There’s been a change of plans that’s taken place over the past couple weeks, and now that I’ve verified that talking about it publicly won’t risk my status with the unemployment office: I’ve decided to take advantage of having a lot of unclaimed free time and head back to school!
Prairie and I had discussed this in the past, but I was always nervous about not bringing in any money and leaving Prairie as the only provider. One of the benefits of having been unemployed these past three months, though, is finding out that with careful budgeting, we can survive on just Prairie’s salary (I haven’t even had unemployment insurance to help out, as my case is taking a little longer than usual to review thanks to the current backlog) — and so, now that we know that, I filled out the financial aid paperwork, put in my application, and yesterday got the official acceptance letter from Central Washington University.
Rather than moving out to Ellensburg, I’ll be going to classes on the Des Moines branch campus, going for a double major in Psychology (.pdf link) and Law and Justice (.pdf link). Once I’m done with that in two years or so, this should give me a very solid foundation to find a good spot somewhere within the general area of social work, which fits right in with a lot of my family’s background (Dad’s work as a custody investigator for the State of Alaska; Mom’s years working at the Covenant House runway shelter in Anchorage; and in a smaller way, my time at Gig’s helping give kids a safe place to be off the streets of Anchorage…and occasionally keeping an eye on kids that had also been helped by Mom and Dad in their respective jobs).
So, in just a few weeks, at the start of summer quarter, I’ll be a full-time schoolboy. About time!