Shameless Self-Promotion

I am no good at accepting compliments. And I’m really not good at saying positive things about myself. But today, I am going to cast all of that aside and engage in some shameless self promotion!

I graduated from college on Sunday. Yaaaayyyy!!! I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me. It was absolutely amazing to put on that cap and gown, walk across the stage, and get that diploma. Obviously, was not your typical undergrad. I’m in my 30s (how far in, I’ll not say), I have a thirteen-year-old son, I’m remarried, and I work full-time.

I had my son when I was 20, so I gave up college so I could work and buy luxuries, like food, diapers, and pay the rent. Since I worked full-time during the day, I wasn’t in the position to take a lot of evening classes because I couldn’t afford another sitter in the evening after paying for day care, and my ex wasn’t the kind of guy who showed up at home at night regularly. Plus, we had no extra money for classes.  

When my son was three, I worked for a company that offered tuition reimbursement. I found a college that would accept payment after the class was done. I took one class that met once per week from 7:00 to 10:30. Every week, it was a trial to find someone to watch my son for a few hours in the evening. I wasn’t able to go the next semester because you had to buy the books before the class started, and I didn’t have $110.00. So that was it for the next couple of years. 

Several years later, I scraped up enough money to pay for a class and books at a distance learning college. At least this solved my problem about having to find a sitter in the evening. I took one class….then there was no money for another class for a year, etc. It was SO discouraging. My ex always said he felt bad, but interestingly, there was always enough money for his wants and desires. And as I’ve mentioned in many of my previous blogs, I couldn’t apply for student loans because there was NO WAY I could take on any more debt because I was trying to dig us out of the hole that the ex had put us in because he had “other bills” besides his income taxes.