I'm jealous of college kids who don't have to work...

[insertnamehere]

Who have parents that are like "oh you need to focus on school so here's lots and lots of money so you don't have to work." It seems college kids who don't have jobs also have money to go out and have a good time, so I'm guessing the parents pay for that too.

My mom says stuff like college is my job and she doesn't want me to work if it will interfere with my school and that she'll pay for things, but then when it comes time to pay for something she's like "you need HOW much? and by NEXT WEEK? I DON'T HAVE THAT." I even let her know as far ahead of time as possible how much various college expenses will cost. It's one thing if she doesn't have the money and says so, but you shouldn't promise someone something like that and then the day the money is due, when it's too late for you to do anything else about it, call and be like "Oh by the way, I can't give you that money I told you I would and that you were counting on and that you could have gotten some other way had I told you in the first place I couldn't" and leave me fucked over...

Anyway, I'm taking summer classes right now and working two jobs and it makes me sad that most of my peers don't have to worry about stuff like that and don't have to have shitty part time jobs that take up all their time. Most of the people I know don't work, or work very little, and it feels like that's all I do.

[abcdefz]

That's what's great about knowing your parents don't give a flying fuck about you right up front. (y)

[marsdaddy]

Life isn't always fair -- rich people have it easier than most.

[insertnamehere]

Well my dad gives a fuck about me, he just doesn't have any money. My mom, well she's kind of retarded and I'm not sure how much she cares about my well being.

The newest development was to get a parking pass for this fall/spring. I feel kind of like a whiney brat for throwing a fit about that I can't have a car at school, but I neeeeeed it. For one, I'd lose my jobs, and it would be much harder to find decent work if I'm limited to walking distance of my dorm. For two, I can't stand my college campus, and I need to be able to leave sometimes to not go crazy. For three... grocery shopping without a car. This involves waiting about 30 mins for a bus, getting to the store, shopping, then depending on how long your shopping takes and how lucky you are, you could either come out and get to the bus stop right before the bus, or you could have an hour to wait. Then you have about a 1/2 mile walk from the bus stop to your dorm with all your groceries. It makes buying heavy things like juice and milk suck and be difficult. Having a car just makes life in general better.

Our parking passes are like, you fill out an application, and they have occasional selecting of people every once in awhile, and if you're selected, you have the chance to buy a parking pass, and if you don't pay by your deadline, you lose your chance. After I missed the first go-round I reapplied and have another chance, but I still have to figure out how to pay for it. The parking pass is just shy of $300 for the year, and I still owe over $600 for my dorm room for the second summer session. All of this by the end of the month. And my mom says "she'll see what she can do" but I'm working as much as I possibly can. I have class in the morning, then go straight from class to my first job as a delivery driver during lunch time, then I have about 40 mins to shower, change, and eat before I have to be at the second job being a cashier at dinner time, then I get off around 8:30 and don't feel like doing anything.

I didn't have to go to job #1 today, and I skipped class to sleep this morning, so it's been a pleasant day. But now I'll have to catch up on the stuff I missed in class. Summer sessions are 4.5 weeks each, and they cram a semester's worth of chapters into that, so missing one hour and a half class is a big deal.

[abcdefz]

Uh, you need a bike.

[marsdaddy]

That's the other lesson: perfection is unavailble, but how about a twirl with it's not as bad as it seems?

[QueenAdrock]

I worked 20 hours a week to help defray my college expenses...anything I didn't cover out of my own pocket, I took out in loans. I also had to live at home and commute an hour away to campus, because I couldn't afford to live anywhere else. Honestly, I can't say I was jealous of my friends, because I value hard work and determination over getting piss ass drunk every night and hooking up with some slutty random person...especially when it's on someone else's dime. That's never appealed to me. Plus, I learned responsibility and it wasn't a shock to my system when I graduated and got my full-time job. You should have heard my friends once they joined the working world. One of the funniest things was when they said "Man, I hate living in the real world." I've been there for quite some time now.

