Well, this time maybe I’ll read the signs ahead of time and try things an easier way. Maybe it’s not my initial plan. Maybe it won’t be my optimal timeline. And maybe things won’t end up as perfectly as I imagined.
But big changes are afoot. Since I looked into Colorado’s cost of living I’ve been in a state of shock and panic. We are already financially behind by thousands of dollars a year out. And I see no easy way to remedy that. Old me would buckle down, push harder and make it happen anyway. Because I have an ability to dedicate myself and persevere. But then I stopped for a second and thought–what’s the rush? There’s no reason we have to struggle around to make Colorado happen NOW. Why not wait and do it properly? After all, I was supposed to LOVE Seattle, but my financial situation precluded that and now I hate the thought of living there.
So without making any decisions either way Cool and I just opened our minds and broadened our search (I’m proud of us!). We looked at the school locations, housing costs, job pay and prospects, then I looked into the AuD programs.
Here’s what I like about CO: What don’t I like about it would be easier (distance from HERE and cost of housing). I love most everything else. It’s in the state we want to eventually live in. I love that the AuD program has educational and clinical internships in addition to the externship. Bears are a super-cool mascot (hey, it’s not right, but this stuff matters to me). I have been studying this program and application process for over a year and am comfortable with it. Again, it’s in Colorado.
Seattle: We’ve been down that road, and even though Cool (and her mom) would be in heaven (Cool thinks, she forgets about being poor and the crummy frat-house situation that necessitates) I would HATE it. Again.
Oregon: Very close move, but just as expensive housing as CO–so we might as well still go to CO.
Idaho: Also really close move (and beautiful area and cool mascot), but despite cheap housing paultry amount of low-paying jobs. Cool didn’t love that. And which we knew about Idaho already. Also a less than optimal situation where AuD students go from Pocatello 3.5 hours away to Boise after the 2nd year of school. That’s two moves, another apartment to find, and another job to secure. Even with the cheapest tuition of the bunch, and best grants/loans–that’s pretty rough.
CA: expensive. Obviously.
TX: No. Even though I like Austin, Cool vetoes crazy-Texas.
AZ: Cool hates the politics and I would prefer not to be kidnapped.
KS: We looked as far east as Kansas. And it’s a real possibility. For a day we had decided upon it. KS is cheap housing–AND I know the Kansas City area well. Because it’s by the city there are a lot of jobs that pay decently. We would have vet care (Noah’s Ark) and I could even still donate my eggs til I’m 35!!! Drawbacks–Can you say 22.5 hour drive with cats? Moving sucks no matter the distance, but this really started to sound sucky, and I said I would never make that drive again. Plus, we’re over-shooting our eventual goal of CO by 8 hours. And I would be a little sad inside to have to join my alma mater’s rival school and become *gasp* a Jayhawk. Oh, and no WICHE deal means paying spendy out-of-state tuition. Again.
UT: Utah is only a 10 hour drive from HERE. That’s one long day or two really easy ones. It’s also in close proximity to Colorado (4-8 hours), WY, ID, and NV (8 easy hours from my parents and storage unit). The housing is the same or cheaper then here, and jobs were widely available and require NO commute. Salt Lake City is maybe the only place that housing, school, AND jobs were within the same place. The weather is similar to Nevada, and requires no 4×4, sowe wouldn’t have to worry about selling the HHR and buying a 4×4 while we’re planning everything else. There is still the recreation of CO (well almost as good). There is the added bonus of many professional sports teams. Oh, and randomly I guess Salt Lake City is a gay mecca? Not that we’re social butterflies, but it would be nice not to be murdered. . . I’m having a difficult time finding out much about my program, and think I’ll have to *shudder* make a phone call. But it appears to have a class size between 5-8. Oh and a really lame mascot–the Swoops? To mean a falcon. Which I wonder why they just didn’t go with falcons, because that’s much cooler than a shape. I saw feathers on the logo and suspected P.C. rebranding, then looked into it and saw UU used to be the Utes. Which is awesome, but only for the home school–you can’t have rival teams shouting “kill the Utes” and other such slander. And their color is red–which I hate and I think goes back to some redskins slur. But the mascot isn’t super-important. Right? That’s what I’m trying to convince myself. I need to find out more about my specific program and the application procedure, that’s what’s important now.
So I think for financial reasons I’m going to be applying to University of Utah. Which means I have to start over in my program research, but also means we can stress out MUCH less about the move. And you know what? Thinking of other options and perhaps finding a better one didn’t hurt at all. As a matter of fact, I’m more excited, because I’m not about to have a nervous breakdown about money and logistics–just that phone call. . .
Tags: application, audiology, Colorado, Idaho, introspection, Kansas, Kidron, money, moving, road-trip, speech & hearing sciences, university, Utah
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