notjustamilitarywife

Before we got orders to Texas, I was a full time student getting my Master’s in Professional Writing in Norfolk, VA.  I was hoping I’d get most of the degree finished before we would have to move again.  Of course, things didn’t go the way I thought they would.  I finished 15/30 required credits, then had to pull out of the 3 classes I had just started in the fall 2007 semester when we got orders to move in a month.

Last January I took an online course from TTU that could be transferred back to ODU (home university).  But after that, I stalled.  My work was really demanding, summer was our busy season and I knew accelerated summer courses would be out of the question.  Fall rolled around and I had all sorts of reasons not to take another class.  But now, I want to get back on track, and have been working diligently towards that end for the last few days.

And it is truly WORK.  It feels like there’s as much red tape and bureaucracy involved in academia as there is in the military!  Add that to all the paperwork involved in getting our mortgage and house closing finalized, and I’m sure you can see why I have a very good reason for the chaotic state of my house and the fact that I’ve microwaved the past 10 meals or so that I’ve eaten.

I’m having to be readmitted to ODU since it’s been over 12 months since I last attended class there.  They are now offering courses in my degree that can be taken remotely (via 2-way audio/video feed) which were not offered a year ago when I had to move.  It’s great that I have this option now, and can actually take classes from the university that I’ll be receiving a degree from.  Unfortunately, now I’m not going to be eligible for in-state tuition.  And that makes a big difference, dollar wise.

Astute readers, at this point, might be thinking to themselves, ” . . .  but you don’t live in Virginia anymore- why would you expect to pay tuition as if you did?”

Well, I don’t expect it.  I still have to complain a little here, though, despite knowing nothing will come of it.  I feel like there should be some sort of exception for military spouses when it comes to determining tuition rates.  If Justin wasn’t serving in the military, I’d have finished my degree in VA by now.  But, we’ve both chosen to let the Air Force move us around at will for the good of our country.  And because of that, I’m going to have to pay twice as much for the rest of my education.

This whole thing’s been so complicated.  I’ve spent hours upon countless hours on the phone and emailing people at ODU and TTU trying to get my long distance education in order.  Now it’s going to cost a bunch more money.  I know it’s money well spent, but it’s frustrating to think that it would have cost so much less if we hadn’t been willing to let the US military dictate where and when we’d be moving.

My advice to a miltary wife would be this: I’m all for education, but at this point I wouldn’t recommend starting a degree unless you know you’ve going to stay in one place long enough to finish it.  There are ways to get around the in-state tuition requirements, as a military wife, when you’re just moving to a state.  Once you’ve moved out of that state and are trying to finish up from afar, not so much.

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