Searching for Life advice from the Mature Man

[Zaraza]

Hello to all Mature Men,

I have reached a fork in the road and need advice. Right now I am in college with an estimated cost for education around 24k. I make 12.50 an hour and am also trying to get scholarships. My grades are suffering because of work and lack of time to dedicate to school. When you attended school what did you do? what were your options? Right now i am considering dropping my job, taking out a lot of loans and just staying at school reading books until my grades come back up. There are positives and negatives to my option. If i drop my job i will lost my income that i use to pay for gas, food, books, some school, and going out. My place to live is covered by my mother. She is able to afford the house where we live but nothign more. Meaning that when i take loans i will be living on the loans. I will have no money for a social life and will be living at home until i graduate with my degree. I am thinking about dropping my job and taking classes during the summer. I will use my loans to pay for my gym (i want to work out again). I dont know what my issue is. I believe it is just hard for me to give up something i have stuck with for so long. I think i am scared that if i drop work take school then i wont have "fun".

i would appreciate your inputs.

 

[Phyzzle]

Lots of people have about 24k in loans. If you are studying something in demand (engineering? med tech?) you can probably afford to go without a job. Can you cut your hours in half?

 

[Zaraza]

I work at the bank and work around 20-30 hours a week. Cant go below 20. I just feel mentally dead after work. I am studying nursing, which is in high demand. I already cut in half but that wasnt enogh.

 

[potato]

When I went to college, I had a scholarship that paid for my tuition, books, fees, and the like but nothing for housing, food, and transportation. Thus I had to get a job to cover my living expenses. I’m somewhat opposed to loans and never considered one.

In order to balance everything out, I took a job working from 20 to 30 hours a week that paid double of what most part time jobs pay, and a very lenient boss who was quite accommodating. I also cut back on my class load which required me to take a class each summer and attend for an additional semester. Half way through I started sharing an apartment with two girls, one of who was my girlfriend. That made things easier on me. It all worked out as I did finish with a perfect 4.0 gpa.

A classmate of mine didn’t pay off his student loans until he was in his mid thirties.

 

[Bible_Belt]

At least with healthcare you can get a job. A gf of mine makes $60K/yr with a 2-year degree, something about x-rays.

 

[Zaraza]

that is my thinking, i am now considering it very strongly. I mean, in order to get into the nursing program i need to have the highest grades possible, but having a job in the mean time ****s me over. I love what i do right now, but in no way is it my future career. If i take loans and live on them and then focus on school, i will have my degree by 22 or 23 (im 19 now). Somethign about this makes me feel powerless instead of motivated. I dont think paying back loans will become a problem, I would probably live with my mother (as she is the only relative i have here) for a year after school in order to get established and then move out.

 

[Bible_Belt]

If i take loans and live on them and then focus on school, i will have my degree by 22 or 23 (im 19 now).


Yeah, 23 is old...lol

Work hard, have patience. Achievement will come.

 

[joekerr31]

i worked 30+ hours a week while going full time to university. looking back on it im not sure how i did it (oh to be 20 again and have that kind of energy).

i'd have to know the details of the loans to give proper advice. here in canada you can get loans that do not charge you any interest until one year after you graduate. if thats how loans where you live work then my advice would be...

1) find a job where you can work 10-15 hours a week
2) supplement the money you lose from working less with the loans
3) work full time every summer and save every penny.

there you go, easy solution, a mix of everything.

i think paying for your university as much as you can is a good thing. with the economy today it can be hard to find a job right out of school, and even if you do it often won't pay that much to start - so the lighter your debt the easier it will be to survive the first 5 years of your career when you aren't making the big bucks.

i saw a lot of kids take loans and not work, and for some reason they didn't taking their schooling as seriously as the ones who were working to pay their way.

the higher education system is bullsh*t - so many kids are going to school tired cuz they are working full time. i mean, they are there to get an education that will shape the rest of their lives and they can't focus on it because they are falling asleep.

but what can you do, that's life.

 

[Zaraza]

hey joekerr,

thank you, The type of loan I will be getting is the one that gives me 6 months after i graduate before they start charging me. I am looking to find scholarships right now to offset the amount of loans i will be taking on my self. Working during the summer..... If i follow through with dropping my job and focussing on school, i will take summer classes throughout summer just to complete it faster (dont want to lose momentum in studies).

Btw, congratulations on finding a new job and getting your life back on track. Your hardships and successes are very inspiring and after reading the thread where you were feeling down, I was left a little more motivated to try new things. Sitting in one place @ one job doesnt feel like my future career. Banking is nice, but its not my career, i figured that if i come up against some trouble w/ money i can always go back to banking.