Life as an Official Post-Grad-- Again.

So I will admit that it's been quite a long time since I've even thought about posting anything. This will be quite random... This morning, I finally received my diploma, so YAY GRADUATION! (Even though technically I've officially "had" my diploma since December, now I finally have the paper to prove it. So I'm Class of 2009.5 lol...)

As if anyone actually cares about my life, this week has been both hellish and awesome, from planting trees to hanging out in Philly with the Will to my Grace (we're still looking for a Jack, btw...), having lunch at the absolute coolest little Japanese bistro & bar, getting new piercings, living in what amounted to a prison cell in solitary confinement (a.k.a. a tiny dorm guest room on a completely empty floor, in a basically empty building...) & losing my debit card between Chestnut and South St... (And only realizing when I went to pay for the piercing... after noticing that my credit card wasn't working for some reason. That was a fiasco, but again, thanks to "Will," everything turned out to be just fine...) So yay, senior week!

In other news, I am on the lookout for another job... It's not that I don't like where I am now, it's just that I need more money. I was hoping to move out by the end of the summer, but the way things are looking, there's just no way I can afford it. So here's a little advice - if you can avoid getting a Chase Student Loan, do it. I don't know why things got so messed up, but they decided to combine all of my loans (which each had a different interest rate dependent on my cosigners) and hike the interest rate up to some ridiculously high number, without any explanation as to why. My plan was to pay off as much of 1 particular loan as possible, then try to get a small loan so I could go to grad school (which would also postpone the rest of my loans...). Problem is, the expected loan repayments are so insanely high compared to my current paychecks, so add that on top of the car insurance payments... I'll be lucky if I can pay for any of that, let alone rent, utilities, etc... I'm hoping the student loan legislation that passed as a part of the health care reconciliation package will bring my repayment plans back into an affordable range... because right now, the monthly payment is at least 50% of my monthly income, when legally, it should be no more than 10%. And that's all just from Chase. I also have federal loans, Sallie Mae loans, and my mother has a parent loan... Yay, college! So if you can manage to go without loans, more power to you. As for me, and 90% of the Class of 2010 from my school, we'll be in debt til we're in our 50s.

Another issue regarding financial aid- my younger sibling was accepted to Columbia U. Yes, the Ivy League NYC Columbia U, new favorite of Blair Waldorf, etc etc... However, due to their ridiculously tiny financial aid package, and their idea that $48,000 expected family contribution is completely reasonable for a mother of 3 who doesn't even make half of that in a full year (not including child support, etc.). I can't even afford my own college education, so there's no way I will be able to pitch in... But really, what nonsense is this, when a obviously intelligent but needy (minority) student isn't able to attend the school of her dreams because the school's idea of financial aid is $1,000 of work study (which, depending on the size of the department, few people ever make in full...) and a tiny grant?! There's more to this story, involving incompetent and disorganized financial aid and admissions offices, but what else is new...

Hmm... In terms of politics - Arizona is just too much craziness, BP is still trying to get away with murder & force the majority of payment on taxpayers, and Rand Paul is about as much of an idiot as his father. Seriously... I tend to agree with a lot of libertarian viewpoints, but seriously, you CANNOT call for a constitutional ban on abortion and same-sex marriage and other things you don't like, but criticize Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Employment and the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] and still call yourself a libertarian at the end of the day. That just does not make any sense whatsoever. It's just downright hypocritical. Where is the consistency??? Either the government stays out or it doesn't. You don't like the government telling employers that they can't discriminate against people based on things they can't help (which is essentially what it's for - race/ethnicity, age, gender, disabilities within reasonable ability to do the job with or without some minor assistance, & in some states, sexual orientation, which will likely become part of the federal law within the next year or so) but you'd actively use government to enforce what a woman can or cannot do with her own body, publicize private medical records because of an abortion, or keep 2 people from getting married? How does that fit into the libertarian way? Individual liberty??? Civil liberties?? It seems that a lot of people I've encountered who identify as libertarian want the government to stay out of people's lives, except when those people doing things these "libertarians" don't want them to do, because they personally find it morally objectionable, often for religious reasons. So what about our right not to have your religion forced on us? I would give up my "right" to get married if it means one of my gay friends can. I don't want to, he does. Another thing the Catholic Church seems to STILL advocate - killing your children before they're born is horrendous and wrong, but abusing them and raping them is ok. In fact, they'll even cover it up for you. W. T. F.

And maybe it's just because Paul is a Republican, and therefore has to cater to their desires in order to get elected. It happens. But c'mon. Consistency is so much nicer than hypocrisy.

Lol, how's that for a week's worth... I think if I continue, I'd just end up ranting forever... So have a nice weekend!