<p>I honestly don't have a clue what to do. I JUST went back to college in the fall of 2010 and things were going pretty good in college. However, my issue is that I work part-time (having an issue with finding a better job). My sister is struggling and I can't afford to pay her more money in rent (because of the recession) so she got upset at me because of my low wages and "claimed" that she's enabling me (I believe it's not true because someone can't enable somebody else if they are in college and working a job doing the right thing). I can't help that I can't find a good job though I fill out tons of applications and such. I had to drop out earlier this month and I don't think I'll ever be able to go back until I'll find financial independence (I don't know if that will ever happen). What makes it worse is that I'm 26 which makes me an older college student. I honestly have to say that several family issues caused me not to finish college earlier.</p>
<p>Why don’t you just cut down on the number of classes you take, or rent a room somewhere else if it will be cheaper. Have you tried finding work on campus? As an older student do you get financial aid. Dropping out will cause loans to come up for repayment soon. How will you do that. You would be smarter to just stick it out, finish school, get a better job with a degree, and then pay back your loans, help your sister, whatever. Get creative with current job hunting; do you have a skill you could teach? Tutor middle school or high school kids. Find a really well paying restaurant job for the upcoming summer season (people make great money waiting tables, or better yet, bartending!) Think outside the box, but just don’t give up. You’ll just stay stuck. How much school do you have left to complete your degree? How hard are you really looking for a better job? Do you wear nice clothes even to just drop off the application or resume, or do you go in wearing jeans and looking unprofessional? Examine what you are currently doing, and change it - it’s not working for you, is it? If your goal is to really finish school, you won’t let anything get in your way.</p>
<p>teachandmom, I was going part-time (6 credits). Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a place that’s cheaper than what I pay my sister. I applied for work study but most of the jobs that they had available require students to learn Excel. I was taught Excel in a computer course that I took a semester ago but it was hard to grasp, especially since the tutoring for that course was very limiting. I still struggle in certain subjects so I’m not 100% sure if tutoring would be a good idea for me. I have tried applying for restaurant jobs but they only want people who already have server experience. Right now, all I have is retail experience. A few days after my original post, I was offered a part-time job at a home improvement store as a cashier. I’m at 18 credits so I have a long while to go. It was hard to look for a job while in college and since most employers could never really work around my schedule. Though I was taking online courses when I dropped out, the coursework was still difficult and took a lot of time to complete.</p>
<p>I did not realize you were taking online courses as opposed to attending a “brick and mortar” institution. I don’t think you have to worry about being older; the computer doesn’t care about your age, and no one in an online class will ever see you anyway. I wouldn’t even consider stopping online coursework for a while “dropping out”. You aren’t dropping out of anywhere; you just aren’t taking a course. Work, take a class at a time, and that will be that. Your sister isn’t going to value your education, and may in fact just be jealous. I sure wouldn’t let her actions and words deter you from your goals. It does sound like learning is hard for you though, so you may do better taking just one course at a time. Good luck.</p>
<p>I wish I could take one class but I have to take at least two courses to receive financial aid. The college that I go to charges more for those who live outside Baltimore County.</p>
<p>Excel is extremely easy. I’m not sure how you can handle college coursework but not a simple computer program. Workstudy jobs are notoriously easy (I’ve had 2) so I would really recommend that you suck it up, learn Excel, and get a workstudy job. Search YouTube for free tutorials or use Lynda.com for paid ones.</p>
<p>Excuse me but just because it’s easy for you it DOES not mean that it’s easy for everybody. It isn’t my fault that the professor who taught the course was a bad professor.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to be rude, but I think you’re being overly dramatic. </p>
<p>If you figured out how to log onto this website and post, you can learn enough Excel to get a work study job. The overwhelming majority of “Excel work” in a work study job is just filling in cells and makings simple formulas (I’ve had many such jobs). If you are literate with a computer and can handle college-level coursework, there really should be no issue. </p>
<p>I can’t link to YouTube, but if you just search for Excel videos there, you should be able to easily find tutorials. Edit: here are a couple non-YouTube tutorials: </p>
<p><a href=“http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/[/url]”>http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/</a>
<a href=“http://people.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/excel/[/url]”>Sign in - Google Accounts;
<p>I’m sorry for being harsh, but if you’re in college, you should easily be able to pick up something as simple as Excel on your own time.</p>
<p>I never got the impression that the OP couldn’t pick it up, only that the OP hadn’t picked it up in the course he took.</p>
<p>Maybe you need to start thinking about the long term instead of short term goals here. Your problems seem like they could be worked out with a little time involved. It will take some time to get a job, that will work with you and is better than what you have. It will also take some time to find another living situation. </p>
<p>If your sister is not happy with you staying with her then you need to let her know that you are going to make some changes. There is nothing quite like having to deal with a disgruntled sibling. Especially one that thinks you need to be doing something different.</p>
<p>At 26 it is time that you get some decent job experience. You are going to run into trouble looking for a job even with a college degree if you don’t have any experience under your belt. If you are good at retail then look for something in the field that has some benefits. Apply for a job as a manager or as a buyer. Look for a company that promotes from within.</p>
<p>Get your living situation under control with a decent job and your own place before worrying about school. You can always return to school later. It is not going anywhere.</p>
<p>Have you thought about college loans? They are still available and guaranteed. If you get financial aid, adding loans will not affect that and you can still get the classes paid for. There is a certain amount of loans that people can get per year in school. You will want to go to school full time though so that you can finish without the money running out.</p>
<p>Are you splitting the rent with your sister? If you are not pulling your load in the house then it is not fair to her. Maybe whet she means by enabling is the fact that you have not made enough effort to find a better job. You are old enough that you need to start gathering job experience for your future.</p>
<p>Sometimes the best way to find a job is to ask people that you know if they know about anything available. That is a better intro into a new job than applying blind. It would be a good idea to look for something that is in the field that you are studying. You will need some experience in that field to get a job in it later after you graduate.</p>
<p>For an adult student, there is no limit to the amount of time that it takes you to get your degree. It is not a big deal to keep taking classes for a period of years as long as you are able to take care of yourself financially.</p>