This morning was such a rush. I spent about an hour on hold with various institutes for unnecessary reasons, all because I was stressed about the fast approaching month of September.
This September marks my final “first” day of school! I’ll be entering my fourth and final year of University and I couldn’t be more excited/nervous/worried. I’m always like this during the few months leading to September. There’s just so much to do and think about.
Firstly, you need to choose your classes for the entire year. The date on which you can choose your classes is dependent on how many credits you have. Naturally, since I am a transfer student, not all of my credits for first year went through as smoothly as I would have liked so I’m always a .5 credit behind everyone else from my year. That means I need to wait 4 extra days to choose my classes whilst everyone else in my year gets first dibs on whatever class they want. Is that not a stressful situation?!? Regardless, once I did get a chance to choose, none of my required classes were full. Which is a good thing. To top it all off, I even managed to squeeze in my required Geography classes to apply for a minor in Geography, as well as an Introduction to Spanish class which will act as an elective credit. The French classes that I’ll be taking look quite hefty and intensive, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.
Secondly, you need to secure your funding. I apply for student loans each year, and since I am a low-income, independent student, I usually qualify for some good grants as well as a not so scary loan. In all, my total loan amount should be below 25,000$. So, as I always do around this time of year, I went to apply for student loans this morning. For the life of me, I just couldn’t figure out how to add a study period for 2018-2019. This resulted in my first waiting period on the phone. As I was waiting though, I figured out my problem and continued. Then, just as last year’s application, I was asked to provide information about my 2017 tax return. I should have been more prepared, but obviously I’m not a full fledged adult yet, so clearly I did not have that information handy. After about a dozen password and username resets on various accounts, including the CRA, I was out of luck and couldn’t find the information that is absolutely necessary to fill in the application. Devastated, I wondered why I hadn’t remembered that they needed this info. Cue the second unnecessary waiting period on the phone. How could I have forgotten about that info, they asked for it last time too. Little old me then remembered that I actually saved an e-copy of my tax return file on my laptop! GO ME! Definitely gained some Adulting Exp. for that one. I hung up the phone which was still on hold after 30 minutes, found my info and filled and submitted my application! I was so relieved when it said that everything went through successfully.
It’s just so frustrating, because the whole time I can’t stop thinking that I’m making a mistake, or that maybe I’m on the wrong website, or maybe I’ve missed a due date! It’s just a worry storm that rages on for a couple hours until everything is finalized. That funding is so important to me, because it allows me to actually live without being too dependent on work. My job is great and they give me all the hours I need, it’s just that I can’t overwork myself. I need to focus on my studies.
Just last year, during my first semester, I was a full-time student working 30 hours a week. I managed to maintain my A average, but holy Hannah that was hard. The next semester I made the executive decision to work a little less at 25 hours a week. I’m hoping to continue that type of schedule for this year too, because I’m always the type of person who bites off way more than they can chew. If I start my semester at a good strong pace, I should be able to finish at the same pace as well.
I’m excited for September to start, since I find that the school year makes time fly by! I’m just so busy with work and school that weeks turn to months and suddenly I’m in the next semester with just weeks to go! This one will be especially special though, since I’m graduating! My mom’s already been on my butt asking about when the graduation is. Meanwhile I’m here and I haven’t even chosen my classes yet.
But here we are with a finished student loan application and enrolled in all required classes. As Shakespeare once wrote : All’s well that ends well.
I'm only being me! 