A Little Bit About Me

I think that you have to know a little bit about where I'm coming from to understand where I'm going, so to get started I want to give you my background.

I live in a small town in the south, but not too far from some interesting places. I'm 22 years old and a college graduate.

First, I just want to say that college is not all it's cracked up to be! They don't want to tell you that, but trust me, it isn't. I graduated high school with a 4.0 and I had taken a semesters-worth of classes before I graduated. I graduated from FMU with something like a 3.4 (can't recall exactly, horrible I know- but it wasn't bad at all!) I had fun in college and gained a lot of life experience, but here's the thing. My last year there, I decided that what I was going to school for was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. What was I majoring in? Psychology. I evaluated myself and what I wanted out of life, and though I enjoyed learning about psychology, it wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted a job where I could be creative and be myself. Part of who I am is a lip piercing, a penchant for funky hair and a fascination with tattoos (even if I only currently have one--due to financials... those bad boys aren't cheap! haha).

That was when I decided that cosmetology was going to be what I wanted to do with myself. With much reasoning and pleading from my boyfriend and my mother, I stuck out my last year at the University. I'd already gone so far into the program and put so much money into it (I had a scholarship and a grant that paid half of my tuition, the rest was in student loans) I needed to finish and receive that slip of paper. No one can take that from me.

However, if any of you dear readers have majored in anything like psychology or something similar, there's not one dog gone thing you can do with it. You pretty much HAVE to have at least a Master's Degree to get anywhere. A Ph.D. was my original goal, but... my plans had changed. Actually, I found it much more difficult to find a job once I graduated. Any job that required a degree preferred a Master's Degree level. Any job that didn't require a degree saw me as over qualified. Yes! Over qualified. See, the thing is... someone isn't going to want to hire you if they believe you're going to find something better soon. That means they're just going to go through the frustrating hiring process all over again.

The job I currently have now I wasn't originally chosen for due to that reason. I went for my interview in December 2009 shortly after I graduated. The day after my interview, my boss called me and explained to me that I nailed the interview but they had chosen someone else for the position because I was over qualified and they were looking for someone who could fill the position for quite sometime. Mind you, this was the only interview I was able to land and I had sent out a whole lot of resumes! The economic situation does not help the job hunting process. Anyway, about a month later he called me back and  asked if I was still looking for a job since their first choice had not worked out. I still had not landed a job or even another interview so I jumped on the job and have been there ever since. It's not a bad job and my boss is great (and I make my own work schedule, which is amazing!) the problem is I don't make enough money to pay back my student loans. It's not a job suited to someone with a degree. My co-worker is a college student and it suits her fine.

Another thing I currently can't afford is cosmetology school. I have to cosmetology school options in my area. One offers financial aid (which I'm not eligable to receive for another year) but the cost of tuition is $17,000. The other does not offer any financial aid (only the option of a monthly payment plan for the duration of your time there with a $700 down payment) BUT it only costs $6,500. Either program is suitable as a learning experience. Both cover the same material.

So, I'm learning to become very resourceful!

I'm going to blog about my trials and attempts at scrounging up some money and climbing my way up that proverbial ladder and I'd like for you to join my journey. Hopefully we can swap and share stories, advice and ideas.