of the reasons that I'm not sure freelancing is for me. When I was younger, I loved jobs that were different everyday, but the older I get, I like stability and knowing what to expect so I can plan the rest of my life accordingly. I will continue to look into these areas and see if they are right for me.

High School Flashback

I decided to swing by the university's website so that I could see my name in black and white on the President's Honor Roll list (you know, just in case I was delusional or something). At first I panicked because my name wasn't listed with the other students from our town (maybe I was delusional!), but as I scrolled through the list, I finally located it (whew! I'm not delusional after all). It was listed under the town where I graduated from high school....the town that I have only visited once in the past 10 years! That's so random. I guess it's the only way to keep up with people since addresses change so frequently.

I wonder if they sent a press release to my high school hometown newspaper. I'm sure the readers of the weekly newspaper would be wondering, "Who in the world is that?"

Drum-roll, please.....

Grades are in and it's official: I'm a straight-A student this semester!! Wahoo!!!

Is that a valid excuse for an ice cream celebration?

Bizarro World

Have you ever seen the Seinfeld where Elaine makes new friends who are complete opposites but look-alikes of George , Kramer & Jerry? She even hangs out with them at a different coffee shop; one Jerry terms "Bizarro Monk's." It's like she's living in Bizarro World.

I feel like I'm in Bizarro World these days. I don't know what happened, but suddenly life is a thousand times busier than when I was in school! Maybe it's my kids end-of-the-school-year activities or the start of softball season. Maybe it's the increase in business due to the (finally) nice weather. Maybe it's the realization of all that I've left undone over the past few months. Either way, I'm stressed. Big time.

When is that long-awaited sit-around-and-do-nothing day going to arrive? Hurry up, already! I'm on a tight schedule!

Done And Done.

Complete 12 hours on-campus for spring semester. Check!

Complete 3 hours online through another college during the spring. Check!

Almost...But Not Quite

I woke up this morning with fresh determination to be a bum and enjoy my first day of summer vacation....and then I remembered that my online class is not finished! So, I'm compromising: I'm still in my pj's, bumming in my bed, but my laptop is on and I'm writing my final paper for the online class. Hopefully, I'll be able to get on with the business of doing absolutely nothing very soon!