The
simplest questions
are the most profound.
Where were you born? Where is your home?
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
Think about
these once in a while, and
watch your answers
change.
The bond
that links your true family
is not one of blood, but
of respect and joy in
each other’s life.
Rarely do members
of one family grow up
under the same roof.
From Messiah’s Handbook, Reminders for the Advanced Soul
within the book ILLUSIONS by Richard Bach
all the luck to you Cranberry. Life is an adventure
Well, you are writing better than most college grads, you know.
I’ve been through all of this too, I will spare you the gory
details. I do know what it’s like.
If you go to New Orleans,
which is the South where you and your southern accent
will be right at home, you will meet people very easily.
It is a great place to be a young person, there is a
large gay community, there are all sorts of places
to meet people, bars, coffeshops, there is a perpetual
party going on in the Quarter. You will have friends
in a couple of days.
It is much less expensive than most
livable cities. It isn’t so far from where you are.
You will not need a car in New Orleans.
Things are close enough together and the
bus service and trolleys are fine.
There is work, it’s a tourist town, it’s not hard
to find restaurant work, work in coffee houses,
etc.
Get a life and a job and then address
the educational thing, start from the bottom up.
You can’t go to college without a foundation,
a livable life, a place to live. That has to be
there first. There will be a way to get an education. There
is financial
aid at UNO, which is a good school.
There are several other schools, too,
and a community college.
Above all, go somewhere where there is life
and people and various resources and you
can make a life for yourself. Never live with
people who hate you, and for heaven’s sake
get out of the backwater. It’s OK to be
scared shitless, but please don’t let
yourself languish. Best wishes, Jim
P. S. New Orleans is beautiful. There are palm trees,
azalias come out in February, magnolias, big oaks covered
with spanish moss, it’s a green city, a river runs through
it, the Quarter is full of used book stores, there is
good cheap food, there is a lot of music on the
streets…
Stay away from Los Angeles and CA in general. Yes, there are a lot of schools and plenty of jobs, but due to the huge budget deficit in the state, the UC’s, Cal State’s, and community colleges have been hard hit. To limit enrollments, students guaranteed admission into a state university are being sent to the community colleges. Fewer faculty being hired or replaced and fewer operating funds means not enough classes for too many students, and huge class sizes for those who get in. Many students can’t graduate because the classes they need aren’t being offered.
It’s a bad scene and will likely stay this way for the next couple of years, according to the pundits.
I sympathize with you, Cran, and hope things work out for the best for you. It sounds like you’re persistent and resilient, which is half the battle.
Actually, Jim beat me to my next thought…
NAWLINS!!!
Seriously, it’s a fantastic town, where any and all are accepted. Something going on 24/7. You can work anything from waitressing, to directing tours (I’d love to be the one doing the “Haunted New Orleans” tours!!!). Music, art, food - it’s got it all. You definately do NOT need a car - it’s actually a hinderance in parts like the Quarter.
About the only “down” side is the darn 110% humidity and the mosquitos. But I’ve been there in August (for an American Chemical Society conference, of all things) and other than the rain every day at 4:30pm, it was “tolerable”.
Yep - jambalya in your future. Definately a place to think about.
"Berea College has a distinctive mission
How many colleges
provide every student a full-tuition scholarship,
admit only low-income students,
require all students to work in a college job,
are committed to serving Southern Appalachia, and
are ranked as the top teaching institution in the South?
In the 2001 edition, US News & World Report magazine named Berea the top Liberal Arts College in the South in its 14th annual ranking of America’s best Colleges." This is the seventh time Berea has received a No.1 ranking in the magazine’s survey. "
I think you should seriously consider this choice. From what I understand, this college was founded to educate people in exactly your situation. You have nothing to lose by contacting them and submitting an application. You still have time to apply for spring 2005 admission. It doesn’t have to be only fall admission.
A couple of folks have mentioned exactly where I was thinking-
Berea in KY
I know more than a few folks who have gotten their education at this college(many of them are/were teachers). It’s within a reasonalble distance from your home so you could keep in touch if you wished.
The people I know who are alumni of Berea are all folks who would never have been able to afford any kind of higher schooling much less this caliber of education had Berea not existed.
One of the graduates, continues to suppliment his retirement with the skill of making beautiful hand-made brooms which are very much in demand. He learned this skill at Berea.
Making brooms? That made me laugh so hard. It really shouldn’t have though…heh. They’re pretty brooms… Mabey I’m just in a weird mood.
I thought I had applied but I suppose I just requested information, because the online application form isn’t working right now.
