Finding the Money for College

It’s that time of year again… School’s starting.  Which means your tuition is due next week, your books look like they are going to cost about $500, and you can’t find the money to pay for everything.  Don’t worry, you will get by.

I just recently got married.  I was told not to fill out my FAFSA until after the wedding.  Soooo, I filled mine out last week.  I have no scholarships, and I’m waiting on my loan from a separate company to come through.  How am I going to get by?

First things first, Tuition is due the 13th. But don’t freak out, only 25% HAS to be paid by then.  If you think you have any financial aid coming in, go to MyBuffPortal and click on buff adviser.  Click on Log In, then on Students at the bottom.  Now find the button that says “Accept/Reject My Awards.” Accept anything you have.  If you don’t have anything, keep checking.  If you were able to accept a grant or loan.  You will probably be fine for this first payment.  If you didn’t have any rewards to accept (that’s okay, I didn’t get any financial aid my first 2 years) you need to look into getting a loan.  Either through WT or an independent company.  Canyon has a company called OPI which is great for giving loans to students. Their website is http://www.opportunityplan.com.  If your loan isn’t going to be processed in time.  WT has emergency loans which are great for this first payment.  Go to BuffAdvisor and click the Emergency Loan button and then hit submit.  This will get your 25% paid and when aid or a loan comes in, you can pay back your emergency loan and whatever is left on your bill.

DON’T use lack of money as an excuse to drop out.  I have had to take out loans every semester. It’s life.  Once you have your degree, you can work on paying back that loan, and someday you will be making the big bucks. It’s worth it.

Now to see what books you need and how much they will cost, go to buff adviser and click “Schedule and Reserve/Buy Books.” This will give you a list of all the books you need for your classes.  Most books will have a New price and a Used price.  Some you can rent through WT for even cheaper.  Most of the time you DON’T need a brand new book.  As long as its not falling apart, its FINE.  Now, if it’s a workbook, it probably needs to be new.

My advice on buying books is to use CampusBooks.com. Some people will tell you to use Chegg.com.  And I’ve used them before, they are GREAT! But CampusBooks takes prices from Chegg, Amazon, Ebay, etc. and compares them for you so you can see the honest lowest price.  It’s saved me thousands of dollars already.  My books last semester were supposed to cost aroun $700, I paid about $200.  This IS the way to go (:

I hoped this has helped you.  Don’t stress out too much about finances.  If there’s a will, there’s a way.

Now, AFTER you have everything paid for, work on your grades! Good grades means more scholarships, which means less worry for money!!!

Keep Looking Forward

Sometimes life becomes overwhelming. 

Some days are overly stressful.

At this time of year things seem even worse than normal with finals just around the corner. Summer is looming on the horizon, just within our reach, but we are not quite there. Stress doesn’t just come from finals though, some days stress just hits you hard for no reason at all. Of a sudden you realize that you will be graduating in less than a year and will have to start looking for graduate schools, or that you have to choose between a summer internship and graduating early, or maybe have to worry about transferring to a different university, or even that you will have to start looking for a job in your field before you graduate, or maybe you are trying to get in all of your requirements to graduate as an honors student.

Whew.

I’m not dealing with all of the above, and I pity anyone who would be, but these are a few examples of things that I and my friends are dealing with at this time. At the start of college I was more relaxed because graduation was felt like it was still a long way off. All of a sudden though life can hit you hard when you realize and you are going to have to make real life choices right now.

It is not all that bad though. It can be very overwhelming at first, but then turn into a great joy as you are able to finish college, or have a well-paying job in what you love, or even enjoying that summer internship in a new city.  College can be fun, but try not to forget that your future still requires a lot of choices.

Pedicures and Plant Science

College can be rough at times.

There is always a steady stream of homework, books to read, projects to complete, group projects where you have to refrain from killing your partner(s), 12 page research papers to write, events to attend (debates, guest lectures, plays, etc…), organizations to take part in… The list goes on and on.

While working 19.5 hours a week and taking 18 hours this semester, I’m beginning to feel myself being spread thin. For instance, the last two weeks in my Intro to Mass Comm class, I have finished my chapter reflections but for some odd reason, I forget to turn them in. However, Mr. Larry Lemmons has been gracious enough to allow me to turn them in. God bless the man.

Despite all of the stress, God has been looking out for me. The last two weeks have been relatively calmer and more relaxing.

Wednesday is the only day I don’t work. So yesterday, I loaded up my Plant Science notes and headed off the nail salon to get a pedicure.

After I picked out my colors (green with yellow zebra print and sparkles… John Deere colors), I went and sat in the pedicure chair. The back massager was turned on while I was sipping on my Dr. Pepper and studying my Plant Science lecture notes that I had a test over this morning. I was looking of different types of tillage and rereading over soil profiles while I was having my feet massaged and worked on. I left with sparkly green and yellow zebra print toes and my feet and calves feeling tingly.

Whether its taking a nap, riding your bike to the park, having a Lord of the Rings marathon, or getting a pedicure while you study for Plant Science, we all need to have those times where we can wind down, relax, and take a break from our busy schedules.

Don’t forget that God won’t give you more than you can handle:

Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

STRESS!

These last few weeks of school are very stressful. A lot of students can probably tell you it feels a lot like this:

but it’s okay! We all just have to get through these next few weeks and SUMMER will be here!

For you upcoming freshmen, this is an exciting summer because you’re mostly all ready for the school year to be here. And WT is very excited for you to come! So hopefully everyone gets through finals (even you high school students). Because i guarantee after this guy fell on the treadmill, he got right back up (maybe not immediately because that probably hurt), but he got up alright! I hope everyone finishes their semester good!

everyone knows i’m in over my head…

Wow…only three more class days.  This is a bittersweet time of the semester.  Yeah…we’re done with classes.  {thank goodness} However, it is crunch time to finish all the papers, assignments, and to study for the finals that are quickly approaching.      My advice,  don’t stress too much.  Sure, it’s hard not to when it seems you are quickly getting buried in schoolwork.  Just keep in mind that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that these last few assignments and test will not make or break your grade; there have been other assignments and test all year that will be calculated into your final grade.  So really, though it may be a stressful time, it’s not as bad as it seems.   ….OK, now that I have psyched myself for this week, I hope you have a great one and try to listen to my advice.  Don’t get too caught up in it all.  It’s almost over! -wes p.s. – Notice the maroon wall?  I have recently moved into new digs.  Student Affairs and the Student Government offices have moved into a pretty rockin’ new suite.  I lost a window, but I gained a maroon wall.