I just signed my lease for a FANTASTIC flat in town! I feel more like a grown-up than ever. My natural reaction is to do a little dance.
Okay, so maybe not THAT grown-up.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
A New Regime
Generally speaking, I employ the following strategy for beginning my school year:
1. Try to enroll in classes
2. Find that I haven't paid some library fine (or worse, tuition)
3. Feel ashamed
4. Indulge feelings of shame; live in denial for a day or two
5. Finally talk to financial aid, find out my loans are about to be disbursed
5. Wait
6. Pay, reluctantly
7. Enroll in classes, for real this time
8. Cross fingers that I still have money for food
9. Buy groceries, fingers still crossed
10. Do a victory dance at checkout
11. Gorge myself on the spoils of my trip
12. Embark on my first day of class
13. Realize I haven't looked up the classroom number
14. Show up late, without a pen or notebook
15. Feel like a terrible student . . .
16. Repeat steps 12-15 for the remainder of the semester
Needless to say, I'm not good at logistical things like meeting deadlines and paying bills and all those other mundane adult-life details. Also, finances generally frighten me (especially when they involve numbers over, say, 20). I've been fortunate enough to have my parents taking care of my undergraduate loans (yeah, parents! bet you're glad you funded THIS breadwinner!) but this next endeavor is on me.
YEAH. Those are some big frickin' numbers.
Also, I don't know if you're aware, but moving overseas is a logistical pain in the butt. There's the Where The Heck Did I Put That Passport panic. And then the Holy Crap, I Have So Much CRAP revelation. Not to mention the But How Will I Afford to Eat conundrum and the ever-important Please Don't Make Me Live In A Box By the North Sea application.
These are all things that, under normal circumstances, would crush my free spirit and send me into a maze of procrastination. And of course my inevitable guilt would then throw me into a winding pit of overwhelmed despair from which I would probably never recover--at least not in time to meet any of my school-enrollment deadlines.
But ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that (miraculously, and without apparent explanation) I've adopted a new regime! Since I received my acceptance letter I've morphed into a whirling dervish of pro-active behavior. If you were to peek into my room these days, you'd find a closet-cleaning, packing-list-making, business-emailing, loose-end-tying, finance-managing, thorough-thinking, more-than-day-ahead-planning FIEND.
It's okay to be mildly unnerved. I am.
Still, I think it's this strange phenomenon, (almost) more than the ephemeral feelings of belonging or purpose, that confirms the "rightness" of my year at St. Andrews. Finally, I've found something I want, and I'll do whatever it takes to get there. Even, heaven forbid, manage my finances.
1. Try to enroll in classes
2. Find that I haven't paid some library fine (or worse, tuition)
3. Feel ashamed
4. Indulge feelings of shame; live in denial for a day or two
5. Finally talk to financial aid, find out my loans are about to be disbursed
5. Wait
6. Pay, reluctantly
7. Enroll in classes, for real this time
8. Cross fingers that I still have money for food
9. Buy groceries, fingers still crossed
10. Do a victory dance at checkout
11. Gorge myself on the spoils of my trip
12. Embark on my first day of class
13. Realize I haven't looked up the classroom number
14. Show up late, without a pen or notebook
15. Feel like a terrible student . . .
16. Repeat steps 12-15 for the remainder of the semester
Needless to say, I'm not good at logistical things like meeting deadlines and paying bills and all those other mundane adult-life details. Also, finances generally frighten me (especially when they involve numbers over, say, 20). I've been fortunate enough to have my parents taking care of my undergraduate loans (yeah, parents! bet you're glad you funded THIS breadwinner!) but this next endeavor is on me.
YEAH. Those are some big frickin' numbers.
Also, I don't know if you're aware, but moving overseas is a logistical pain in the butt. There's the Where The Heck Did I Put That Passport panic. And then the Holy Crap, I Have So Much CRAP revelation. Not to mention the But How Will I Afford to Eat conundrum and the ever-important Please Don't Make Me Live In A Box By the North Sea application.
These are all things that, under normal circumstances, would crush my free spirit and send me into a maze of procrastination. And of course my inevitable guilt would then throw me into a winding pit of overwhelmed despair from which I would probably never recover--at least not in time to meet any of my school-enrollment deadlines.
But ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that (miraculously, and without apparent explanation) I've adopted a new regime! Since I received my acceptance letter I've morphed into a whirling dervish of pro-active behavior. If you were to peek into my room these days, you'd find a closet-cleaning, packing-list-making, business-emailing, loose-end-tying, finance-managing, thorough-thinking, more-than-day-ahead-planning FIEND.
It's okay to be mildly unnerved. I am.
Still, I think it's this strange phenomenon, (almost) more than the ephemeral feelings of belonging or purpose, that confirms the "rightness" of my year at St. Andrews. Finally, I've found something I want, and I'll do whatever it takes to get there. Even, heaven forbid, manage my finances.
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