Posted by violette on August 26, 2010, at 7:27:47
In reply to Re: trapped, posted by Maxime on August 25, 2010, at 19:22:58
"I don't know what to do."
Maxime,
Do you have a college degree? If not, Phillipa had a good idea-how about going to school? If there is a local community college near you, you could even do work-study there (they place you somewhere on campus-it's not like 'applying' for a job), working part time doing something easy like paperwork at the financial aid office. Sure beats retail! The college environment is really laid back and I have found that in college, people are generally nice to be around, and having your curiousity aroused takes your mind off bad feelings. And at community colleges, there are a mix of people-different ages, single moms, younger kids, senior citizens, people who go to 4-year university, people on welfare....
And if you are on welfare, you'd be eligible for the full govt. grants which would exceed your tuition. You get to pocket the rest. My son gets about $3000 in cash per year just from leftover grant money. In addition to that, you can also get student loans to live on-that you don't have to pay back until you graduate. And there are tons of private scholarhips where you just write essays, and if you are selected, can get checks for $1000, $500, whatever, and keep the money.
Plus, it works well if you have mental health problems since you can miss classes when you are not feeling well. Or you could arrange all your classes in 2 days a week sometimes, esp. during your first year. It's not ideal to miss classes, but if you do your homework and study you can still get good grades. And when you start, the classes are generally very easy.
There are 12-month programs or 2 year programs-some pay $20 an hour after graduation, such as an MRI technician, there's non stressful jobs like medical billing coder, more... There are free programs for welders and machinists since they are in short supply. The community colleges have partnerships with businesses that hire the graduates.
It could build your self confidence too, you would get a sense of accomplishment each semester from earning credits towards a degree. You could start off with 2 classes the first semester maybe and ease yourself into it, and do work study. Either way, going to school can pay more than retail, if you include the loans and excluding the private scholarships you can get.
Screw retail. Could school be the change you need? I survived years of college with mental illness, at times it was real bad. It's a way out....Be hopeful. :)
poster:violette
thread:958963
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100821/msgs/959944.html