Still too much...

Alright kiddies we're back and here to discuss federal student loans *dun dun dun* Many of us have them, so lets get it all out and into the open.

There are two main types of federal students loans: Stafford Subsidized Loans and Stafford Unsubsidized Loans. The biggest difference between the two of these is the interest on subsidized loans, students only pay the original amount of the loan whereas the original loan plus whatever interest has accumulated over time must be paid back with the unsubsidized loan. Although subsidized loans are better, they usually yield less money that unsubsidized. In either case, students have 10 years to fully pay back their loans after graduating or dropping out of school.

There are also Parent Plus Loans, which parents can take out to help their children pay for college. Although the loan is not need-based and has a low fixed interest rate (currently 7.9%), it must be paid back more quickly than Stafford loans.

Before any loans can be dispersed, a Master Promissory Note must be filled out. This is essentially a contract between you and the government saying you know what your doing and your going to pay the money back in a timely fashion. A huge buzz-kill for the MPN is you must complete a quiz about the types of loans and payment systems and achieve a satisfactory score before any money can be shelled out. Luckily, however, one MPN is good for ten years (woo-hoo!).

Luckily for us MSU Spartans (Go State!), our Office of Financial Aid has posted some great videos to walk students through any questions they may have about loans, scholarships, grants, and financial aid. Oh yes; be jealous.

That's all for now y'all cause I'm tired. Till next time...

Why So Much?

Today, my dears, we're going to talk about the importance of a college education; aren't you excited? Yay!

First thing you need to fill out to get any sort of government aid is your FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This application determines how much money you and your family can pay out-of-pocket for your education, and also how much money the government is willing to shell out to you.

Next you send your FAFSA along with your test scores and applications to the college of your choice. Without the FAFSA, colleges aren't able to provide you with aid and then you'll be straight screwed.

 Now if the government decides your worthy of their money, there are a variety of things that must be accomplished, depending on what kind of money they decide to give you.

If your lucky enough to have the government give you free money, all you really need to do is nothing. These are usually reserved for ridiculously intelligent people that make you feel bad about your life when they tell you their majors. However for those of us who have work study, effort is involved. Most colleges require to find an on-campus job before they pay out the scholarship. A small price to pay for free money, if you ask me.

Now for those of us who aren't lucky enough to receive scot-free money from the government, there are always government loans. Yes, I know they suck, but society wants us to have an education but wants to pay as little as possible for it. Screw society.

Next blog, we'll talk about everything you ever wanted to know about federal loans. Exciting right? Oh yeah; you know you want to read about it...

Release Therapy

I’m writing this because my brother A’keem told me to; shout out and big ups to him for helping me through. Before we start this, I have two disclaimers:

One: Many of you are not going to want to read this because it is going to be long and extremely depressing and I know you’re used to me being funny. So continue at your own peril.

Two: There is NOTHING WRONG with being single. Let me reiterate: NOTHING WRONG. I am in no way dissatisfied with being single; it’s how it came about that I take issue with.

Leggo, y’all…

About a month ago, after almost two years, I became single. It happened in the middle of the night. It was sudden. I was shocked. I was hurt.

Let me tell you what it felt like: for the first 10 minutes I was numb. I couldn’t move, my mind was foggy, I was speechless. He said he was sorry he hurt me and my self-defense mechanism kicked in: I told him not to be. He wouldn’t even look at me.

People who know me well know two things: I don’t cry and I don’t smile. I have nothing against either function; it’s just not something I allow myself to partake in.

That night… I cried. I tried to keep quiet so my roommates wouldn’t wake up but it was no use. It was intense. I literally cried for hours; I couldn’t stop to save my life. The more I tried to quit, the faster and the harder the tears fell. It felt like my whole world had just been crushed; my heart ripped into a thousand tiny pieces, doused in kerosene and burned. The ashes were unceremoniously flushed down a public toilet.

I woke up the next day feeling absolutely gross. My eyes burned, my body hurt. Everyone kept texting my phone, asking me what happened, bringing up the pain I was trying to push down. I was in the middle of writing two essays and I sobbed the entire time; I was a total train wreck.

I had every intention of going to my biology class, but I just couldn’t leave the room. This had never happened before; rarely had I ever felt a pain this all-consuming. I tried to get myself together, but I failed miserably; I cried all morning.

My poor roommates were so scared; they tried to comfort me but they didn’t know what to do. They ended up leaving me alone in the room to sort through the shambles that was my life.

