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[QUOTE=Bear Flag Republican;14526]I have done all I can, I'm ready to give up on college. You have no idea what it's like trying to get through when you're struggling to eat.

Some words from an old timer. I've been retired for quite some time. Back when I went to college I was more broke than you are. I didn't have the price of tuition and I couldn't afford a fraternity. I went on a football scholarship thanks to my high-school teacher. Of course I was also a big, strong football player in high-school.

When it came time for my son to go to college we were not all that well off and had just bought/built a new house which needed furnishing. He lived at home and commuted about 30 miles one way. We got him a student loan. He went to college during the day and worked as a telemarketer at night coming home after 11:00 PM. My Granddaughter also has been struggling in college and her Dad has been paying her tuition and living expenses. She is in her senior year slated to graduate in May 2011. She got a student loan recently. And she also has a part time job as an accountant with a Catholic agency in her college town.

My Daughter married a guy who was in the Navy for several years. After he quit the Navy they lived together and had two children. At the same time he enrolled in college simultaneously working in a Federal Prison. At one point our daughter asked if she, and her kids, could move back in with us. They were down to their last $200. Fortunately it did not happen. Not only did he graduate with a degree he went on to obtain a Masters. Federal Prisons Industries retired him at 57. He went to work for the State Department in Washington, D.C., now involved with Iraq and Afghanistan. He collects 80% of his previous salary as retirement benefits and his current salary is more than he earned while with Federal Prisons Industries.

Maybe I left a false impression. Half of my neighbors are better of than I am ! In fact anyone who has never visited the New York area is in for a shock at the affluence surrounding the city, the mansion and estates. I'm just an average Joe by comparison. My daughter in law is a registered nurse working in pediatrics and she earns more than $80,000 annually. She is not considered very well off in her environs.

My grandsons *( Different families ) were the off-springs of parents who worked hard to be successful. They were spoiled and had everything handed to them which they obviously didn't appreciate. Their parents offered to pay their college and they turned their noses up. Now they are suffering, and struggling, big time and kicking themselves.

So my advice to you is to hang in there. Do whatever it takes, but get that degree. Get a loan, get a job, get two jobs. But do not give up. It will be a mistake that will haunt you for the rest of your life. We all suffered and sacrificed. It takes YEARS to get established and begin saving money. *( My daughter said her kids had it too easy. They didn't suffer and didn't struggle and thus don't appreciate. Hardships toughten the spirit. It will make you a better person with a better character. And you'll have something to tell you kids at the breakfast table on Sunday mornings while you relate to them what your youth was like.)

Dale Carnegie: - " I cried the blues, I had no shoes, until I saw the man who had no feet !