dollbabyamy

With ups must come downs, I suppose. I hate that part of life, but it's a part of life we all must deal with nonetheless.

Take, for instance, all the good things I had going for me in my last journal. Even the counterbalancing "bads" weren't really that bad...just more annoyances, really.

And then, my school decides to ruin everything. First, I'll tell you the monstrously good "good": I sucked at my interviews on Monday. Yea, I was all psyched about the jobs, but completely bombed the interviews. Why is this good, you're all assuredly asking? Because, during that afternoon's "I really suck so I'm going to lay in bed" nap, Target called news. Good news. I start my Loss Prevention job there on Sept. 12th. At least $10 an hour. At a Target only 20 minutes from home. Much MUCH better, and more rewarding than the $7.00 an hour management position at Big Dog Sportswear I interviewed for that morning. The Target District Manager still assures me a very lucrative future with the company (read: management position paying $65000-$75000 a year when I graduate). This is good news. Right?

So where does the bad come in? My school hasn't sent me a tuition bill for this semester. I emailed the staff, who tell me that tuition was due Aug. 12, and I now have $300 in late fees. Okay...not particularly fair to stick me with late fees when they admittedly haven't sent me a bill...but it gets worse. Apparently, someone somewhere in the dark recesses of the financial aid department/business department just "forgot" to award my federal Pell Grant and Stafford Loan, and now Cumberland would like me to pay them $7000 to go to school this semester. I don't have $7000. I have $3500, which is what I've paid every year since they took away my scholarship (which, is ANOTHER issue yet to be resolved...another error on their part). So, this is my dilemna. If they don't fix this issue, I can only take 2 classes (what my money will afford). If I only take 2 classes this semester, I will be 4 classes short of graduating in May. If I don't graduate this May, I will not be able to receive my diploma until the NEXT May, even though I will have finished with school in December. (CU doesn't do December graduations, only May.)

This, my friends, messes up a multitude of future plans. For one, Target is opening a store about 10 minutes from home. It's slated to open in June of 2006. One must have a degree to have the opportunity to take the aforementioned managerial position. That was going to be ME, coming in with MY degree, in said position. If I don't have my diploma in May, I WILL BE PASSED UP FOR THE JOB. No ifs, ands, or buts, unless corporate changes their entire procedure. Secondly, JP and I had planned to get engaged soon after I graduate and be married by the winter of 2007. If I don't graduate until SPRING of 2007, we won't be married for ANOTHER year. (Don't bother suggesting we just go on and get married, we've both got our reasons for wanting me out of school first.) Thirdly, it's going to mean EVEN MORE student loans. *sigh*

My biggest problem is money. All of problems, even down to the most insignificant, revolve around it. I hate it.

Since I can't ask any of you for an extra $7000 to go to school with this semester...just leave me something to cheer me up. Please?