I'm going back to LDSBC this Fall and I actually applied for FAFSA this time around--YAY me! Right now is just the waiting stage where I sit around twiddling my thumbs and wondering about how much in grants will be approved for me. I REEEEAALLY do NOT want to take out student loans at all if I can help it, though my uncle did say at one point that financial aid is sent in such a way that you have to take out at least a portion of student loans. BLECH. I am really crossing my fingers that I get a generous amount of loans, ESPECIALLY since my tax return was MUCH lower than I was hoping it would be this year (considering how much more I WORKED in 2015 than in 2014). UGH, the American government is the WORST for taking taxes and not even putting them to good use, bahaaa! But thank goodness I've at least done my part! ^.^ (and sidenote: I just finalized my tax returns last Sunday, opted to get both federal and state refunds directly deposited and--BAM! The federal refund already came through on Wednesday or Thursday. I was pleasantly surprised at that, but also..it has made me apprehensive of how long the state will take to post my refund from their end..FREAKING state..! Ha.)
The 2-year degree I'll be studying for is Social Media Marketing; it's actually really new at the BC. I figure since I'm on social media so much (Facebook mainly, and then Instagram and occasionally Twitter), I might as well learn how to put that time to good use! Ha! ALSO, most jobs want you to at least have some kind of college degree, so it will be useful. I feel like there's a lot with social media marketing that I can do from home. It should be great. I'm going to try to finish it in 4 semesters, though if I really need I could probably stretch it to 5. I'm really hoping this is a good idea, though; I was always a lazy student and I like to think that was because I never really had a clue about (let alone any goals for) what I wanted to do in life. Now that I have a goal and a desire to get to it, I'm hoping I'll really buckle down and power through.
Since the BC is a Church school, we are also required to take religion courses to fulfill credits toward our degrees. The Church added 4 "cornerstone" religion classes and I'm planning on taking each, one every semester. I'm excited! They are: 1--Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel, 2--Foundations of the Restoration, 3--The Eternal Family, 4--Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon. My only problem is figuring out which order I want to take them in. Maybe T&D of the BOM first? Or Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel..UGH, I will DEFINITELY have it figured out by the time I register for classes; supposedly, June 6 is the first day we can start putting our schedules together for fall semester. I have already set an alarm to remind myself to register that Monday!
Another thing I have to do before I register for fall is take a placement test for math; apparently, the scores I achieved on the ACT for English and Math don't expire for English and Finance classes, but the math scores DO expire for MATH classes--what the what..?!? Interesting..though as far as I can tell, I'm not required to take any other math classes for the Social Media Marketing degree so I COULD technically just skip the placement test..ahaha, loophole! ..but no..I need to really step up and be responsible, so I'll have to remember to study up on whatever I've forgotten and fallen out of practice with (it's been at least 6 years since my last math class!) so I can test well on the placement. The BC was really nice in emailing out a study guide, so I'm grateful for that.
In closing this post, I would like to personally attest to the fact that when you have a goal that fits you/your life situation and you are doing everything you can to work towards and are committed to, Heavenly Father opens up the way and hastens the things you need along that way. Once I decided I needed to go back to LDSBC for a social media marketing degree and hopped online to re-apply to the school, things happened pretty quickly. Since I am a return student to the BC, online application was a lot quicker and I didn't have to pay the $35 application fee because they only require new students to pay that. The only thing that couldn't happen the same night was ecclesiastical endorsement, but I figured that out pretty quickly. Since I have my bishop's email, I just emailed him explaining that I was reapplying for school and needed ecclesiastical endorsement from him (which, in this wonderfully technologically advanced day and age, is now submitted online as opposed to the hassle of submitting the signed papers in-person) and asked if he could submit his endorsement for me online. He responded very promptly and just needed to ask the one question to confirm that I would be willing to live by the school's honor code, to which I of course agreed. He then went online to submit his endorsement and I waited about 5-7 (?) days to hear if my application was accepted. I figured I should go online to check the status of my endorsement being received and only then realized that I also needed endorsement from the stake presidency! So I sought out our stake president's email through LDS Tools (thank you Heaven for technology that provides easy access to crucial information!) so I could set up a time to interview for the stake endorsement and was able to meet for the endorsement interview that next Sunday. The stake endorsement was then submitted online..about Wednesday (?) and I received the email that my application was complete and that it might take around 4 weeks to finalize if I was accepted or not. So I started to wait, expecting that it might even take longer (especially since I was expecting my mission call in 2-3 weeks but it didn't come until around 5 weeks). 2 days later, I got the email confirming I'd been accepted and giving me my login and password for the LDSBC website! TWO. DAYS. I was very pleasantly surprised at how quickly they ended up accepting me, and I was and am excited to go back to school having a GOAL to work towards! Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to continue learning and He helps to hustle things along when they are right for us in our life path, even though we may not realize His influence until we look back. I think I prayed ONCE specifically about going back to LDSBC and just put my efforts and a whole lot of hope and expectation into the goal of being accepted after that, and..BOOM. Heavenly Father DELIVERED. So quickly! Probably as a gentle reminder that I'm getting too old to put off going back to school any longer, ha! But HEY--I'll take it.
