Pre-Departure Update

Well, this is my first entry into my semester at sea blog. It probably won't be that interesting, but if you are planning on participating in a future sail, then definitely read on!

I had wanted to do Semester At Sea since I had heard about it my freshman year of college. I didn't really consider it until my Sophomore year when I had talked about doing it with two of my friends that had studied abroad the summer before. (One went to Chile with me and the other to Brazil for the same program through Pitt) With the chemical engineering pillar course schedule restrictions, I couldn't fit in a voyage with my friend when she decided to go summer of '08. So, I decided that I would apply for the Summer of '09 voyage, alone. It would be a great learning/self development experience to throw myself into a situation where I didn't know anyone at all.

Everyday I would check the Semester At Sea website for information on applying for the summer '09 voyage. The first day that online applications were posted, I applied and then was later accepted. I had applied very early in the whole process, so I had a few months of just general excitement before any stress began.

The first issue that I ran into was paying the initial $1000 deposit. I was able to make that with my refund from Pitt for the spring semester. Following that, I just had a packet of paperwork that was due in the middle/end of April. It wasn't until about the middle of March that I had realized that the date was sneaking up on me and that I still had a lot to do.

- Finish that paperwork (which included a passport sized photo of me that will be posted on the bulletin board on the ship..... oh geez!)
- Figure out what types of courses I needed to take in order to graduate on time.
- Figure out how I was going to pay the remainder of my balance for SAS.
- Apply for Grants/Scholarships/Financial Aid
- Register for Courses
-Register for Pre-Sale trips (these were for the first few countries we would be sailing to in order to get everything set before leaving.)
- Fill out my study abroad scholarship for Pitt and get all of the appropriate forms signed.
- Find housing for when I get back from the voyage (I will be homeless if I don't!)
- Order my textbooks (after registering for my classes!)
- Order my plane ticket to the port of departure
- Get everything for my trip (toiletries, etc)

Deep Breath! I finished my paperwork and sent it out, registered for the courses that I wanted and that I needed, and completed my study abroad contract for Pitt. After that, completing everything else became a little tricky. I decided that I wanted to take out a student loan to cover the remainder of my tuition, books, my plane ticket, august and September rent/deposit for a new place, may and june rent for my current house (Working part-time wouldn't cut it!), school trips in the countries,and other expenses while I'm away. I applied for a loan through the same company that I've been going through for the past 3 semesters of college, choosing the loan that was available for the summer. Then problems started.

I was just informed on Tuesday that the loan, which was approved, won't be disbursed to my school until June 4th. Which, if everything took as long as the school's financial aid office told me it would, I wouldn't be getting my refund until well into my voyage. That is a problem...a huge problem. After speaking with my mom, the loan company, and finally the bank, we decided the bost option would be to take our a personal loan to cover what I immediately needed to cover. So, that is where I am now. Awaiting word on the status of my personal loan.

From these events, I advise you, future Semester At Sea sailers, think about how you want to pay for your tuition if you do not have a study abroad scholarship, and read the fine print for any student loans! This whole situation has helped me realize that I do need to become a slightly more responsible person while handling my finances! There is nothing like learning from mistakes though. The man that worked with me at my bank had quite a few pointers for applying and getting accepted for personal loans. It was very informative! Now there is nothing for me to do except wait and work on my Spanish and Croatian!


Adios!

Mattie