School is too darn expensive

I'm sorry I haven't been posting! My life is in chaos right now, which really isn't a good excuse but yeah, chaos.

I have tonnes to do to get ready for school in the fall, which I'm freaking out about and stressing about, but hardly any of it can even be done yet. It's too early to pay my deposit (which I found out after phoning student finance like five times), I can't make my visa application until I've met all the conditions of the school's offer to me, one of which is paying my deposit (which is the only one I have left to meet), student loan applications aren't available until June so at least that's coming up soon, and I won't be sent any materials lists until July or something silly like that.

Pretty much the only thing I'm able to do right now (other than stress) is work and save up money. The problem is my current job is giving me less than ten hours a week so I have to get a second job to help supplement. So pretty much I just keep looking for jobs and applying for jobs and not hearing back on any of them and so looking for more and applying for more and still not hearing anything and getting frustrated and more stressed and I'm already going to have so much student loan debt and I just need a full time job to help lessen the amount of debt I'm going to be in since I'm going into the arts and won't exactly end up with a fantastic paying job after school to cover all the debt for school but I don't really care because I want to do what I love not what will make me rich but money sucks and I'm stressed!!!! :S

Sorry, just needed to rant there. But actually, that made me think of something somewhat interesting to talk about.

I don't know if this has been on the news outside of Canada at all but for the past few months there's been a lot going on in Quebec. Basically the Quebec government decided that they needed to raise tuition fees at post secondary institutions. The proposed increase would be (if I remember correctly) $200 per year over three years.

Well, the students in Montreal (Quebec's largest city) were very upset with this news and decided to protest the increase. Students went on strike and have been swarming the streets holding protests and demonstrations every day, nothing too violent but it's all been closely monitored by the police, student leaders have been in meetings and negotiations with the government, and classes have been suspended until some kind of agreement is reached.

I have mixed opinions on the whole affair. On the one hand I think that the Quebec students are being spoiled little babies, even after the increases their tuition fees would still be the lowest in the whole country, the majority of them probably don't even have to consider the burden of student loans to afford their education. On the other hand though, having to deal with ridiculously expensive tuition fees, I appreciate what they're trying to do and hope that the notion of post secondary education being affordable will spread elsewhere. And if that's the case I hope they keep fighting the good fight.

Many of you are already in, or starting, university/post secondary so what are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think that governments should be doing more to make post secondary education affordable for all or should it be an individual's responsibility? And do you agree with the extreme protests of the Montreal students?

DFTBA,

-Kim

China! (and the end of my first year in college)

Ten days, three cities, five concerts, one amazing trip.

I just got back from touring China with my college orchestra. It was really, really incredible. Certainly a trip I'll remember for my entire life. Some memorable moments include climbing the Great Wall, walking through the Forbidden City, and singing karaoke with Chinese college students.

While I was there, I learned a few things. I learned how to better imagine others complexly. I learned that cultural differences can be intimidating, but they're worth overcoming. I learned that first impressions can sometimes be really wrong. And I learned that the most valuable part of any experience like this is the friendships you make along the way.

The trip was really the best way to end the school year. I'm back in Denver with my family now, the first time I've seen them since Christmas. It's good to be back, and it's really great to see how much I've grown in the past year (and even the past ten days!).

In other words: good times, my friends. Good times.

Hi, Hope you're Well

Firstly I'd just like to say that Emily, your piece was beautiful and thank you for sharing it with us! As for Pottermore I think it's an interesting concept, and a new way of using technology to enhance the reading experience. That being said, I do think there's maybe some bugs to work out, and improvements still to make but I think it's a nice compliment to the books and a way to help keep them going strong even years after the initial publications. There are certain aspects of it I'm not a huge fan of, I feel like a lot of the descriptions are repetitive and oversimplified if you know the books well but I love that we're also getting new information so I'm kind of torn as to what my overall opinion is, I'm interested to see how it goes as it grows and changes are made.

Secondly I'm sorry it's been a while since I posted, life's been a bit hectic lately. I've started getting things organized for school in the fall and I'm looking into all my applications for student loans and a student visa and all that. I've also been looking for a second job for the summer so I can save up a bit more and hopefully not need as much in loans. Pretty much I've been busy but not with anything overly exciting, mostly paper work :S Oh well, once it's all done and fall comes around I'll be back in school and having a grand old time!

DFTBA,

-Kim