I talked to A’Keem, who had a similar experience. He told me just about everything I told him when he was going through, but I didn’t want to hear any of it. I wanted him back. I wanted to end this nightmare, I wanted my heart to become whole again

Time passed. I hung out, I partied, I thought I was doing okay. But I wasn’t; not even a week later I was back to sobbing uncontrollably. I didn’t understand why it happened; I still don’t. I was breaking and the one person who usually helped me through was the one breaking me; I didn’t know what to do.

Gradually I tried to get better. But the worse was yet to come.

That night he said he still cared about me. He said he would always be there for me. He said he wanted us to still be friends. And then… he ignored me. He wouldn’t answer my texts. He wouldn’t mail my stuff. I gave him the world and he wouldn’t even give me a cold shoulder; it burned me to my very core.

All of a sudden in the middle of the night he texts me. He said just about everything I wanted to hear short of “I made a mistake; please take me back.” Trying to protect what little dignity I had left, I tried to push my hopes down and assumed he was drunk.

We talked about it the next day. Not only was he sober, he was dead serious. But I was still angry; I don’t take too kindly to getting my heart ashes flushed down a toilet. And that anger leaked out before I could stop it: “You left me. You took everything I had and you left. You didn’t even say I love you…”

He got pissed and stopped answering, and the few times we spoke after that he always got mad. I didn’t know what to do; I was so confused.

And then one day it stopped completely. He ignored any attempt through any medium to contact him. It hurt even more than him breaking up with me. I felt like such a fool. And he still had my stuff; I don’t think I’m ever going to get it back.

I don’t know what to do, y’all. I’ve been crying the ENTIRE time I’ve been writing this; the pain is as searing as the day it happened.

One thing I’ve never believed in was the power of love. I mean yeah it sounds nice and it’s the dream little girls are fed since birth but it was never for me. As long as I’ve been dating I’ve been using them, abusing them, and tossing them to the side.

And of course the one time I let go of the illusion, it backhands the crap out of me. I was a fool. And I was stupid and naïve and horribly girlish. I let my guard down and got burned for it.

Lately though, my self-defense mechanism has been kicking in. Better late than never, right? Wrong.

For whatever reason, probably to protect my sanity, my mind has been… erasing certain memories. Things I used to think about all the time don’t even come up on my mind anymore. Daydreams, fantasies, indulgences, all gone, just like that.

You have no idea how hard it is. Every day I think about it. I wish I could be mad but… I can’t. I’m still the naïve little girl who let her guard down, who let her heart go. No matter how hard I try, no matter what I do to try to change it, I can’t help myself.

So I’m back at square one. But this square is different; its foreign and unfamiliar. I don’t like it in the least bit.

I was a good girlfriend; no. I was a great girlfriend. When I say I gave him the world, I snatched it up, gift-wrapped it, and had it delivered on the backs of elephants. I go hard in relationships; that’s just how I am. My philosophy is if I don’t do it, some basic crumb-snatching broad will.

I don’t know what I’m going to do now. We’ll see how everything plays out… There may be a Release Therapy Part 2 in the near future…

Morbidly Obese...

We're back to talk about even MORE options. That's right; there's no need to rub your grumbling tummy and nibble Saltines after midnight, or even during the day. This blog post is especially directed towards the current and incoming freshman, since I know most of you aren't privy to the information I'm about to share with you. We're in college; life is awesome.

There are several websites that will show you menus from surrounding restaurants for those days when you're tired of the cafeteria. Campusfood.com is one of my favorites because they offer a huge selection of menus, both from sit-down restaurants and from places that deliver. GoGreenMenus.com is also a good website as it caters directly to MSU Spartans.

I'm going to say this twice, because the majority of you aren't going to believe me. Here goes: IHOP delivers. Yes, that's exactly what I said. Once more: IHOP DELIVERS. Because of a wonderful service called Special Delivery you can get that pancake goodness delivered right to your door. And they don't just deliver IHOP; you can get Taco Bell, Apple Bee's, Carraba's, and just about any other restaurant in about a 10 mile radius.

And finally, if you're feeling adventurous (or cause your girlfriend is tired of eating at McDonald's) there are several delicious sit-down restaurants in the area. Los Tres Amigos, a popular spot and one of my favorite hang-outs, has three locations in Lansing alone. And since corporate America is no stranger to college students' sparse bank accounts, many restaurants run specials that will keep you and your wallet quite full.

