Birthdays coming up, and university worries
So, my birthday is next Tuesday, twelfth of August. I'm turning--wait for it--eighteen. Mmhmm, which, although most of my friends beat me to it, is quite the scary thing. Adult and whatnot. On the other hand the number itself means very little (aside the fact that I finally get to leave sucky-ass seventeen, which, although I like the number itself more than eighteen, wasn't too good of a year). The number is just a number and I will still go on as usual this year. The more scary thing, then, will be to prepare to leave this school, this house, this country--this world next year, to go to university, in all likelihood in the UK somewhere. So I guess in reality nineteen is the big year, and by the time I turn nineteen, I might already have moved, and if not, all the scary planning and worrying will be mostly over, as only a few weeks would remain until the semester started.
I have no idea what to ask for for my birthday, except "Hey, would you pay my rent while I go to university next year? That would be a jolly good birthday present, hey! And if you pay my flight expenses as well, whoa, dude!", and I think that's a bit over the price they expect to pay for a birthday present.
And I still don't really know what to do about university next year, anyway. I've been looking at some in different parts of the UK--and Ireland--and have come to the conclusion that I probably like the Edinburgh University best. On the upside, I most likely wouldn't have to pay any tuition at all (though I wouldn't get a maintenance grant, like the Scottish natives would)--but on the downside, Brian would probably have to pay quite a bit of tuition, as in, anything up to £10,000 per year ($20,000). I don't know what going to college at home would cost him. I would be able to take subsidized loans to cover my expenses, which would now be reduced only to living costs, but he would not be, unless he could take them at home in the US. I have no idea whether he would be able to. I don't know what living costs would be, except for some vague estimation I saw somewhere about £150 a week for one person, with variations depending on where you lived and how...
I think I might just ask for a new pen tablet for my birthday. I don't know how long this one will hold out, and really, it's like four or five years old by now. I plan to draw more this fall. I can ask for the means to do so--then it's up to me to make myself happy creating stuff.
I have no idea what to ask for for my birthday, except "Hey, would you pay my rent while I go to university next year? That would be a jolly good birthday present, hey! And if you pay my flight expenses as well, whoa, dude!", and I think that's a bit over the price they expect to pay for a birthday present.
And I still don't really know what to do about university next year, anyway. I've been looking at some in different parts of the UK--and Ireland--and have come to the conclusion that I probably like the Edinburgh University best. On the upside, I most likely wouldn't have to pay any tuition at all (though I wouldn't get a maintenance grant, like the Scottish natives would)--but on the downside, Brian would probably have to pay quite a bit of tuition, as in, anything up to £10,000 per year ($20,000). I don't know what going to college at home would cost him. I would be able to take subsidized loans to cover my expenses, which would now be reduced only to living costs, but he would not be, unless he could take them at home in the US. I have no idea whether he would be able to. I don't know what living costs would be, except for some vague estimation I saw somewhere about £150 a week for one person, with variations depending on where you lived and how...
I think I might just ask for a new pen tablet for my birthday. I don't know how long this one will hold out, and really, it's like four or five years old by now. I plan to draw more this fall. I can ask for the means to do so--then it's up to me to make myself happy creating stuff.