A Memorable moment in your life, a turning point, a lesson learned

The first turning point in my life was moving out and going to college. Bad idea. The moving out, I mean. I wanted to be independent and have fun, do a lot of stuff my mom wouldn't approve of. Not that she would've told me what to do (except in her house) but I felt the constraint of wanting her approval. Well, I moved out and it was a total disaster because I hadn't saved any money and with one thing and another I ended up dropping out of college. If I'd planned better, my whole life would've been different and I wouldn't be a middle-aged, divorced, semi-disabled lady with only a year of college, no degree, no real skills and no job. About your stress at home--can you put up with it? Just think to yourself, "In fifteen years, am I going to care what happened in this situation?" and the answer is probably no. Think of things that were important to you 15 years ago, that you thought would change your life. Do you care about them now? No. Of course, you were little then and couldn't make decisions but I'll bet when you're 33-35 years old, you really won't care whether your parents set a curfew or if you had to pay them rent or they had rules they wanted you to follow. You'll care that you have a good job and graduated college with less debt than your friends or colleagues. You can tell I'm a mother, can't you?! Sorry for the lecture. The things you decide right now can be so important for such insignificant reasons!

I had a similar experience in getting into college: it was extremely stressful while I was trying to get financial aid and find the right college. I did live at home while attending a local college to save money. My home life was very stressful! The big turning point in my life was when I got myself a real job, and got myself my first real apartment away from home. The freedom of being able to do what you want, when you want is extremely gratifying and fulfilling. Of course one has to be careful with finances, and scrimp and save to be able to truly enjoy life, but it's all worth it. So stick with the applications, stick with the interviews, and the loans. Try, try, and try again, until you've got to make your final decision. In the end, if you can get into school, you'll feel better --- at least, until exams! Take care. :)