6 Days Left...

Thank you Mom and Papa (and my grandparents!) for paying for my education in the past. I cannot express how blessed I feel that you wanted to take care of that for me and provide that for me.

And I have discovered something: the student loans are such a headache! There is so much paperwork to take care of and things that I am told I must do in order to receive the loan. I don't like the feeling that the school is waiting until the last minute to finalize everything. I start classes on Monday, and I still have not found out when the loan money will be disbursed for my tuition. Only last Monday I was sent an email (everything is done online nowadays) to complete my Master Promisory Note saying that I promise to repay the loan. Is this the norm? Is everything taken care of right before the semester starts? I would rather have had this done by July 1 to make sure everything was taken care of long before class starts.

I suppose I should have expected the paperwork and the red tape. Education is a large expense, right up there with houses and cars. It's going to probably be the second or third-largest investment you make in your entire life (depending of course on what schools you choose and how high of a degree you go for). The only difference between school and your house or car is that your education can never be taken away. Whatever you get out of class, whatever you take away from your program, that is yours forever. Unless you don't attend class at all and fail out your first term, you will come away with something. You will have more than you started with. No other investment will give you that guarantee. How incredible.

Farmor, once again I hear you telling me "Education is something that no one will ever be able to take from you." I thought I understood you when you told me this over 10 years ago, but I didn't have the context of adulthood through which to view it. I think going through the recession for the past couple of years makes this even more poignant. Your house can foreclose, you can lose your job, and you can be thousands of dollars in debt (as so many people right now have gone through), but the collection agency will never be able to take back what you have learned. Even when you have nothing material, you will always have your education.

Starting Monday, I'm investing in education.