My News and Considerations

First off, I got into Soka University of America. I'm very exciting. I will be there next fall. There are a couple logistical things that still have to be worked out:

How I am going to pay for the whole enterprise
How I am going to test for my black belt.

See, here's the thing. While my parents are very supportive of my education they can't just create money out of thin air. I will likely be expected to contribute $10,000 a year, which is a lot of money because that becomes $40,000.

The other thing, the black belt thing. I would be testing for my black belt now if I hadn't gone to college. But I'm not because I did. And I'm not saying that I regret going, or that I am worried that I wasted my time, I didn't. But I am saying that I have already turned away from my martial arts goal for school once and I'm not really keen on doing it again.

This is an issue because I have two tests that I HAVE TO BE AT and they are the first and second week of my new school. So it's  a bit of an issue. The tests are on the weekends so I guess I will have to fly back or something which will be really stressful. My mom thinks that I should wait to get my black belt again, but I don't want to!

A couple more things that I am considering right now:

Do I go to the Monterey Institute of Language this summer? I would have to get a a place to live over there. It's an 8 week intensive program but I would come out being able to speak Spanish. Maybe not fluently but I would be able to get by. Which is something that I want. (I have more to say about this but I want to get to other points.)

If I want to do this language thing then I would need the money to do it, the program itself costs $4,000 plus I would have to live there, and drive back every weekend so that I am able to train for my black belt. Because that is the case and I have to spend money for college I would need to get a second job. This is something I would actually be able to do because I got into Soka and they don't transfer credits. But that also means finding another job and I am not sure if I want to stop going to school for a semester and a summer, that's a long time. And it will be even trickier going to Soka after that. Although in that case I would be doing the Monterey thing which is a lot like school.

The other thing that I am considering is traveling back to all the places I've lived in the country over the last year or so. I would also visit Seattle cause that's where my best friend is living currently. Anyway I would do that in the Spring. It would also cost money though because I'd be going on all those darned planes and stuff. But I would get to see all my people again and I think that would be great. I think that it would also be good for me to see the people of the past as I go into my future---I could use the word "Journey" here but that is a little bit too woo-woo for me.

That's what's on my mind right now. Sometimes I wish I had actual readers, but then I stop. Because then I would actually have to worry about someone reading my stuff.