But like I said, I don't mind it. I think I matured a lot from working and going to school, it taught me a lot of valuable things about budgeting and balancing my social life adequately and not overdoing myself. A lot of my friends are still trying to figure out how to do that now.

[abcdefz]

I value hard work and determination over getting piss ass drunk every night and hooking up with some slutty random person...especially when it's on someone else's dime.







HERESY

[QueenAdrock]

Yeah I know. I'm a rare one for my generation. 80% of the time, I like staying in and watching a movie or going out to dinner or something relatively low-key. The other 20%, I like getting drunk and partying. So I'm not a total square, I just get bored of it if it's more than once or twice a month. It gets old fast.

*avoids tomatoes*

[marsdaddy]

...it taught me a lot of valuable things about budgeting and balancing my social life adequately and not overdoing myself.I seriously think that's great. But, it's also rationalizing. Does one have to suffer to mature and appreciate values?

[abcdefz]

To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness.

I hope you're getting this down.

[insertnamehere]

I know the car thing isn't that big of a deal. I mean, I'd hate life, but I could live.

The $600-something for the dorm is a bigger deal, cause if I don't pay that by the end of the month I won't get my grades for summer and won't be allowed to register for fall, and also I need the summer grades to pull my GPA up to get off academic suspension anyway.

The worst was second summer session last summer. I was taking two classes (which is the most they will let you take since the classes are so much harder over summer). One of them was a lit class that required reading two novels over 700 pages each as well as, I would say an average of two short stories a night, including weekends, and writing two papers. So I had that and an econ class, and just being in class ate up 3hrs of my day every day. Then I was working about 35hrs/week and still had all the schoolwork stuff to do. The week of midterms, I somehow didn't have any money, I don't remember how with all that working I didn't have any money, but I was using my jar of change to buy nabs from the vending machine, and I was eating a pack or two a day of nabs and not sleeping nearly enough cause of working on midterm stuff and a paper and took very few showers because, when given the choice between a shower and 15 extra mins of sleep, I almost always chose sleep. That week was the worst, but all of last summer was especially rough, and I've been working a lot of hours at a job or two continuously since then.

I don't have any balance, and 3 years of this is driving me crazy. I am WAAAAAY too stressed out. I get furious with most of the customers at one of my jobs. I mean like, old ladies and shit, I want to scream at them and/or punch them in the throat because they take too long to decide what they want. I need a break. If not a full on vacation of some kind, at least a lightening of the work load.

[marsdaddy]

I hope you're getting this down.I'm thinking of getting it tatooed!

[QueenAdrock]

I don't think I suffered. I had lots of fun in college, it was a great time. I think it depends on the person too, though. I never had an overwhelming desire to drink and party all the time, so I never felt like I missed out if I didn't go to every party they had. Saying "no" to things because I had to work or do papers (that I didn't have time to do earlier since I was at work) was never really a big deal for me, but I could see it depressing the hell out of people who really wanted to go along and just couldn't.

[milleson]

They have loans for this kind of thing. Go talk to financial aid people.

Just be glad you're not raising a family during all of this.

[marsdaddy]

I never had an overwhelming desire to drink and party all the time, so I never felt like I missed out if I didn't go to every party they had.Why is the trade off to work or drink and party all the time? Why not trade off work with reading Shakespeare?

[insertnamehere]

Er, I can't quote it, since it's a fake quote in a quote, but A-Z, it's not an issue of that I want to party and such. I don't. I wouldn't even if I had time/money. I think going to clubs, frat parties, etc is retarded and I refuse to participate in either. I've never been to a club or a party, but I'm sure I would enjoy neither. I just want some down time, be able to hang out, and be able to eat out occasionally without feeling horrible the whole time that I'm spending money. And mostly, I want to not have to worry constantly about having enough money and figuring out how to make things work.

[QueenAdrock]

If not a full on vacation of some kind, at least a lightening of the work load.

