Why School is Uncool

12/27/08

In 9 short days, I'll be starting school again.  I'm attending University of Washington Tacoma.  And, I am scared.

Why? Because Tacoma scares me.  I've already purchased pepper spray that I carry at all times now, even though Puyallup is harmless.  Another precaution that I have taken is purchasing a purse that stays against my body and that I can hide under a jacket.  I can't be carrying around my huge tiger print one, now can I?

I want born in Renton, WA and lived there for 6 years.  Now, Renton may not be Tacoma, but it is not the best area to live in.  When my youngest sister (Tia, see TCW blog) was born, we even moved outta that dump to live in suburban South Hill.  How precious.  I do remember while I was at Kennydale Elementary, it was not uncommon to be sent home with a flyer warning parents about some creep who was seen in the area.  While in Puyallup School District, these flyers rarely were circulated.  As I was prepping for attending UWT, I signed up for the school's mass e-mailing list, and practically weekly I receive a message describe a mugging event involving one of the students in or around the campus. Deja vu, I tell ya.

So, obviously I'm going to drive to UWT.  I can't trust being on *God forbid!* public transportation for a half hour or more!  I'd probably die from paranoia.  But, I think I can handle being on ...public tranportation... for 10 minutes (hopefully less).  Here's the deal:  I drive out to Tacoma (UGH!), park for free at the Tacoma Dome, and take a free "light rail" train to the UWT campus.  The only walking of Tacoma streets that I'll have to do is from the Tacoma Dome parking garage to the train pickup.  The train dropoff is ON the UWT campus, so I don't think that'll be much danger.  UWT does offer parking permits, but they are something like $150 per quarter! I'd much rather spend that money on something important, like a Redbox rental or unlimited texting.

This morning, I went to my dad's room to bullshit with him like usual, and one of the first things he said to me was, "I've been thinking, and I'll pay for half of your parking permit if you pay the other half."  I'm not really sure if I'm even up for that because the UWT parking lot, I don't BELIEVE, is right on campus; I think it's a block or two away, which would probably be more Tacoma street walking than if I took the free light rail train.  Plus, that's $75 that I'd be spending, which you KNOW I can spend on other things.

As you can see, I need to make some friends at my new school to accompany me to my car and classes.  Sounds more like a body guard to me.  I don't think it'll be terribly hard to make friends, but I must say that I'm not the most socially inept person, not to mention I have a tendency to be awkward, as most of you, as my friends, can probably recall.  Plus, when I went to Pierce College, I felt as if school shoved me even further into myself.  I AM a shy person, and school already makes me nervous, sweaty, and the likewise, but now I have to make friends?! Who do you think I am?!

Ok, I'm being a tad bit dramatic, but it's TACOMA for God's sake!  Another downfall about this whole "education" thing is that the class times kinda suck.  I'm going to have to go to school on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30-8:35 (8:35=darkness=me shitting my pants while I get to my car).  The whole 7 hours of school isn't really a big deal; the shittiness that I'm trying to point out is that I have a job.  A full-time job that probably couldn't get much better, what with the hours, the downtime, the perks, the pay (Hey, I think I'm doing pretty damn good for a 19-year-old).  Therefore, I am not willing to work less.  I NEED to work to pay off my $2,500 per quarter tuition!  So, I will continue to work 5 days a week.  Guess what that means? I get to work Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays while I'm in school.  That means every damn day I'll be either going to work or going to school.  EW!  That means no more sleeping in until 4 PM on days I don't work ie my days off.  I no longer get days off!  No more sitting around all day (my favorite).  It's all very sad.  I have tears in my eyes as I write this.  But, I suppose I'll live.  I need to man woman up, and stop whining.  I'm a college student now, right?