u/No-Geologist-5141

Is there still cricuits anywhere on campus? I want to make a few crafts that would need one.

I just need to vent because I have spent the last few days emailing, calling, explaining, re-explaining, crying, getting my hopes up, and then getting another email that basically sends me to another person.

I might have to sit out this semester over about $4,000.

And before anyone says “well you should’ve figured out your financial aid sooner”

We tried. That is literally why I am so upset.

My family and I talked to financial aid MULTIPLE times last year because we were trying to make sure my Parent PLUS loan would cover what I owed. We asked questions. We asked about adjusting it. We were told it couldn’t be adjusted.

Well.

Apparently it fucking could.

I found out now that my actual housing/food costs were higher than the amount Purdue put in my Cost of Attendance. There is literally a budget adjustment you can do to increase your COA to your actual expenses, which then allows your Parent PLUS loan to be higher.

We were never told to do that.

We actually asked about adjusting things and were told we couldn’t.

I spoke to someone in financial aid today who went through everything and confirmed that what we were told last year was incorrect.

She literally made the adjustment for THIS YEAR, and now my Parent PLUS loan for this year has been increased and approved.

Great!

Except they can’t go back and fix last year now because the federal aid year is closed.

So basically:

There was a way to fix it.

We asked for help while there was still time to fix it.

We were told the wrong thing.

Now it’s too late to fix it.

And somehow I am the one who might have to lose a semester because of it.

I am so fucking tired.

I’m a disabled student. College is already hard enough when your body randomly decides it has other plans for the day. I cannot just magically pick up 50 hours a week somewhere and work myself into the ground until I have $4,000.

I work. I try to make money. I have been trying to figure this out. But there is a very real limit to how much my body can physically handle, and pushing myself past that limit doesn’t magically make me less disabled. It just makes me sick.

And that’s basically what this stress is already doing.
I’m barely sleeping because I’m thinking about this constantly.

I’m checking my email obsessively waiting for someone to tell me whether or not I’m going to be able to go to school. My stomach drops every time I get a notification.

I’m trying to work, prepare for school, deal with normal life, and simultaneously beg different university offices to please find some way to let me continue my education.

The stress is making me physically feel like shit.

And then people talk about “taking a semester off” like it’s just a cute little break.

I DON’T WANT A BREAK.

I want to go to school.

I want to take my classes.

I want to graduate.

I want the life I’ve been working toward.

If I sit out, I’m potentially pushing back graduation.

I’m screwing up the order of classes I need. I could lose campus opportunities, jobs, leadership positions, internships, connections, and everything I’ve spent the last two years building.

And financially HOW DOES THAT HELP???

I STILL OWE THE $4,000 IF I DON’T GO TO SCHOOL.

Except now I also delay graduating and getting a full-time job with my degree.

And the absolute cherry on top is that my Parent PLUS loan for THIS YEAR is approved and processing.

They fixed my Cost of Attendance for this year.

I have aid coming for this year.

But I might not be allowed to REGISTER FOR THIS YEAR because of the old balance that exists because we weren’t told how to fix the problem when we were literally asking how to fix the problem.

I feel like I’m going insane.

And I know $4,000 is a lot of money. It is a LOT of money to me. That’s why I can’t just pull it out of my ass and make this disappear.

But it also feels fucking insane that four thousand dollars could derail my entire education.

I keep thinking about everyone going back to class and me just…not.

Not because I failed out.

Not because I don’t want to be there.

Not because I didn’t fill out my financial aid.

Not because I ignored a problem for a year.

But because my family asked the people whose literal job is to explain financial aid what we needed to do, followed what we were told, and apparently what we were told was wrong.

I don’t even necessarily want them to erase the balance.

LET ME PAY IT OFF.

Let me register while I pay it.

Let me appeal it.

Give me a temporary hold exception.

Let this year’s aid process while someone reviews what happened.

Give me literally ANY option between “have $4,000 right now” and “guess you’re not going to college this semester.”

Because I don’t have $4,000.

I also don’t have a magical non-disabled body that can work unlimited hours until I do.

I have been fighting so fucking hard to stay in school and build a future for myself, and the idea that after everything I’ve done, this could be what forces me to stop is absolutely breaking me.

I’m exhausted.

I’m angry.

I’m scared.

And mostly I’m just really, really sad.

I don’t want to spend the beginning of the semester watching everyone else go back to school while I’m sitting there knowing I should be with them.

I just want someone to help me fix this.

Why am I being punished when I did everything correct and they messed up? Why does it fall on me?

