I enlisted in the Army at 24. The main motivation for doing so was because I felt intellectually starved and emotionally stuck where I was – too smart to keep playing the paycheck to paycheck game, but not disciplined enough (nor financed) to make the necessary life changes myself. What in high school would have seemed like an impossibility became my best shot: the military.
The Montgomery GI Bill was an optional part of my contract (now called Post 9-11 GI Bill and I don’t know what new enlistees sign), but strongly recommended for good reason. A $100 a month docked paycheck for my first year of service, plus honorably completing my enlistment contract, meant the government would pay for the equivalent to a 4-year degree at any public or participating private college when I was out. There’s all sorts of generous addendums and understandable restrictions, but bottom line, it’s a great deal.
4 years is based on traditional semesters with summers off and is tallied by time enrolled, not workload. Taking one class a semester would mean I’d run out of funding before earning a degree. But I could stop and start every other semester if I wanted, the time in school didn’t have to be continuous. Thank goodness, because I tapped the GI Bill between 4 different colleges over an 8-year span.
So here I am, in that 4th college where I’m finally completing a bachelor’s program – accelerated into 30 months or I would have run out of funding… honestly my time runs out a month before graduation this October, but I’ve been assured it’s all paid up, I just can’t fail a class. Making it by the skin of my teeth as my mom might say.
I’ve taken the GI Bill for granted for 8 years. I don’t even know what the 3 other colleges charged per class, and I only recently bothered to learn that my current college in total will cost $81,000 between classes, books (which run a ludicrous $300-$700 a semester), and random fees. I Googled the average online college cost for a baccalaureate degree. Turns out it’s only $30,000. Wow. I am so incredibly grateful for that GI Bill. Its somewhat flexibility didn’t let earlier depression struggles make my drop-outs devastating, and its real structure helped kick my butt into gear to really make it with the time left.
I’ll earn my Bachelor of Business – Accounting days before turning 40 and 2 weeks before my second daughter is due! My first was a week late, I hope her sister doesn’t go the other way and come early. Hubby and I were actually trying to time this baby to come mid-degree so I could take a 6 month break from school before going back with an infant, which would then make my graduation date closer to when I’d be job hunting, but what can ya do?
It’s been quite an educational journey for me. It would take a much longer blog post to do more than scratch the surface of my path from naturally smart and getting through high school easily, then balking at the overwhelming pressure to do well in college. Cycles of a honeymoon “school’s fun again” period to dying motivation, drop out, shame, and depression plagued my teenage attempts at college then again in my mid 30’s upon first leaving the service. This degree’s a big deal for me, and there would be no way I could have gotten here without that GI Bill, my daughter who gave me someone else to succeed for, and husband for the additional support and encouragement.
I suppose posting this now as opposed to after graduation could be seen as jinxing myself to wind up failing, or baby comes early and makes me have to drop out of my last classes, but I’m calling it a motivational push to finish strong. “Senioritis,” where motivation falls flat because I’m almost done, is a real threat to me, and seeing just how much this college costs really shocked me when I reflect upon the quality of instruction I’ve had… they didn’t deserve that much money. But, it’s about that diploma, right? Employers need that paper to justify paying you something you can live on… ok, I’m risking a fall off a sarcasm cliff into cynicism when this was meant to be a post about gratitude.
Thank you, writers and maintainers of the GI Bill, truly and sincerely. I’ll drop a resume off at one of your offices in about a year, whadayasay?
Random SAHM Thoughts 