As mentioned previously, patience is not my thing. I suck at it. I get antsy and fidgety and just plain not happy, and in turn make everyone else around me wish they, in fact, weren't around me. Not cool, I know. I am working on it but I think it will likely always be a struggle for me.
So what am I impatient about currently? Funding. Funding for school. Funding for my future. Since the credit crunch, no private student loans are given in this country without a cosigner, so I am going to be solely dependent upon federal loans and scholarships in order to fund my graduate studies in the UK. To add to this dilemma is the fact that since I am studying outside the US, I am not eligible for all federal loans. Fun stuff.
Well, I filled out my lovely FAFSA back in February but because of the Health Care Reform Bill, the federal loan system in the US is being totally redone (logical, no?). Because of all this "redoing" of things, loans for the coming academic year are not being processed until July! Which means that yours truly has to do something at which she really sucks: waiting! Not to mention Birmingham's international postgraduate scholarships aren't processed until July also. Again, I wait!
Since the course of my life is dependent on what is decided by the federal government and the University of Birmingham, I am rather anxious with anticipation. If the money doesn't come through, I am not sure what I will do. I am trying to remain positive but I can't deny the thoughts of "what if?" have crossed my mind.
Another clincher in this whole thing is that I cannot even begin the visa process until I get my finances sorted. Apparently the British government doesn't want to admit any freeloaders. (Now if only the US had the same policy!) I would really love to get the whole visa thing done sooner then later as I have bad experience with ridiculously slow bureaucracies. (Maybe sometime I will tell you about my German residency permit fiasco. In short, I didn't exist for a while.)
Then there is the whole Copenhagen thing.... My brilliantly beautiful British Beau is a full fledged computer geek who will be attending, with his business partners, the annual Drupalcon in Copenhagen at the end of August. His partners will be bringing their families and as such, Dan invited me along as well. While school doesn't start until the end of September/beginning of October, the plan is for me to fly to England right before the Copenhagen trip and then spend that week in Copenhagen with Dan. Then when I come back to England, I will have a full month to get settled in Birmingham before school begins. Sounds perfect right? Catch is, if the money doesn't come soon, the visa doesn't come soon, and Anne-Margaret won't be able to leave as soon as she'd like and she may just throw an epic temper tantrum to mark the lovely occasion.
So here I sit...still a month away from knowing my fate. Will I get to go at all? Will I get to go in time to spend a week in a new place with the love of my life? Will a temper tantrum be called for?
Did I mention I suck at this whole patience thing?
Hi Anne-Margaret, I completely sympathize with you. The whole moving overseas and waiting on funding and immigration thing can be an exercise in patience! But you'll get there.
ReplyDeleteWhile my Dan was applying for his green card my mantra was "Keep Calm and Carry On", because I knew that things would fall into place in their own way and in their own time. It was hard, but we got there. The good thing is that the UK visa process is a lot quicker than the US one - I got my spouse visa within of application.
Anyway, wanted to let you know I'm working on my Birmingham guide & it's on it way this week.
On a side note, having gone through US and UK spousal immigration I can assure you that the US is just as hard on potential free-loaders entering the country as the UK, if not more. Green card holders are not eligible for any state benefits and I'm financially responsible for my "alien spouse" (love that term!) for the next 10 years. So hopefully we find jobs soon! :)
Thanks Alisha:
ReplyDeleteI know you are right that things will fall into place. And, I do have other options if need be. For the most part I am handling it all in stride but somedays (like today) I just wanna scream and say "would you tell me already?!".
Looking forward to your Bham guide. Thank you so much for you support and information. It's so very comforting!
LOL I have always liked the term "alien" as well. A good friend of mine moved here from Germany when she was just 5 but she is still considered a resident alien, of which she likes to remind everyone.
I will keep my fingers crossed on the job hunt! I DEFINITELY know how that is!
It will all come together, then it will be a whirlwind in the weeks before you leave! I remember the feeling vividly!
ReplyDeleteOh, and my friend was considered a 'dual-alien' for US tax purposes. It's bad enough being called an 'alien', but an alien twice-over is a kick in the pants!
Kim:
ReplyDeleteYou went to grad school in the UK, right? Do you mind me asking what sort of loans you got?
This thing has been more then of a challenge then I expected it to be. Everyone was like, "oh it's so easy to get money". So far, not so much for me. :P
Thanks!
I did. I had (well, have!) two federal loans. I imagine they were Stafford. I think one is subsidized and one is unsubsidized. One loan paid for the tuition and the other one was living expenses. My mom ended up co-signing the larger, living expenses loan.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
The funding part is a huge headache. I'm in the midst of that too right now. What loans did you apply for?
ReplyDeleteI applied through the standard US Federal loan program so that covers subsidized and unsubsidized direct loans, as well as Grad Plus loans. I will be pulling from all three.
ReplyDeleteWhat about you?
Hult International Business School has yet to be federally approved. MEFA was the only source for US citizens.
ReplyDeleteThat sucks! I am sooo grateful I can use federal loans, or else there's no way I could swing this.
ReplyDelete