Scholarships, Grants, and the Dreaded Student Loans

It's February.  Worse than that, it's the END of February.   This is the month of the year that all lower income college students are either frantically trying to secure funding for the next year of school or equally frantically networking thier college butts off trying to secure a work that vaugely resembles something in thier field.  Me? I'm in that first group of students for now.  I start networking and studying for the GRE in the fall semester next school-year in preparation for graduation in May of 2016.  

Today I am finishing up round two of scholarship applications.  I've finished the departmental applications and been approved for grants and loans for the 2015-2016 school year.  All I have left to do is write a few short essays for the general scholarships.  Most of these are due Sunday, but one is due tomorrow.  The one that is due tomorrow I need for classes I have to take this summer to stay on track for my projected graduation date.  I didn't know that I needed it until today.  I don't usually take classes in the summertime and summer funding is all wonky.  It falls into the funding year and enrollment period directly preceeding it (2014-15 in this case) but doesn't get automatically funded like regular semesters.  Because of this, unless you know that you are going to take summer classes when you accept your funding at the beginning of fall the year before and set back enough to fund the summer, you will find yourself without funding when that summer comes. I find myself in this unfortunate position. 

It's okay though... sorta.  I can get the application in for the one available summer scholarship by tomorrow (complete with a letter of recommendation).  After that, I may or may not be able to secure a cosigner for an institutional loan from the University that basically behaves like any other student loan.  And if all else fails, I can let my summer tuition and fees slide until the very last minute and pay it with my fall funding which may put me in a tight spot for a few months, but lets face it: I'm always in a tight spot.  If I let it slide, I'll have another interesting problem.  I'll have to get a job.  This will be fine for May and June, but I have a heavy schedule in July that may be pretty demanding.  Up to this point I've been able to work when I'm not schooling and school when I'm not working, but I haven't had to do both.  I can do it, but grandma may have to have a little visitor for the summer. I learned several years ago that trying to work, mom AND school simply doesn't jive.  Parenting is a full time job, even if school and work are both part time there isn't enough time.  

This is very stressful, as you may be able to imagine.  I have assignments to get done, research to do, quizzes and tests for which to study.  These are the things that all students have to deal with.  I, however, add another level to all of this by also having the privelege of being a mother... of the single variety.  So to this can also be added middle school functions, regular meals, help with homework, and bedtimes. I keep telling myself that other women have done this.  Women in my family have done this. I

have been doing this for nearly 4 solid years. I'm not going to stop now when I'm so close to done.  I'm not going to be $65,000 in debt for absolutely nothing.  I want my fancy scraps of paper, damnit!