Well there you have it. You will not starve; help has arrived. Stop eating those Saltines and pick up a menu. And here's a tip: next time you call Gumby's at 1am looking for Pokey Stix, ask for the Gumby's Giveaway. You can thank me later... or now is fine, too...

Life of a Concessionaire Part 2

And we're back.

Concessions is responsible for providing food at several different venues, including Munn Ice Arena, the Breslin Center, Spartan Stadium, and the Agriculture Pavilion. Fortunately for those of us who are students, the only place we work the actual stands are the Pavilion.

The people you see when you come up to buy that billion dollar large Pepsi are non-profit service groups. They work for Concessions during large events like football, basketball, hockey, volleyball, and special events like the Harlem Globetrotters. In exchange for their services, the nonprofits get to keep a percentage of the earnings from the event.

I bet your wondering "if other people are running the stands, what's your purpose in being there?" Well I'm glad you asked.

As a student employee, it is my job to count the inventory in the stands and help them in whatever way possible. This usually means I turn on all their equipment before they arrive, help them with their paperwork, fix any broken equipment, and bring them whatever they need. I also deliver inventory items during the course of the event such as pizza, cases of water,and boxes of pretzels.

The best part of the whole deal is since I don't run the stand, I'm usually in the office eating pizza & drinking pop during the event. A lot of the time I even get to watch the event; I got to see WWE Raw live when they came to the Breslin Center this past March and let em tell you it was pretty freaking sweet.

Don't get me wrong; there are downsides. Running through a large crowd with 3ft tall bags of popcorn is no fun whatsoever. I almost got jumped by the cheerleading squad during Midnight Madness this year when I walked past them with a large stack of fresh-out-the-oven pizzas. A lot of the time the nonprofits ask for stuff we students really don't want to do, like changing the pop bibs.

Its all good, though. I get a free meal every time I work an event and I've gotten to see some pretty cool things. I've gotten to watch all but two football games this season and I've seen several of last season's men's and women's basketball games. I've worked WWE Raw, Carrie Underwood, and Conan O'Brien. I've seen huge quarter horses and the most adorable puppies ever at the Agriculture Pavilion.

I guess Concessions isn't that bad. I'll take Concessions over working in the cafeteria any day...

Life of a Concessionaire Part 1

As most of you know, I work my tail off about 5 times a week for Michigan State University Department of Concessions. Its hard work and its minimum wage but for whatever reason I can't seem to bring myself to quit and get a new job. I even found a better job this summer and still ended up working for Concessions.

We're going to start this story about a year ago, back when I was first accepted into Michigan State University. My first thought was "it's time to find employment." So I filled out application for a ton of places on campus and emailed them all out. And then I waited.

The first department to give me a callback was Concessions, so I jumped on it. I did my phone interview in the middle of class and scheduled my in-person interview for the day before my AOP (Academic Orientation Program). I was super excited to finally have a legitimate legal job.

I did my in-person interview and the bosses loved me. I was hired on the spot, even though I wouldn't be able to work for two months after I was hired. I moved into the dorms a week before school started so I could begin to work. I filled out my paperwork the day after moving in and met one of my best friends, Katie Kennedy, who was filling out her paperwork that day too.

The next day was rough to say the least. I was thrown into the back of a huge truck with windows only in the front. I was taken to the Agriculture Pavilion. Now, this was back when Farm Lane was closed down for construction, so it took way longer than normal to get there. I had no idea where I was and I was scared out my mind.

I walk in the Pavilion and my nostrils are instantly assailed with the glorious scent of horse manure. My supervisor for the day showed me & the other two people working with me how to scrub refrigerators, wipe down counters, clean shelves, sweep, mop, and generally sanitize the stand. It was gross.

After that I swore up and down I was going to quit. But here I am a year later, still working for freaking Concessions. I've seen tons of my friends fired, I've seen events that were total messes. I've even seen two nonprofit groups get fired. Its madness, but... I love my job.

That's all for this blog, folks. Next time, I'll talk about more adventures int he life of a concessionaire.

So Fat...

Let's talk about something I am extremely passionate about: food. That's right: my inner fat girl is writing this article. I have no shame in my game: don't let the small frame fool you. Mama can put away some food...

