College Debt And The Wonders It Does For Me

It's nearing the end of the semester and I find myself staring at the fact that in roughly 2 months I will be completely on my own. I have applied and been accepted to attend Fort Lewis College in Colorado and I will have the "luxury" of staying in a dorm, and hopefully by myself. I've never been a fan of sharing and I do love my privacy and the quiet. It's all very exciting because it will be such a new experience for me, yet at the same time it is terrifying.

Having become newly 26, you would think I would know what living on my own would be like, but I don't. I've never had to worry about rent or bills or handing over large amounts of money towards anything, specifically my own money, which is something that I don't have at the moment (or any other moments to be honest). I have already experienced the joys of accepting loans for next semester and reading and filling out promissory notes and all-in-all, I have found it to be quite intimidating and it may or may not be the main source of a lot of my anxiety.

If there is one thing I fear very much, it's debt. I've always been told that it's best to never have to owe anyone money and to always pay with what you actually have and not with a piece of plastic that holds monopoly money. So far my debt for only the spring semester is hovering around $3750, and I still need $7k more. I realize that I have it way easy and my future debt doesn't even compare to what most other students have, but it's still not a comfortable situation. I do have grants and scholarships that are covering my other costs and that is a bit of a relief, but I could always and definitely use more.

Either way, I imagine this is what growing up is like. You (most likely) go into debt and work hard and do your best and hope that no one smells the fear that radiates from your body as you worry about interest rates on your loans that seem to pile ever higher.

On an optimistic and happy note about transferring on, at least I get to take nothing but anthropology classes :)

Well well well..

It has certainly been a while since my last post! To be honest, I completely forgot about this blog until I accidentally stumbled upon it looking at old facebook messages. After reviewing it, I can promise and guarantee that I have definitely grown up and am really starting to enjoy life.

Let me tell you, it has been good! I'm going to school full time for Archaeology, having already participated in a field school and uncovering the remains of an ancient kiva where we found many, many artifacts! I have also completed an internship at Salmon Ruins and have mapped a small handful of sites (which I'm fairly decent at, by the way). Through the field school, I was able to go rafting, hiked up a damn mountain (worth it), and witnessed the solstice ceremony at Chaco Canyon at Casa Rinconada, as well as seeing multitudes of sites that people never notice or know about. It's been nothing but exploring and learning, and I absolutely love it! These are experiences that I never would have been able to have if it weren't for archaeology.

Ah, field school in the middle of summer! A great way to sweat your ass off and make friends at the same time. I'm in the back row, 3rd from the left.

Rafting! I'm the girl with the purple and white shirt.

Reaching the top of Sharkstooth Pass! 2 miles up and dead at the top! I took the picture, so I'm not enjoying the laying down and relaxing portion of that hike :)

 I also work at the college part-time as a work-study in the Advising and Counseling office with fabulous co-workers, I have an amazing boyfriend of over a year and things are going very well, I'm graduating this summer with my associates in Liberal Arts, and then I think the next step is for me to transfer onward to Fort Lewis College or UNM to obtain my Bachelor's!

Oh, hi boyfriend and I!

I have picked up photography as a hobby and have had a picture published in the ABQ Zoo calendar (yay!), I've been reading and gaming more, and actually have a few friends! Of course, I don't have anywhere near the amount I did in Tennessee, but that really doesn't bother me. It's quality over quantity.

My Polar Bear picture that made it into the calendar.

I can't complain. Life is good. It's also spring break, so that helps (even if I do need to write 2 papers).