As to financing your schooling is concerned here is what I did. First I applied for the Pell Grant and easily got that which came to, at the time 02-04, $1800.00 per semester or $3600.00 per school year now granted that was for a 21 credit hour class load. As well I applied twice for a Rural Endowment Loan twice and got it which amounted to $2265 per school year, I am not sure if every state has this or something similar. It is basically a state sponsored student loan which is not due payable until 6 months after you graduate. All said and done at the end of each semester I was able to pay my tuition, costs of books and supplies and had almost $1000.00 left to use toward other bills which doesn't seem like much but it helped a lot, especially if you can stretch a dollar.

One thing though, I did all the financial aid leg work on my own, specifically since most financial aid offices will try to dictate what you can and cant do with said aid. Many of those offices are wrong in what they tend to tell you. As well there is more aid out there than what they tell you and you would be surprised at what you might qualify for. The key is to apply for every known means of aid that you can find, even if you do not think you may qualify. The worst they can say is you do not qualify but there is a good chance, depending upon the number of applicants vs the available monies that you may get that aid, its always worth a shot. My point here being is do not depend solely on the financial aid office to apprise you of any and all means of aid available. Check both federal aid websites, such as the FAFSA site and with your local and state websites as well. I used to have a whole list of sites however I am not sure what I did with it and whether or not those forms of aid still exist considering the fluidity of the financial aid market.

I hope that helps.

Now when it comes to warning signs, sometimes there are many and sometimes very few, but in my experience there always are warning signs even if they are very subtle. Not that it will change anything now though. I know that in my own experience, in the beginning and early stages I felt like my ex just up and left for no reason, however over time I realized that there were warning signs all over the place, I was always kept to busy to notice and that is a bit a long story and I wont bore you with the details right now.

Anyway, as you are finding out and as most will tell you, its going to be a bit rough, but one thing I have noticed from my own personal experience and in observation of the experiences of others, we always make it through. You will be amazed at what you can handle and survive. It can all seem overwhelming but we never know what we can accomplish until we go through the muck. We are capable of so much more than we think that we are, even when things seem hopeless. Sometimes we have to hit rock bottom to be able to see all that we often take advantage of and to learn a lot more about ourselves than we ever thought.

All in all, you will make it through this. You have a target all you have to do is keep an eye on it and continue to shoot for it no matter what life throws at you. It wont be easy as you already know, but the one facet of the human condition that is the most amazing is the instinct for survival. It is what gets us through the hardest times we could ever think we would ever face.

Hang in there, you will make it. Years from now, like I and many have, you will look back and wonder where the time went and wonder how you ever got through it and at the same time you will feel the pride of accomplishment and the fact that you overcame the hard times.



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