I would like for it to be known that large universities, especially in the Big Ten (Which now has twelve teams... How'd they work that one out? And the Big Twelve only has ten teams... Madness, I tell you...), may single handedly be responsible for massive amounts of gluttony in college students. And you know what? I'm okay with that. 

For those of you who haven't experienced these pleasures, let me break it down for you. At Michigan State, on-campus students who live in the dorms get an unlimited meal plan that essentially allows you to eat at any and every dorm cafeteria on campus between the hours of 7am and midnight, up 100 times per week, every week. That's right, little piggies. All-you-can-eat without leaving the comfort of your home.

Craving sushi? Come to Brody. Need grilled salmon? Get thyself to Snyder-Phillips. Quesadilla craving? Case caf is the place for you. And the menu changes every day: the possibilities are quite literally endless.

And if that wasn't enough fat for you, MSU created this wonderful thing called Combo-X-Change.You see, if you live on campus but don't want to eat in the Caf, you can go to Sparty's, Union Pizzeria, or Serrano's, swipe your card, and get a meal. Oh yes: believe it.

Instead of paying for those tacos with a side of beans and rice and that 22oz lemonade at Serrano's, swipe your card and its yours. That buffalo chicken pizza, Bosco stick and Pepsi calling your name at the pizzeria? Answer the call. Just gotta have that bagel, string cheese stick and cranberry Everfresh from Sparty's? Get it. What a wallet saver.

And even if you don't live on campus, you can still get in on this fatty goodness. They offer off-campus meal plans for those who aren't in the dorms. You can also get Spartan Cash, which is kind of like turning your ID into a debit card. Just swipe and go into the caf or other eateries and you too can be living the dream.

The best part? That's not even all the options. Thats right you little crumb-snatchers: the selections only get better, especially after the Caf closes at midnight. However, we will talk about this at another time, for I can see that you have destroyed your pants with sheer excitement from all this talk of food. So go throw those soiled knickers out, take a shower, and dream of chicken salad sandwiches, sushi, and rice krispy treats. Bon Appetit...

ISS 335 pt. 2

We're back, folks. I know you've been peeing your pants with anticipation, so here we go:

Post break, we begin to discuss disproportionate rates of poverty between African Americans and White people. Did you know that for every $1.00 a White person makes, and African American only makes about $0.85, even though the majority of African Americans are employed in white collared professions? Startling and saddening...

Next we briefly discussed the book we read, Ain't No Makin It by Jay MacLeod which follows a group of males from their high school years all the way up to their early to mid forties. It's a pretty cool book.

Class then get real with an in-class discussion (yay!). The first topic was directed at the racial minorities in the class: Do you feel welcome at Michigan State? The consensus of the black students was "hell no" as they gave several examples of white advisers saying one thing while the black advisers say another, stories of people who had taken Calculus in high school being enrolled in Math 1825 because of assumptions, and the always fun request from the white people of "Can I touch your hair?" 

Class got even more interesting when the professors asked another question: Do the white students feel unsure about or afraid of interacting with minority students for fear of saying the wrong thing? One white student said he would rather hang out with the African American kids because they are "real and down to earth and not materialistic like those blond sorority girls." The black kids snickered; the blond sorority girl sitting two rows in front of him shot him a dirty look. It was awesome.

Instead of letting the conversation continue and letting us rack up more extra credit points, the professors decided to let us channel all of our pent-up feelings and thought into a journal. Yippee. After the journal was finished, everyone left so the next class could take place.

So there you have it folks. I bet this makes you just want to run to your computers right now and enroll for the class...

ISS 335 pt. 1

Today I went to my ISS 335 (Race, Gender, and Class in America, if you want the topic) class and learned new things.

First, we talked about Irish immigration to America  and watched a short video where we discovered many facts. For instance, did you know that the Irish were one of the few immigrant ethnic groups to travel alone? The oldest daughter was usually sent to America to work and send the money back to help support her family. Irish girls were hired as maids for middle and upper class families and were referred to by their mistresses as "Bridgette". The girls kept some of their earnings and used it for their livelihoods and educations,resulting in the Irish having the oldest marrying age of any immigrant ethnicity. Intense, huh?

Next, we took a quiz (boooooo!) Maybe I didn't study hard enough, maybe my notes were incorrect, but I'm pretty sure the majority of the quiz material was NOT covered in class. Just to be sure, I asked my fellow classmates seated nearby and they confirmed my suspicions. Either we all spaced out at the exact same time, or the material really wasn't covered in class. Whatever; the lowest quiz grade gets dropped anyway.

