When Things Don’t Go As Planned
May 18, 2009 3 Comments
In a recent Goal Update I eluded to facing some major life decisions, including some which run contrary to some of my goals. We all encounter situations which require us to make a difficult decision and sometimes we must make choices which may seem contradictory to our visions. The reasons for having to make these difficult decisions vary from necessity to opportunity.
In my case the reason is opportunity. I have been wondering what my next step in life would be after completing my Associate Degree. Would I continue working at my job, hoping to open doors to the international markets? Should I continue my education which would require my life to be uprooted from the security and comfort of my hometown? Is now the time for me to join the Peace Corps like I have wanted for many years?
It has been about a year since I decided that continuing my education should be my primary concern. The next question was where to attend a University. Neither myself nor my girlfriend were interested in staying around the area as it didn’t seem like a big enough step. I have a natural passion for travel and the outdoors so we began looking into towns where there were Universities which had the degree programs we were interested in and were located in areas which were conducive to our interests and hobbies.
After a couple of months of searching and negotiation we decided on Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. It seemed like a great place and is surrounded by all sorts of places where we would be able to enjoy the Great Outdoors. We planned a trip to Flagstaff so we could visit the campus (which we will be leaving for on Saturday).
Everything seemed to be falling into place. We decided we would continue working throughout the summer in order to save our money for the move as well as the transition time before we were able to find employment. About a month ago my employer announced that there would be another layoff and this time both myself and my girlfriend would be affected. This threw a minor wrench into the equation, but overall we decided to pursue our goal.
In order for us to attend NAU at a reasonable price we would need to establish residency in Arizona before applying for admission. This meant we would need to live in Arizona for a year which didn’t seem like such a big deal as we could use this time to adjust to our relocation and get our focus.
About a week ago President Obama announced an educational initiative for workers who have been laid off and want to return to college. The government would help to pay for school with expanded educational grants as well as extending unemployment benefits to students. It has taken me 4 years to earn my Associate Degree of Arts & Sciences because I have had to maintain a full-time job in order to pay my bills. This announcement meant a great opportunity for both of us to attend classes full-time without having to concern ourselves with finding work. What may have been another 5 years to earn my Bachelor Degree had just turned into 2.
In order for us to take advantage of this opportunity it means changing our plans of moving to Arizona and remaining in-state to attend classes. We could still go to Arizona and get the government grants, but we would have to pay out of state tuition which is very expensive. It wouldn’t be a financially sound decision for us to do things that way. The details of this program are still limited and I am unsure of how to proceed in order to take advantage of these opportunities, but I did fill out my application for enrollment at an in-state university and am waiting to hear back from them, hopefully with the good news of being accepted.
Even though one of my goals is to attend college in another state, for now it will have to wait. The opportunity which has been presented to me is too beneficial to be passed up. Even though it is contrary to one of my goals, I can’t ignore a good thing. Sometimes goals have to be put on hold or even retired completely. It is important that we aren’t blinded by our long-term vision that we miss out on today as a result.
About Steven
Sounds like a great opportunity… I think sometimes our goals may be static or they may be dynamic depending on the nature of the goal… I want to walk along the Great Wall of China is pretty specific or static but if I said I wanted to share a great adventure with my wife in China… I could just as easily change that to Egypt or Austrailia and still be true to the “great adventure with my wife” component… which, at the end of the day is the more important piece.
This is a great chance to “buy time” by finishing your degree in much less time… grad school in another state remains an option or trading down (marginally) on one goal for 2-3 ‘extra years’ to chase so many other goals is pretty cool too!
I think the time component is the most important aspect influencing my decision to stay in-state. It has been far too time consuming to work and attend classes for the past 4 years when I could have done it in 2 had I not needed to work. Aside from the time is the cost as well. Instead of only needing to take loans for 2 years, I have them for 4 and have double the amount of loans I “should” have for this degree. That was my own stupidity because I was trying to live large when I should have been living like a college student.
It is a great opportunity to take advantage of this opportunity as the time that I will save can be spent working towards other goals such as joining the Peace Corps. It just stinks to have been talking about what the next step is for the past year or so and then having those plans change in an instant. It makes you feel like you are full of gas.
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