It also requests a few things I don’t have and can’t get (like high school transcripts, class ranking, and letter of recommendation from a former teacher), but I don’t think that would disqualify me because I never got to go to high school. I am going to call them tomorrow.
Brooms Yeah, I know it sounds funny. If you could imagine this guy, living in a house in what’s left of a coal camp that was booming about 100 yrs ago(and I KNOW you can)-because that’s where he wants to live, not where he has to, making these brooms- they really are works of art AND they are very much in demand!! He’s in such demand for large crafts show/sales that he’s picky about where he attends. It’s one of those inexplicable things. Just an example of the strange turns life takes.
Gee Cran,
Aren’t you glad you wrote in!
What a bunch of good suggestions.
They had me convinced that New Orleans would be your place,
and now they start talking about Berea in Ky.
What an interesting sounding place that is.
I’M glad you wrote in, and I sure hope you find a good home
and meet lots of new friends that make you feel
secure and happy in your life.
Lolly
I can’t offer any practical advice from this side of the Atlantic, but I would just like to comment on how moving I find this thread. It restores my faith in humanity in general and C&F in particular. You haven’t had an easy life so far, young Crannog, but there are a lot of people around here who care about you even though we don’t know the real person behind the persona.
The whole issue of the funding of higher education is one on which there are major differences between the US and most of Europe, and a lot of people in Europe are concerned that we seem to be moving towards the expensive US model, which works well when you do the econometric models on rates of return on investment but seems to produce a lot of human collateral damage. For example, I couldn’t but be struck by how many of the individuals who received unwelcome notoriety in recent times in Iraq had only joined the military in order to be able to pay for an education. But the positive side of the US setup is the extent to which people and institutions try to help others overcome the difficulties.
Berea seems to be the way to go for you, Cran, but if that doesn’t work out just think what a great place New Orleans would be for a music-lover. And bear in mind that, with humidity like that, you should never have any reed problems if you decide to add to your existential problems by taking up the uilleann pipes .
The people there mayn’t be generally very bright but it can be much cheaper to go to a community college. There’s nothing wrong with getting a few courses out of the way there, I think. Just make sure they will transfer before you do.
You haven’t had an easy life so far, young Crannog, but there are a lot of people around here who care about you even though we don’t know the real person behind the persona.
I’m one of those people who don’t know the real person. I’m not even sure if I exist, remember? :roll:
It’s an age thing, after a while you just find you’re too busy getting on with your life to be bothered wondering if you have one or not. But at the earlier stages it can seem a bit bewildering. Hang on in there, being young was never easy, and I don’t think it’s getting any easier.
If you want to live in a reasonably large city, there are plenty of them that are far cheaper than NYC of SF, and which offer more than enough of people, jobs, opportunities, schools etc. Stay in the cheap half of the US.
If you move, you probably need to worry about residency, because you’ll want to go to an in-state college. If you must wait a year before getting in, that’s cool, because a year to get your bearings isn’t so bad.
As for community college vs. university: it’s not just a matter of how good the teachers are. Universities will have more students, more campus life, more organizations, and more and larger academic resources like libraries.
I would really work on the Berea College idea, Cranberry. The students work at all sorts of jobs to support themselves—they provide most of the support staff for the college. When we were there we stayed in a hotel which was staffed primarily by students. The ones that do the craft things are the ones that want to do that sort of thing----but it is definitely production work. I think if you talked to someone in person about your records they would help you figure out what to do. My husband went there as part of an accreditation team and he thinks it is a very fine place.
I personally would vote for keeping on with trying to go to the community college and not giving up on the housing until the day school starts. And if you think you know what college you want to transfer to, as someone mentioned, check with the college you want to transfer to about what credits they will accept from the community college. If you don’t know, then just accept that some credits may not count.
Or, if there were a small city fairly close by where you could work and live until going to Berea or some other school next year that might be good too. I myself would find going to a big city on my own without money or a job lined up to be something I could not do. But that would just be me.
Just so people know they’re not being ignored, I believe Cranberry is taking a break from the board currently. This thread was recently revived from last June.
I’m sure the advice will still be appreciated, though.
Yeah, I know it sounds funny. If you could imagine this guy, living in a house in what’s left of a coal camp that was booming about 100 yrs ago(and I KNOW you can)-because that’s where he wants to live, not where he has to, making these brooms- they really are works of art AND they are very much in demand!! He’s in such demand for large crafts show/sales that he’s picky about where he attends. 
It’s one of those inexplicable things. Just an example of the strange turns life takes.
.