Orientation’s over, the homework is prepared, and classes start tonight. I’ve enjoyed the people I’ve met so far and the assignments have been interesting.
I have decided I need to simply set aside any lingering doubts about my decision and charge ahead with enthusiasm. The finish line feels far away, and I’m eager to get there. But with interesting assignments, opportunities to start working next summer and, atleast compared to my peers, a promising financial situation; hopefully the time will cruise by enjoyably and at a brisk pace.
Then I can get into work that I enjoy and start moving towards financial independence once again and hopefully, in a few years, be in a position to sail off into the sun.
I have secured spring funding for school. So this means my entire first year of law school will only cost me the few hundred dollars I spent on my books. That’s $40k down, $80k to go for the next two years. School is going well. Classes are enjoyable and not really as difficult as people would have you believe. I would say it is about equal to the difficulty of my undergraduate work. And actually, because the curriculum is so concentrated, unlike undergraduate work where I took electives in whatever I pleased, I might even say that it’s a bit easier since all the classes closely relate to one another. Concepts learned in one class apply to another. Also, the subject matter is interesting and it’s empowering to know that I am gaining a commanding knowledge of the system that governs me.
Funding the remaining two years remains up in the air though. I ought to be laid off from work any day now. I’m looking forward to the free time. Unemployment insurance ought to cover my day to day expenses. I won’t be able to save much, but at least I will be making gains academically and having a nice break to just focus on school without a simultaneous 40 hr work week to distract me.
The question is, what do I do about funding the final two years of school without my scholarship through work?
I need to mull over some scenarios.
So it is finally official. Last Friday they pulled over 200 of us aside across the state and gave us our walking papers. I wound up working at that company for 2 years, 6 months, and 3 weeks. During which I took a 30 day leave of absence, 30 days I called in sick, and 10 weeks I spent on paid vacation. By my calculations that means I actually physically showed up and worked about 512 days or 4,096 hrs. In compensation, including my tuition money, I received about $165,000. Which comes out to: $40/hr. Not too shabby. Especially considering that about half of those 4,096 hrs were spent surfing the internet and rolling cigarettes.
If you throw in the fact that I will be able to collect unemployment for the next 80ish weeks, that bumps my total take from this job up to $215,000, which would give me $52.50/hr.
The timing of the layoff could not have been much better. I just finished my undergraduate work last May. And I have already secured funding for the entire first year of law school. The unemployment income should take me a significant portion of the way through law school, meaning I won’t have to take out student loans just to pay the rent. I am looking forward to the 40 extra hours I am going to have each week. This mostly means I will no longer be sleep-deprived, no longer have an excuse not to workout, and have some time to cook myself some food rather than grabbing fast food burgers for dinner on the way home from work on my rush to class. Things will be pretty laid back for the next couple of months. But, in anticipation of the layoff, I did sign up for a heavy course load in the spring. Which ought to have me feeling sufficiently productive.
So goodbye manual labor. Goodbye shitty management. Goodbye working 40ft in the air, hanging by only a thick piece of leather, while I try to use my fingers on a 10 degree winter morning. Goodbye constant risk of death by electrocution. Goodbye commute and goodbye creosote splinters.
It seems as though I am experiencing yet another “retirement preview” thanks to my unemployment. I’ve entertained thoughts of, after retiring, going back to school to pick up what I missed on the first go-round. Without having to work, spending my mornings studying mathematics, chemistry, biology and physics would be a delight. With absolutely no pressure over GPA’s or mounting debt, the experience would be entirely new. A well-paced study schedule, coupled with satisfying comprehension and ample contemplation might be near to heaven.
I am almost there now. Without work my schedule is clear to focus on class. It’s not quite perfect, there is worry about financing the final two years, and I am forced to take some classes in subjects that I would prefer only to have a casual acquaintance with, but otherwise I am practically already experiencing the life I hope to live in another 8 years or so down the road when all my financial goals are realized.
It is as if I am already rich.
