The Emily Post-Punk Graduation Fund
Donation protected
****JANUARY 2018 UPDATE****
I am in the final stretch of this crazy thing and I have, sadly, stretched my consumer credit to its limit (yay capitalism). I am so close! I’m gong to finish no matter what but any help at all getting over this last hurdle can make a huge difference in pushing through.
~~~~~~~~
Hello, friends. I'm finally admitting I need some help after busting my ass to do as much of this by myself (and with more than a little help from my very closest friends) as possible. I've gotten awfully far but now that the time has come to put everything in motion, I find myself up against some obstacles I can't quite get around. Obstacles big enough that I find myself asking friends & strangers on the interbutt to help me out if they can - a thing I admire other people for having the guts to do but can't imagine doing myself - and yet, here we are.
What, exactly, am I trying to do? I'm so glad you asked! I'm trying to get myself moved from San Luis Obispo, CA to Oakland, CA. I've been accepted to the BFA Textiles program at California College of the Arts for the spring semester, which starts January 19, and I've received an incredibly generous financial aid package that covers about three-quarters of my tuition. I am so grateful and excited for this opportunity to start a new life in a new city with a new focus on new goals. Newness abounds!
Money, on the other hand, does not. It does not abound, and it does not abide. It is the single most stressful aspect of my life, especially at this moment when it's crucial to getting me over this seemingly endless hill I've been climbing for the last three years or so.
Why don't I have any money of my own? Because reasons! Real reasons: Between 2007 and 2014, I paid off $30,000 in credit card debt. I had just arranged to pay off the first third of it in 2007 whereupon I promptly lost my very good job in the first wave of the financial crisis. After several months, I found a better job and was able to get back on track, but it was definitely a big setback. I had almost finished paying the other two-thirds off (with the assistance of an excellent debt management program) when I again lost my job in 2014, a job I really really needed for another year in order to prepare for this move. The only form of savings I had was my 401K, which was cashed out to pay off my remaining debt.
At that point, I opted to return to school at my local community college to finish my A.A. and take a lower paying job in order to maximize my financial aid eligibility when it came time to apply to CCA. I've been making $10 an hour since February, and my current job is a temp gig at Sephora. I've struggled a fair bit this year and have been willing to endure it because it was all an effort to achieve the goal I'd set for myself. I've also been fortunate to have an extraordinary amount of support from my ex-husband and my best friends, one of whom has gone way above and far beyond to help me get here.
My living expenses have always been low; I'm not an extravagant person, and I'm as resourceful & DIY as they come. I drive a 1996 Volkswagen (which, not coincidentally, could use some repairs to make it secure and ready for big city life). I take advantage of low-income utility programs whenever I can. I buy short-dated markdown food at the grocery store. You get the picture. But in the Bay Area, my rent is going to double. And I still have to come up with the money to get into a place - deposits, and all that jazz. I also have a $1250 a month payment to the school to contend with. I don't qualify for any private student loans because I don't have any open credit card accounts &/or don't make enough money, and I've had two co-signers denied already.
Of course I'm going to get a job as soon as I get settled and start school, but ... I have to get there in order to make that happen. A couple of family members were unexpectedly generous with birthday presents this week, so I am out of immediate financial danger and have a little bit of money to work with. But it isn't going to be enough. I still have bills to pay. My cat is a special snowflake who needs food that isn't crazy expensive, but isn't cheap either. Move-in costs may go as high as $4,000 to get into my own apartment if I can't find a place to share. If I don't find a job right away, I still have to pay rent & tuition. I have no way of knowing exactly what's coming, but I know I'm not going to be able to do it on the money I have.
$5,000 is a lot of money to me. I don't feel good about asking for it; even after writing all this I'm tempted to just forget about it and try to find a way to do it on my own. I'm sure there are people who will read this and think I don't deserve it because of course I could've done things differently. I could've chosen a less expensive school. I could stop feeding my cat special food and go back to wiping his little kitty butt every time he poops. I could sell my car, my guitars, my spinning wheels. If you want to tell me what a terrible person I am for ending up here, well, okay. I won't argue with you. But if you have five bucks you aren't using at the moment, it could help me more than you might imagine. And if you have no bucks but just want to wish me well, I'd love that too.
If you don't know who the hell I am, please have a look at my Twitter & Instagram feeds to get an idea. Feel free to ask me questions as well.
