Thoughts of an anonymous poster

This has got to be the quote of the day. I received this comment chastising me for going back to school to learn a new career and qualifying and receiving PELL grants to do it. He says:

"Federal tuition assistance is welfare."

You can read his post and decide for yourself HERE. Should I do the right thing and quit school?

Almost half way through first term already

Well, I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, mainly because many things have been keeping me busy, homework being the primary one. I am almost half way through my first term back to college in 20 years and I have to say it feels fantastic. In one of my writing classes I had a guy ask me, "Why if you are self employed for 17 years would you possibly want to change?" He is studying business and his dream is to be self employed like I have been.

I am always careful to not discourage anyone because everybody is different in their journeys in life. I explained to him that after 17 years, the cons of being self employed and isolated in a comfortable and luxurious home office have caught up to me such that I need to get outside myself and interact with the real world again. It's just my journey. I loved being self employed for many years, but it also comes with its own brand of exhausting problems. After 17 years I can say honestly that I've been there, done that, enjoyed it but am ready to move onto something completely different as Monty Python might say.

So far I'm pulling A's in my classes and I love the interaction with younger students, but there are many students in my classes between 38-50 years old too. I love the mental stimulation and the comradeship I feel with my other students as we are all there with the intent to better our lives in some way. It's a very positive feeling. If you are in your 40's and looking for something new to do, don't feel that you are too old, or too set in your ways to make a change. Start thinking about what you want to do. Start getting information from a prospective college in their counseling department and especially talk to financial aid as you are quite likely to receive some grant money for "retraining" purposes under the Stimulus plan. I hope to see you in class.

Journey of 1000 miles starts with one class

I finally started my first class towards my new career as either a radiographer or a nurse. Knocking out basically the same pre-requisites for either career started last night. I love being on campus and being around other people for the mental stimulation. Even though this class is really basic, it will help ensure that I get a good GPA later on in the other pre-requisite classes that count on my application for each major. Since competition just get accepted is very tight, GPA plays a heavily important role. In either major, only 1 in 8 are accepted.

But I feel like a milestone has been set. Sort of like when I started a company 17 years ago, I put that first dollar bill in a frame. It was only a dollar, but it symbolized hope, success and optimism. So too, does my first class symbolize life change. Being 19 or 20 years old, that kind of thinking would have totally been lost on me. But at 44, with many years of life experience behind me, little things become more pronounced and meaningful.

I highly encourage you to begin the change if you are unhappy with where you are in life. Just do it. The time is going to pass by anyway with or without you so the question is, what are you going to be doing with the time that's already ticking away. Status quo? Or pursuing your dream, whether it be a new career that requires re-enrolling in college or starting a new business.

What dream have you been putting off for far too long?

Bought my books for Fall term today, brainstorming insurance ideas too

I start back to school in 2 weeks from today. I logged into my school account and bought all of my books online from the school's online store. This is a lot more convenient than going down to the campus bookstore and they actually encourage students to do it this way. It's handy because they show up at my door via UPS and I'm ready to go.

Also, the wife and I sat down and were trying to figure out our health insurance situation, or lack thereof. As I said earlier, I've had insurance for nearly all my life but being self employed I had to self pay. But with the monthly bill hitting $2,000, the camel's back finally broke and we had to let it go. The fun thing is that I have Type 2 diabetes and so when trying to apply for any other cheaper plan I automatically get denied. It's a classic situation of "I want insurance but can't buy it anyway". Pre-existing conditions automatically kick you out, even if you have the money, you can't buy coverage. Who at age 44 doesn't have ANY pre-existing conditions of some sort?????

I can cope without insurance, but it pains me that I can't provide my 12 year old daughter with insurance to see the doctor. I feel like a failure as a parent to be able to take care of my girl. So, we're trying to see if we qualify for the Oregon Medical Insurance Pool, which is the state-run plan to cover the "uncoverable". I want to at least get something, anything for my daughter even if it means going without for a while.

My freelance work is keeping me pretty busy this month which is a blessing though which is hopefully a slight hint that the economy is trying to swing back.

Anybody out there in the same insurance place as me and what did you do about it?

School starts in 3 weeks and getting excited

Well, my first set of pre-requisite classes start in about 3 weeks and I'm getting all antsy and ready to get going. Never had I felt such enthusiasm for starting school before as I am on this new journey of mine, but I love the mental stimulation of school and learning. Last year I took Statistics 243 with my wife because my wife wanted a study partner since she had to take the class for her major and was not as excited about math as I am. I have to say that I absolutely loved it. Getting out of the office and on campus, interacting with new people, being mentally challenged to learn and stretch. It makes me feel alive in a way that I never did when I was a kid in school 20+ years ago. It's interesting how the passage of time causes you to change your perspective on things.

