佚名/Anonymous
I will never forget one day in my first year in high school. I was sitting on the stairs descending into the basement, putting my head in my hands and crying out in despair to my parents that I would never be able to save enough money for college. My parents tried to console me, but it seemed impossible to save $64, 268, the cost for the private restitution that I desperately wanted to attend.
Now let me tell you the amazing story of how I earned this sum of money.
It all began with a paper route in Ankeny, IA. I hated delivering that route, but was determined to stick it out for six months until my family moved to Wausau, WI. With a few meager dollars from my paper route, a small nest egg began to develop. My next job was with an athletic company as a telephone customer service representative. The savings account continued to grow very slowly. Then, the fall of my junior year of high school, I began to waitress at Denny's restaurant. It was a hard work, but the money began to roll in and this job paid at least twice as much money per hour.
By the time my senior year arrived, I had saved a considerable amount of money. This was encouraging, but I knew that I would also need some help, so began the process of applying for scholarships. Sometimes it was discouraging because I was rejected again and again. Then, my first scholarship offer came in, $2, 000 a year to play tennis. This is only a small dent at a school that costs approximately $14, 000 a year, but it was a start. Several other academic scholarships also came my way and soon I was up to have $9,050 in scholarships. Between scholarships and savings, I had enough money for my first year!
Another interesting development emerged. I began testing out of classes. Running anxiously to the mailbox in anticipation of my test scores became part of my daily routine. Excitement mounted as test result saved me approximately $1,000 in tuition and then enabled me to graduate a year early. This would save room and board expenses as well.