A Little Dose of Reality

I will be starting my Masters of Library and Information Sciences this fall. Orientation is only two and a half weeks away. I'm so excited to be pursuing this and getting more formal education, but it still hasn't quite hit me that it's real. I had the same problem when I was moving here, when I was going to my London Study Abroad, etc. I plan for it, I save for it, but it still takes a while to sink in. Even at this point, it's sometimes hard to believe that it's happened.

I just spent the last couple of hours working on my FAFSA (since I can't afford to live in the DC metro area AND go to grad school), and I'm feeling really good about this whole thing. It's just a little more real. I'm looking forward to finding out how much I can take out, what other things I can pay off/consolidate, and possibly get just a little more on top of my financial situation.

Of course, I'm not a huge fan of being in debt all. But, there are certain things that's it is perfectly acceptable to go into debt for. Higher education is one of them. I'm going to be so grateful to have an MLIS, so that I'm more marketable for other jobs should I ever decide to leave the one I have. I very much look forward to the time when I can start a family and, hopefully, be a stay at home mom. For now, however, I'm going to go back to school and learn some really great things. Aside from my classwork, I'll learn discipline, as my program is all online, and I'll get better at time management. Later, I hope to instill in my children a love for education.

I'm so grateful that I live in a world where I have this choice and these opportunities. Instead being destined for ridicule as a spinster at the tender age of 23, I can go out and make something of myself in a totally different way. My time for marriage and family will come, but that isn't yet, and I'm totally okay with that. Some of you may know that my plan at one point was to be celebrating my second wedding anniversary next month. If that had happened, I'd still be living in Provo, working some random job that I may or may not like. I could possibly even have child and a half. Sure, sometimes I'm sad that I'm not or I don't, but I will never regret this chance I have. That doesn't mean I'm not happy for those who are celebrating wedding anniversaries and having kids at my age. It's just not my turn. Instead I get to go to the grad school of my choice, live near one of the coolest cities in the world, eat whatever I want for dinner, and otherwise do what I want when I want to.

Life rocks!