Is it a possibility to find a new job? Office environments usually work well with college. It depends what you do, but if you are a receptionist for a relatively small doctor's office, you can study and get work done during the down times. And it usually pays better than retail. Something to think about, at least.

[abcdefz]

Er, I can't quote it, since it's a fake quote in a quote, but A-Z, it's not an issue of that I want to party and such. I don't.


...you're addressing me, but I didn't bring this up. My response to Queen wasn't supposed to reflect on you so much as the average American college kid mentality. I don't really know you well enough to slander you to your face. :D

[insertnamehere]

They have loans for this kind of thing. Go talk to financial aid people.

Just be glad you're not raising a family during all of this.

I'm getting some loans, but they are for tuition and don't cover everything. You still have books, housing, and general living expenses to take care of. Right now I can't get ANY financial aid because I'm not "in good academic standing" but that should change when I finish my current summer class. After my summer grades post, I have to go to the financial aid office, get them to redo my aid stuff since I will then be in good academic standing, and get a figure out how much aid I will get. After that, I can register for classes, but because I am registering for classes late, my school's policy will require me to pay my entire fall balance the same day I register. So I register, take my paperwork showing how much aid I will get to the cashiers office, and hope to god that I have enough money to pay the remaining balance. I have about a week and a half between getting my summer grade and fall classes starting, so not a lot of time to get shit organized. This worries me greatly.

[b i o n i c]

it really is unfair and you can't think of it as anything but that. ya can't do anything about it. the best way to get something out of your disadvantage is to try to work places that will reward you with more than just money. in the end you might've learned things or made connections that the well-to-do kids miss while they party and sleep

[QueenAdrock]

Why is the trade off to work or drink and party all the time? Why not trade off work with reading Shakespeare?

I'm fine with reading Shakespeare or something else like that. But none of my friends invited me out for readings in the park or anything like that. I was just invited to parties I couldn't attend, so it was a-okay by me.

[QueenAdrock]

And mostly, I want to not have to worry constantly about having enough money and figuring out how to make things work.

I can definitely understand that. It reaaaally sucks trying to figure out whether or not you'll have enough cash. Have you ever thought of private loans? The interest rates suck, but if you qualify it can help alleviate some of the pressure you're feeling and you can worry about paying stuff off later.

[insertnamehere]

I've looked in to office jobs and on campus research things that pay crazy money, but they, especially the on campus jobs, are really really hard to get. Mix that with the fact that I don't have any skills or experience that translate to an office environment, and I really don't have a chance. Plus I'd probably have to have some time of no work (and no pay) while between jobs. And there's the added expense of buying work clothes if I work somewhere that doesn't require me to wear the same t-shirt and baseball cap every day. I don't any ANY clothes that would be acceptable to wear in an office environment, or even to a job interview at anything more than a fast food type job.

Eh, I have to go to work now.

[Frank Black]

i am gulping.

[Caribou]

Most of my friends and a gabillion other students get everything paid for them. Schoolmoney, books, rent, groceries etc.
In Holland every student under the age of 30 gets a certain amount of money every month, just because they're going to school. It's about 270 euros if you live on your own. So all these kids don't have to pay a thing and just get 270 euros to spend on whatever they like!

My parents could help me financially, but they won't. I'm 22 now and if I really want to go to school I'll have to work for it myself. Which is what I'm doing. I've been saving money for over a year and have about enough to pay for my schoolmoney and books.
Then I get the 270 euros, but thats not even enough for my rent, so I'll have to keep working too. Luckily I can stay in the same job and get paid very reasonably (because every year you work there you get paid more, and I've worked there for 3 years already) and get my food very very cheap.
I don't know how I'm going to combine my study and my work yet. I don't know how many hours I can work so my studying won't suffer. Maybe I'll just work evenings or weekends.
And if I'm really in deep trouble, I'm sure my parents will help me, but I just want to be able to do this on my own. I want independance, even it's gonna be hard work.