After a month of waiting, my new passport arrived two days ago. You can see the old one on the left -- the State government's clipped it and removed all the electronics, so it's virtually useless now but a nice little momento. The new one is on the right, and it's a little different from the old one! Whether that's because it's a newer version or one for adults, I'm not yet sure...
But that's it! I have everything I need to put my UCAS through the system. I do still need to contact my old professor and see how that reference is coming along, but hopefully it's something I can get within the next week. I've also rewritten my personal statement about five times now, and I'm still not entirely satisfied with its strength and presentation. If I have to, I'll keep going over it until I and my familial team of read-and-reviewers can't find any flaws anywhere.
I'm kind of crossing my fingers and biting my cheek, hoping that mid-October is still an acceptable time to submit the UCAS. I think January is the official cut-off month, but I was rather hoping to impress by appearing ready and in-control earlier than this!
Funding is probably my largest problem aside from actually getting accepted into the university. Most of my friends have pushed me to ask relatives for money, but I'm hesitant to let others do the work for me. I want to get to England on my own effort, even if I'm not so stubborn that I can't recognize that I might need a little help along the way. I've been pet-sitting and dog-walking for the past few months, but I'm holding off on really buckling down and striving towards super money-making plans until I've been accepted (or not, however it works out... but I can't express how much I really hope I'm accepted!). This is mostly because the sum of the three-years-long degree and living costs whilst staying in England will be a whopping $110,000.
The good news is that this final cost includes plane tickets, personal/travel insurance, and the passport/visa costs. The bad news is that I would have to be a very successful business person (and not a fresh out of community college 20 year old!) to make that much in a year -- let alone in a few months! Scholarships and grants are nearly impossible to find, and unfortunately I've found that those available do not apply to my situation (I was never directly affected by 9/11, I'm not a post-graduate student, etc.), so I'm embarrassingly relying on fundraisers and sponsorships for the majority of the cost. Whatever's left over, I do intend to get a loan for (urk! Never thought I'd see the day I'd willingly get myself into debt!). Since I am hoping to get sponsorships and such, I'd like to have proof of my acceptance to show to sponsors and donators so they'll know the effort isn't a scam, hence the wait until the university's decision on my acceptance.
I'd be lying if I said it wasn't stressful, that I have no doubts that I'll be accepted or be able to raise that kind of funding, or that I'm not at all worried about the journey as well as the outcome. But I have no doubts that just trying like I am is worth it, whatever the results, and I'm certain that I'll continue to try my best and push myself past my best whenever and wherever I can.
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