On a side note, for the first time in over 2 years I scored a significant legal animation project which was so much needed. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get another legal project again but thanks to a connection I had on LinkedIn, the stars aligned and we now have 30 days to crank out a significant project. I'm hopeful that this will lead to more projects while I am going back to school.

What kinds of things has the passage of time caused you to change your opinion about?

Why are republicans opposed to giving me a chance to see a doctor?

I'm sorry, but I'm feeling very frustrated today. I've recently had several discussions with some friends of mine that are very upset at the prospect of everybody in this country having access to healthcare. These friends are republicans and they are so opposed to any health care reform (although they can't explain clearly why), that they almost feel it would be better for everyone to commit suicide if such reform actually happened.

I let them talk and go on about how terrible it will all be if everyone had access to health care and that it will mess up "our" insurance and "our" treatment. They didn't know I wasn't covered by health insurance. As I listened, the main theme of their argument was boiled down to this concept: My insurance is great and I don't want it messed up by making health care available to ALL.

When I finally took my turn in the conversation, I said, "You know, I have been self employed for 17 years and have always simply had to buy my own insurance. 17 years ago it was $325/month to cover my family. Unfortunately, I had to drop it when my original plan finally reached almost $2,000/month, yes $2,000/month." Funny how they sort of got quiet after that. I went on to tell them that I have Type 2 diabetes and currently take Metformin to control it. Because of that diagnosis on my record, I am now uninsurable...that is to say I would be turned down by any policy I would apply for, and in fact I have been. The recession has clipped my earnings by 70% over the last 2 years and my health insurance had to go... in my case it literally was a choice between food and lodging and health insurance. So I explained to them that my prescription for Metformin runs out in 3 months and I have no insurance or money to go see a doctor to get it refilled. I called my doctor to try to see if they would refill it for me over the phone... no they would not, I would have to come in for an appointment which is a minimum $150-$200 plus blood work before she would refill it. Guess what, I do not have that kind of spare money now so when my prescription runs out, I can't get it refilled unless they wanted to loan me the money. They weren't interested. I told them my 12 year old daughter is now not covered because dad can't afford it.

I said the only way now for me to get any shot at getting health insurance is to try and find a full time job that offered it because group plans can't discriminate when it comes to pre-existing conditions. Which is one major reason I have enrolled to go back to school to get a job actually IN the health care industry. Neither can the Oregon Medical Insurance Pool which is the plan for indigent and uninsurable people and guess what that plan runs for my family... over $700/month. Affordable? Get real. There is still NO allocation for $700/month in my financial situation to afford that.

So I asked my friends, who were now pretty quiet in their arguments, what the republican party should do about health care reform. They didn't have a single answer. Because I believe that party is basically only thinking of themselves, who are the "haves" and they do not want to help out the "have nots". It's interesting because for many years I was in the "haves" groups myself, flying high with a 6 figure income, but life looks really different when you are living on the side of the argument for real and the health care argument is no longer a discussion in theology but a real life situation that you live in every day, and becomes real when the medication you used to be able to take is now taken away from you because of lack of coverage. Life looks really different on the other side.

Please, republicans or democrats, please pass a plan that would allow me to go out tomorrow and get health coverage for me and my family that I can afford that won't exclude me because of a pre-existing condition.

Now enrolled and good news from financial aid

Well, I am now officially enrolled in college and starting to work on some of my pre-requisite courses for my major. I'll start in the fall and can hardly wait. I love the mental stimulation that learning and college brings, I just wish I had that same enthusiasm and drive back when I was a kid in school, but that's OK. Life has a way of teaching these lessons to you as you get older.

Good news on the financial aid front. After filling out my FASFA, and because my annual income has dropped so much, I have qualified to have all of my first year (until I fill out next year's FASFA), fully paid for by federal grants and state grants including books and even some extra. I thought I would need to take out some Stafford loans, but it looks like that won't be necessary right now as all my education this first year is all compliments of the government. Thank you!

I highly encourage you, if you are someone in my situation thinking about going back to college, but unsure whether you can afford it, to fill out a FASFA and get in contact with your school's financial aid department. You may be very surprised to find out that as an adult, there are a lot of financial incentives to help you change your career and make it more than affordable. To find out more about filling out your FASFA, visit http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/