Postcards from the Imagination

Down to the wire now, and I think I can smell my brain working overtime trying to figure out how I'm going to pull off everything I need to pull off. The challenge du jour is that one last summer course I need to finish my B.A. The deans at BC have decided I can't take an online course, so I'm going to need an address from which to work for the duration of the course. I also have to pay for the course without credit cards or loans (because I'm not eligible for either). Every course I've seen runs either mid-June to mid-July OR mid-July to mid-August, each of which presents obstacles.

Problem #1: I won't have the money to pay tuition and related fees until July 10th, which eliminates the June-July course as an option.

Problem #2: I learned this weekend that my mother is moving to god knows where August 1st, which means I won't be able to use her couch beyond the last week in July. That takes a July-August course in NJ off the table.

Problem #3: The only way I'm going to be able to "move" on June 17th is to store most of my belongings here in NH, and take whatever will fit in my car down to NJ, because it's going to be a one-woman operation. I can keep a few "summer items" at my mother's house temporarily, but after August 1st everything needs to travel with me, including my car. Since my lease at Cornell begins August 1st, this is a strong case for taking a June-July course, but see problem #1.

Problem #4: Orientation at Cornell begins August 17th, so I need to finish my summer course by the 15th and arrive in Ithaca by the 16th at the very latest. Somewhere in there I also need to transport my belongings from storage in NH to the new place in NY.

Problem #5: Some courses are just plain outside my post July 10th budget, particularly if I need to pay for a place to sleep on top of tuition. Anything over about $1,500 to live and study ain't gonna work.  

I do have steady freelance work going forward, but it only pays once a month, thus the scheduling difficulty. At midnight on August 17th this ragamuffin turns into a self-supporting Cinderella with health benefits and money left over at the end of the month to pay down some student debt, travel a little, and maybe even start saving for a house. Sweet.