I am in the final stretch of this crazy thing and I have, sadly, stretched my consumer credit to its limit (yay capitalism). I am so close! I’m gong to finish no matter what but any help at all getting over this last hurdle can make a huge difference in pushing through.
~~~~~~~~
Hello, friends. I'm finally admitting I need some help after busting my ass to do as much of this by myself (and with more than a little help from my very closest friends) as possible. I've gotten awfully far but now that the time has come to put everything in motion, I find myself up against some obstacles I can't quite get around. Obstacles big enough that I find myself asking friends & strangers on the interbutt to help me out if they can - a thing I admire other people for having the guts to do but can't imagine doing myself - and yet, here we are.
What, exactly, am I trying to do? I'm so glad you asked! I'm trying to get myself moved from San Luis Obispo, CA to Oakland, CA. I've been accepted to the BFA Textiles program at California College of the Arts for the spring semester, which starts January 19, and I've received an incredibly generous financial aid package that covers about three-quarters of my tuition. I am so grateful and excited for this opportunity to start a new life in a new city with a new focus on new goals. Newness abounds!
Money, on the other hand, does not. It does not abound, and it does not abide. It is the single most stressful aspect of my life, especially at this moment when it's crucial to getting me over this seemingly endless hill I've been climbing for the last three years or so.
Why don't I have any money of my own? Because reasons! Real reasons: Between 2007 and 2014, I paid off $30,000 in credit card debt. I had just arranged to pay off the first third of it in 2007 whereupon I promptly lost my very good job in the first wave of the financial crisis. After several months, I found a better job and was able to get back on track, but it was definitely a big setback. I had almost finished paying the other two-thirds off (with the assistance of an excellent debt management program) when I again lost my job in 2014, a job I really really needed for another year in order to prepare for this move. The only form of savings I had was my 401K, which was cashed out to pay off my remaining debt.
At that point, I opted to return to school at my local community college to finish my A.A. and take a lower paying job in order to maximize my financial aid eligibility when it came time to apply to CCA. I've been making $10 an hour since February, and my current job is a temp gig at Sephora. I've struggled a fair bit this year and have been willing to endure it because it was all an effort to achieve the goal I'd set for myself. I've also been fortunate to have an extraordinary amount of support from my ex-husband and my best friends, one of whom has gone way above and far beyond to help me get here.
My living expenses have always been low; I'm not an extravagant person, and I'm as resourceful & DIY as they come. I drive a 1996 Volkswagen (which, not coincidentally, could use some repairs to make it secure and ready for big city life). I take advantage of low-income utility programs whenever I can. I buy short-dated markdown food at the grocery store. You get the picture. But in the Bay Area, my rent is going to double. And I still have to come up with the money to get into a place - deposits, and all that jazz. I also have a $1250 a month payment to the school to contend with. I don't qualify for any private student loans because I don't have any open credit card accounts &/or don't make enough money, and I've had two co-signers denied already.
Of course I'm going to get a job as soon as I get settled and start school, but ... I have to get there in order to make that happen. A couple of family members were unexpectedly generous with birthday presents this week, so I am out of immediate financial danger and have a little bit of money to work with. But it isn't going to be enough. I still have bills to pay. My cat is a special snowflake who needs food that isn't crazy expensive, but isn't cheap either. Move-in costs may go as high as $4,000 to get into my own apartment if I can't find a place to share. If I don't find a job right away, I still have to pay rent & tuition. I have no way of knowing exactly what's coming, but I know I'm not going to be able to do it on the money I have.
$5,000 is a lot of money to me. I don't feel good about asking for it; even after writing all this I'm tempted to just forget about it and try to find a way to do it on my own. I'm sure there are people who will read this and think I don't deserve it because of course I could've done things differently. I could've chosen a less expensive school. I could stop feeding my cat special food and go back to wiping his little kitty butt every time he poops. I could sell my car, my guitars, my spinning wheels. If you want to tell me what a terrible person I am for ending up here, well, okay. I won't argue with you. But if you have five bucks you aren't using at the moment, it could help me more than you might imagine. And if you have no bucks but just want to wish me well, I'd love that too.
If you don't know who the hell I am, please have a look at my Twitter & Instagram feeds to get an idea. Feel free to ask me questions as well.
Organizer
Emily Post-Punk
Organizer
Oakland, CA
