So I have written a bit about some Summer travel plans that I have, and here is an update on the situation.
Since my freshman year of college I have hoped for the opportunity to do some sort of travel abroad program through school. At Long Beach City College I considered different options, but none of them were quite right for me. Last summer when I was preparing to transfer here to UCLA, I became interested in this Shakespeare Stratford-upon-Avon opportunity. It would be in England and seems pretty amazing. It fulfills my 10 units of Shakespeare requirement for my major, so it all looked good.
Since then, I have been hoping and planning to go, and it still seems like a possibility. I really would love to go! My parents have been super supportive of this idea which has been a major blessing. Since it is now March, I have just under a month until my complete payment is due. I have been working a lot this quarter, on average about 30-35 hours a week… sometimes more sometimes less in an effort to save enough money to go. My parents are also helping me by forwarding some of the money that they were going to help me out with for the upcoming school year to pay for tuition. Again, their willingness to help has been encouraging.
As of now, however… I am not sure if it is going to happen. I have been working on my tax forms and whatnot, and whereas I have always been excited for tax season because it has meant a nice refund, this year it looks like I will have to pay over $600 that I just am not sure I will have enough for. I also have to pay for my Spring quarter tuition, fees, and books during this time. So despite the funds that I have already saved up, it is just getting hard.
In all honesty, I am okay with this. Of course I would love to go to England and will be estatic if it still happens, but seriously, I already feel SO BLESSED with all of the opportunities for travel and education that I have had over the past few years, but in 2006 especially. If this trip does not happen, I know it is because God has something different in store for me. What that might be, I am not sure. Probably Summer school, because I need to make up the units I will be missing out on if I do not go on the trip, but that is fine. I would love to help with the planning of an inner-city family camp that I was a part of last year, and maybe go as a counselor again. It would be awesome to continue working here in Los Angeles and to be able to spend time with people during their breaks from school.
So during these next few weeks, it will definitely be a matter of seeing how my financial situation works out. I know that it is not so smart to be using funds from this upcoming school year on a trip, and that even after all of my April financial deadlines… I will still need to pay more than another $1,000 on a plane ticket, food, books and other expenses while I am there. So… we’ll see what happens! I am putting it in God’s control, because… he knows what he is doing. Plus, I certainly do not need to have this as something to stress over during the next few weeks!