After the quiz, we went over the answers to one of the versions of the quiz as a class. Yup: this is going to be my quiz that gets dropped. Then we took a 5 minute break, where about half of the class proceeded to get up and leave the building entirely. Not a smart move, considering we have a test next Thursday. Its all good, though. Considering the cost per credit hour nowadays, I stayed my happy hips in that seat.

Because I'm SO sure your just itching to know what happened after the break, I'm going to be a good author and leave you in suspense until the next blog. Mwahahahaha....

College

I'm finally done with my Jrn 200 out-of-class paper so I can blog now yay!!!!!!

If no one has ever told you, I'll be the first to say it; college is rough. Really rough. Everyone says they love college and its so much fun and it was the best 4/5/10 years of their life. What they really mean is they enjoyed the experiences, the partying, the crazy fun times. However, that only constitutes for about 1/3 of college. The other 2/3 is mainly class, and nobody likes that part.

Whoever decided to charge children & their parents thousands of dollars for an education needs to be shot in the mouth. Let's be real, especially those of us who went to public school: is it really worth those thousands of dollars? If an education is invaluable, why am I still paying for it 10 years after I graduate? Is my ISS class really that much better because I paid $372 a credit hour for it? I think not.

If the government truly wants us to be good, self-sustaining, productive members of society, they need to find some way to make education affordable, ASAP. Not all of us are rolling in dough, and once your actually in college scholarships are hard as hell to find. For instance, even with my tuition being paid by one of my scholarships, I still had to take out 3 loans to pay my room and board. Between freshman and sophomore year, financial aid took away all of my grants and claimed my tuition scholarship used up all my grant money. You know what I say to stuff like that? BULLCRAP.

Who designed this system? Why can I only get x-amount of money before they start handing me loan applications? I'm going to school full-time and working for the university at least 20 hours every week and I can't get some type of break? This is MADNESS! WE CAN'T AFFORD THIS! I really hope I get a fabulous job when I graduate cause I'm going to be dead in the water otherwise...

What's the Big Deal?

I just want to know what's corporate America's deal? Why must I dress in these uncomfortable clothes to do this job? Does it make my work performance any better? Is my report any more stellar because I wore pumps instead of sneakers? I think not.

I don't care how rich or powerful corporate America is; it's time for reform. I truly don't think its a bad idea to let your employees wear clean, neat jeans and t-shirts to work. I want my workers to be productive; their usually productive when their comfortable.

Cost is also a big thing, Do people realize how much a good button-up shirt or wool skirt cost? Am I even getting paid enough to buy a weeks worth of outfits? I don't think I am. Clothes like that come with special washing directions that ACTUALLY need to be followed correctly; just ask Gene Kelly what happened to his wool suit when he sang in the rain...

Plus, when your a woman, they always have something to say: "Ma'am it's come to our attention that you're extremely sexy and it is distracting your fellow coworkers from doing their job. If you could tone down your sex appeal it would be a great asset to company productivity; thank you." You know what I say to that? "Take your company productivity and shove it somewhere; you people don't do jack squat as it is. I worked hard for my body and I bet we would get more work done than ever if I came to work stark naked."

Tattoos and piercings are another thing. I mean its totally inappropriate to come to work with your face looking like a block of Swiss cheese but I shouldn't be yelled at for a tiny cartilage piercing; I promise you its not that serious. And tattoos are beautiful works of art; I have two. I would love to get several more but corporate America told me no.

Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I'm a free-spirited hippie-love-child. Maybe I'm telling the truth. Or maybe your just mad I actually have the balls to say what you've always been thinking.

What do you think?

Frickin A...

So my life has been pretty rough recently. My uncle died out the blue in September, my boyfriend blindsides me with a break-up last week, I'm drowning in homework, school sucks, parents suck, blase blah, blase splee. But you know... I really don't care right now...

I don't know why but I feel absolutely AMAZING right now! I could take on the whole world, I feel so good! I feel liberated and happy and giddy and excited and you know, I haven't felt like this since I was probably 7 years old. It just doesn't get too much better than this...

Not to mention, this is my first blog post ever and its not nearly as bad as I thought it would be (probably because I'm in such a good mood). I think I'll do this more often. What exactly are you supposed to talk about? Anything? I don't even know what I want to talk about... We'll figure it out. Well, I gotta go get ready for my dinner date, so I will blog you later. Deuces!