<p>Not sure how to go about this but hopefully someone can help.
I currently live in South San Francisco in the Bay area and work at the airport (SFO) it’s a good paying security job but it’s highly stressful and corrupted. </p>
<p>I decided to go back to school, I smack myself and wonder at night why I didn’t finish school. I realized I “wasted” so much time and I could have been done. It hurts to see my friends around have surpassed me. I’ve only been in college for 6 months. it’s a bit harder for me, I have no parents to support me. I have been on my own since 18 and have no choice. Everything is me. No help from anyone.</p>
<p>I see my friends have their parents to pay for many things and even have a home.
I have rent and a car and all the of normal expenses it is living at on your own. I always wished I had the same support base as others growing up. </p>
<p>I was wondering how I could get finial aid. I work 10 hours a day 4 days a week and have Sat/Sun/Mon off. My work starts at 2PM and I don’t get out until midnight.</p>
<p>I work a very stressful depressing job.
It’s gave me enough motivation recently to get out.
I read these motos:
“If you doing what you’ve always done you’ll always get what you have always got”
“If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?”</p>
<p>I get paid around 22 and hour and if your thinking it’s allot it’s not when you live on your own in the Bay Area and have to stay here. </p>
<p>What would others do in my shoes? What are my options? I have been researching it for a while. Do you guys know where to get good resume’ template? I was hoping there was some kind of financial aid where I can quit my job and go to school full time.</p>
<p>I remember my friend going to UC Berkeley and he had an apartment and most of the time he was able to pay for the 1000$ and his schooling all from finical aid grants. My work is not job friendly. I’d love to do this. I always hope everyday I get a world of more options. </p>
<p>I am very positive outlook and my hope is strong but I don’t know for how long. I have been with my job for 5 years. I am 25 now and uneducated. How do i figure out what I want to do?</p>
<p>Tried the military, it was not the answer.
As you can see I am pretty desperate. And getting of zealous. </p>
<p>What is it you are trying to do? You posted a lot on how others seem to have more support, but you never really told us what your goal is. What do you want to do with your education? The advice you’ll get if you want to become a doctor is going to be a lot different than if you want to become a mechanical engineer or high school history teacher.
If you don’t have a goal, you’ll be wasting a lot of effort. That said, not knowing exactly what you want isn’t the end of the world, but it does mean you should try to keep as many options open as you can.</p>
<p>Your problem is that FA is based on your previous year’s income. You make too much money as a single person to qualify for aid. </p>
<p>One option might be is for you to continue working, but go to school part-time in the morning…like from 9-11, then do homework, then go to work. You could go to class for more hours on Mondays.</p>
<p>Get a copy of “How to pay for college without going broke” from a local bookstore. Start mastering the details of financial aid so you know how it works.</p>
<p>You can’t compare now with what a friend did even three years ago – times are much worse now.</p>
<p>Spend some time thinking about yourself – your abilities and what you enjoy – you will get to a happy end, faster, if you are targeted to a particular outcome (“I am good with numbers and would hate to teach children but like helping adults” might steer you to accounting instead of teaching – and so on). Take whatever skill tests you can to learn about yourself. Browse the bookstore and ask the staff for self testing material. Learn what sort of brain you have: artistic? logical? able to picture items in 3D? </p>
<p>Avoid for profit schools-- at least at first. If you want to be a chef, for instance, you can either pay $$$$ for training at a “Cordon Bleu” school or you can get some excellent training while you work at Olive Garden for pay.</p>
<p>Good for you to NOT stay in a rut. It’s a grand, tough world out there. Good luck!</p>
<p>At your age, you go back to school either for a very specific purpose or for enjoyment. Since you are not doing this for enjoyment, you need to hone in on what you want out of the education so as not to waste time or money. Hopefully you are at a state school and not a private one, as the cost can differ widely.</p>
<p>Most people get through college the way you are. Bit by bit. Tiring, and exhausting even balancing it with a full time job if they are lucky enough to have one. With a part time one, it’s even more difficult.</p>
<p>The financial aid is not a windfall, and will mean living very precariously if you do end up qualifying for it. It’s allows students to maybe barely squeak by with a lot of hard work and luck. It is not a panacea. Please don’t think that a shower of money bestows the vast majority getting aid for college.</p>
<p>The big difference is the parents. Parents are the first line in providing for college costs. SO if they take the financial brunt of college for their kids, it’s so much easier for them. And so it is with the rest of life. I got the “envies” many time as I saw others get help in raising their kids, securing a down payment for buying a house, support in the tough time. DH and I got zip. Very little for college from them too. It’s a whole different life doing it on your own, as you probably fully know. Don’t feed the jealousy beast within you because it has an insatiable appetite and you don’t need that gnawing at you.</p>
<p>You’ve done very well for yourself. THere are families here making about what you are, trying to send a kid to college as well as living on about that much. I don’t know how the California state aid works, but you make too much money to get anything other than loans which can be the bane of students. You are doing much better than many college grads. It’s wise to get some education as well, since it can only enhance your profile and make things more flexible for you. It’s not going to be easy, however. Good luck and you are doing the right thing! IT’s not supposed to be easy.</p>