To end this long-winded episode:
"Never give up; NEVER surrender!" --Galaxy Quest
Peace out.
Another thing I have to do before I register for fall is take a placement test for math; apparently, the scores I achieved on the ACT for English and Math don't expire for English and Finance classes, but the math scores DO expire for MATH classes--what the what..?!? Interesting..though as far as I can tell, I'm not required to take any other math classes for the Social Media Marketing degree so I COULD technically just skip the placement test..ahaha, loophole! ..but no..I need to really step up and be responsible, so I'll have to remember to study up on whatever I've forgotten and fallen out of practice with (it's been at least 6 years since my last math class!) so I can test well on the placement. The BC was really nice in emailing out a study guide, so I'm grateful for that.
In closing this post, I would like to personally attest to the fact that when you have a goal that fits you/your life situation and you are doing everything you can to work towards and are committed to, Heavenly Father opens up the way and hastens the things you need along that way. Once I decided I needed to go back to LDSBC for a social media marketing degree and hopped online to re-apply to the school, things happened pretty quickly. Since I am a return student to the BC, online application was a lot quicker and I didn't have to pay the $35 application fee because they only require new students to pay that. The only thing that couldn't happen the same night was ecclesiastical endorsement, but I figured that out pretty quickly. Since I have my bishop's email, I just emailed him explaining that I was reapplying for school and needed ecclesiastical endorsement from him (which, in this wonderfully technologically advanced day and age, is now submitted online as opposed to the hassle of submitting the signed papers in-person) and asked if he could submit his endorsement for me online. He responded very promptly and just needed to ask the one question to confirm that I would be willing to live by the school's honor code, to which I of course agreed. He then went online to submit his endorsement and I waited about 5-7 (?) days to hear if my application was accepted. I figured I should go online to check the status of my endorsement being received and only then realized that I also needed endorsement from the stake presidency! So I sought out our stake president's email through LDS Tools (thank you Heaven for technology that provides easy access to crucial information!) so I could set up a time to interview for the stake endorsement and was able to meet for the endorsement interview that next Sunday. The stake endorsement was then submitted online..about Wednesday (?) and I received the email that my application was complete and that it might take around 4 weeks to finalize if I was accepted or not. So I started to wait, expecting that it might even take longer (especially since I was expecting my mission call in 2-3 weeks but it didn't come until around 5 weeks). 2 days later, I got the email confirming I'd been accepted and giving me my login and password for the LDSBC website! TWO. DAYS. I was very pleasantly surprised at how quickly they ended up accepting me, and I was and am excited to go back to school having a GOAL to work towards! Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to continue learning and He helps to hustle things along when they are right for us in our life path, even though we may not realize His influence until we look back. I think I prayed ONCE specifically about going back to LDSBC and just put my efforts and a whole lot of hope and expectation into the goal of being accepted after that, and..BOOM. Heavenly Father DELIVERED. So quickly! Probably as a gentle reminder that I'm getting too old to put off going back to school any longer, ha! But HEY--I'll take it.
To end this long-winded episode:
"Never give up; NEVER surrender!" --Galaxy Quest
Peace out.
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