School Update

I finished my first semester!!!!

All of my classes were difficult, as was the learning curve. In 4 out of 5 classes, I started with a C or lower. It took a lot of dedication and hard work, but I finished with 4 As and a B. I'm happy with that.

While I have enjoyed classes and they have kept me busy, I was ready for a break from the books.

This 12 days off have given me time to consider and pray and plan for my remaining degree specific courses.

As I mentioned before, the idea of graduating over 20k in debt weighed heavy on me. With cramming all my hours into 16 months, I was looking at not being able to pay much out of pocket and relying on federal loans. Not ideal, but it got me some the fastest.

Also, as mentioned before, I don't plan to use the degree for a paid position. So, that meant I was adding debt with no additional income. My payback would have started about Christmas time of 2016. My loan payments would be nearly $400 per month.

Ok, who has that kind of money without a job? Not me!!!!

That led me to seriously consider slowing down.

Remember, God will give me everything I need to accomplish his will.

I have to admit something. The past five months have been miserable for me. Sure, school kept me busy. But it also tied me to a chair about 10 hours per day.

By half way through, I found my depression and anxiety increasing daily. I didn't have time to do anything I enjoyed and I get more and more trapped.

Moving here has brought more stability. However, I feel like I have to protective that or I can lose it. A major depressive or anxious episode could set me back. If you know my full story, you know the chaos that could come with that.

Keeping in mind that I do have a stress disorder and 15 hours per semester proved to be highly stressful, I definitely had to reconsider the class load.

Another problem is that the class load prevented me from serving people. That's what this whole thing is about. I want to serve people better. But I also don't want to give up serving to meet the goal.

It's a mixed bag, but I've (we've) decided to slow down. I'm only going to take the number of classes we can afford. It will delay the goal, but not prevent it. My classes are locked in and I know exactly what I need to graduate.

Hopefully, I can find scholarships so that I can add classes each semester. This semester, I'll be taking one bible class in the second half of summer. We will see what the fall brings. Until then, I'm going to enjoy some time get back into a routine that doesn't keep me on the couch all day.