This is the continuation of How I Became A Nomad: Part 1. Make sure to read Part 1 first.
To wrap things up in Lubbock there was a lot I had to do. The deal breaker came down to dropping out of school. It was late in the semester and well past the drop date to get a full refund on my tuition. This would not be a problem if I had paid cash for my school, but I had taken out loans for the semester.
Monday morning after returning from Wichita Falls my first destination was the Registrars Office. I had to drop all of my classes and see if I could convince them to give all the money back to the lenders.
Unfortunately they could not be convinced about returning the money. I was told that I would still have to pay 75% of the tuition for that semester. I did not even have close to that amount of money. With school loans the lenders will not pay if you don’t complete the class. So the lender would refuse to pay and I would be responsible for the money owned to the school.
I was extremely disappointed and confused. I knew I was supposed to go to Colorado, but there was no way I could go if I had to pay that much money. And I could not imagine finishing out the semester and then going.
My personality is somewhat impatient when it comes to decisions that I make. Once I decide to do something I don’t want to wait to do it. I don’t see the point in waiting. That is why it was out of the question for me to wait until the semester ended.
I had to figure out a way to get a full refund. If you have ever tried to get something accomplished at a university then you know it is very hard to find the right person to talk to. And if you do, there is so much bureaucracy that even they may not be able to help you out.
The only person I thought could possibly help me was the Dean of Electrical Engineering. So I immediately headed to the Deans office. Usually you can’t just go to the Deans office and speak with him or her. They are too busy and important to talk to just any student. But I had to try.
When I arrived at the office I was greeted by the Deans secretary. She asked what I needed. I decided to tell her why I needed the Deans help so I proceeded to tell her about my move to Colorado and how I knew I was supposed to go. I asked if she could somehow bend the rules to get me a full refund so that I could go.
After I explained everything she walked back to the Deans office. When she returned she had a printed out piece of paper that she handed to me. She said the Dean had granted me a full refund on my tuition and all I had to do was take this paper back to the Registrar and everything would be taken care of.
What?!?!
I couldn’t believe it. That was way too easy. Why would the Dean approve of me dropping out of school? I will never know.
After returning to the Registrars office everything was resolved and I was one step closer to being on the road to Colorado.
To be continued…. Read Part 3
