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 :)
