Monday, July 23, 2012

Blog Title Change - Predeparture troubles

I changed my blog title to fit my situation with my study abroad (which shall now be referred to as EAP - Education Abroad Progra).

These past few weeks have been very stressful mainly with my Certificate of Eligibility. We were supposed to receive our CoE's 2 weeks ago, but mine was delayed due to a spelling error. For the next 2 weeks I anxiously and painfully waited for it to show up at my door. I had many nights worrying that it got lost and would never come.
To make my life even more stressful I get an email from my school's financial aid office telling me I have to update my SS card and show them in person. They tell me this 2 weeks before I leave!! Why is this a problem? It takes about 2 weeks to get a new one! No time at all for me to get my new card and go down to Santa Barbara to show the office my new card. I'm not lying when I say that I literally broke down. I cried and kept asking 'Why Me?!? Why is this happening to me?!" Oh, forgot to mention how not showing the card affects me. If I don't show them they will pretty much suspend my financial aid which means no funds for EAP. Thank God for their fast response (I emailed them about my situation) and them telling me that if I can show them a receipt verifying that I applied for one then they would lift the suspension off for Fall Quarter. A lot of stress were taken off my shoulders after that. However, right now I'm still a little worried. It's kind of hard to explain, though so I'll avoid doing so. Let's just say that I'm still waiting for money.
A week after getting my finaid taken care of I finally get my CoE and Acceptance Letter in the mail! Oh man was I happy about that! It came early in the morning so as soon as I got it I filled out the Visa Application and me and my dad ran out the door down to LA. Oh yeah, I had a bit of a stressful moment before about where I could apply for my visa. Apparently the LA consulate only accepts application from certain residents and mine wasn't one of them! Which is stupid because I live only 2.5 hours away from LA as opposed to SF where I live 5 hours away! I'm thankful for my sister who lives in SD for letting me use her address so me and my dad didn't have to go to SF. That would've been a big problem since I'd have to go there and go back (to pick it up). A whole lot of stress were lifted off my shoulders after turning in my visa application.
Now, the only thing I'm worried about really is the rest of my financial aid. If I don't get that Cal Grant then there's basically no way I can live in Japan... Hope finaid people reply to my email soon.

 So, how do those correspond to the title of my blog? I literally started losing hope and just felt nothing but negative feelings during these past few weeks because of all the delays that were happening. So many frustrations, stress, pain, anxiety, it was tough! But all-in-all I was able to pull through those bad moments and now I'm fully energized and more excited then ever! Fitting title, no?

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