if only school was free I got an A.A.S in Welding and fabrication at a few grand and I'm finishing up my Bachelors at like way more than that a semester, I work full time right now while taking 11 credits I'm tired and poor but i'm almost done! I'm almost kicking myself for not joining union and working for awhile, many of the students I know would get an associates or certificate in welding then join a union and have a foot up. I just wish I could get some free schoolage.
They called me about the program in January '08, I knew I had 4 months to make extra money. I worked for 45 days straight trying to get as much O.T as possible. Good thing we had just paid of the car in Nov '07. We cut back on expenses, good thing I live in SoCal where winter months aren't so bad. Stocked up on non-perishable foods at Costco, Sam's Club. Traded in my fiance SUV for a nice small car, complete trade plus $600. Good thing we did that in the earlier part of the year, cause now they would not have given us as much money as they did. I also continued working at my job Fridays and Saturdays, in addition my fiance is a 2nd year middle school science teacher.
Yeah it is tough but other had it tougher. Couple of guys quit after 3 weeks, gas was killing them or just normal expenses of living (Rent,food etc). As I said before I hope to get into the September/October class and kick the sh*t out of that 6G. I am still pissed about it. So close yet so far. DAMN!!!!!