Sorry for the long rant. I just needed to get this off my chest because I genuinely don’t know. If I can’t register I lose my housing which then leads me to being homeless.

I just need to vent because I have spent the last few days emailing, calling, explaining, re-explaining, crying, getting my hopes up, and then getting another email that basically sends me to another person.

I might have to sit out this semester over about $4,000.

And before anyone says “well you should’ve figured out your financial aid sooner”

We tried. That is literally why I am so upset.

My family and I talked to financial aid MULTIPLE times last year because we were trying to make sure my Parent PLUS loan would cover what I owed. We asked questions. We asked about adjusting it. We were told it couldn’t be adjusted.

Well.

Apparently it fucking could.

I found out now that my actual housing/food costs were higher than the amount Purdue put in my Cost of Attendance. There is literally a budget adjustment you can do to increase your COA to your actual expenses, which then allows your Parent PLUS loan to be higher.

We were never told to do that.

We actually asked about adjusting things and were told we couldn’t.

I spoke to someone in financial aid today who went through everything and confirmed that what we were told last year was incorrect.

She literally made the adjustment for THIS YEAR, and now my Parent PLUS loan for this year has been increased and approved.

Great!

Except they can’t go back and fix last year now because the federal aid year is closed.

So basically:

There was a way to fix it.

We asked for help while there was still time to fix it.

We were told the wrong thing.

Now it’s too late to fix it.

And somehow I am the one who might have to lose a semester because of it.

I am so fucking tired.

I’m a disabled student. College is already hard enough when your body randomly decides it has other plans for the day. I cannot just magically pick up 50 hours a week somewhere and work myself into the ground until I have $4,000.

I work. I try to make money. I have been trying to figure this out. But there is a very real limit to how much my body can physically handle, and pushing myself past that limit doesn’t magically make me less disabled. It just makes me sick.

And that’s basically what this stress is already doing.
I’m barely sleeping because I’m thinking about this constantly.

I’m checking my email obsessively waiting for someone to tell me whether or not I’m going to be able to go to school. My stomach drops every time I get a notification.

I’m trying to work, prepare for school, deal with normal life, and simultaneously beg different university offices to please find some way to let me continue my education.

The stress is making me physically feel like shit.

And then people talk about “taking a semester off” like it’s just a cute little break.

I DON’T WANT A BREAK.

I want to go to school.

I want to take my classes.

I want to graduate.

I want the life I’ve been working toward.

If I sit out, I’m potentially pushing back graduation.

I’m screwing up the order of classes I need. I could lose campus opportunities, jobs, leadership positions, internships, connections, and everything I’ve spent the last two years building.

And financially HOW DOES THAT HELP???

I STILL OWE THE $4,000 IF I DON’T GO TO SCHOOL.

Except now I also delay graduating and getting a full-time job with my degree.

And the absolute cherry on top is that my Parent PLUS loan for THIS YEAR is approved and processing.

They fixed my Cost of Attendance for this year.

I have aid coming for this year.

But I might not be allowed to REGISTER FOR THIS YEAR because of the old balance that exists because we weren’t told how to fix the problem when we were literally asking how to fix the problem.

I feel like I’m going insane.

And I know $4,000 is a lot of money. It is a LOT of money to me. That’s why I can’t just pull it out of my ass and make this disappear.

But it also feels fucking insane that four thousand dollars could derail my entire education.

I keep thinking about everyone going back to class and me just…not.

Not because I failed out.

Not because I don’t want to be there.

Not because I didn’t fill out my financial aid.

Not because I ignored a problem for a year.

But because my family asked the people whose literal job is to explain financial aid what we needed to do, followed what we were told, and apparently what we were told was wrong.

I don’t even necessarily want them to erase the balance.

LET ME PAY IT OFF.

Let me register while I pay it.

Let me appeal it.

Give me a temporary hold exception.

Let this year’s aid process while someone reviews what happened.

Give me literally ANY option between “have $4,000 right now” and “guess you’re not going to college this semester.”

Because I don’t have $4,000.

I also don’t have a magical non-disabled body that can work unlimited hours until I do.

I have been fighting so fucking hard to stay in school and build a future for myself, and the idea that after everything I’ve done, this could be what forces me to stop is absolutely breaking me.

I’m exhausted.

I’m angry.

I’m scared.

And mostly I’m just really, really sad.

I don’t want to spend the beginning of the semester watching everyone else go back to school while I’m sitting there knowing I should be with them.

I just want someone to help me fix this.

Why am I being punished when I did everything correct and they messed up? Why does it fall on me?

Sorry for the long rant. I just needed to get this off my chest because I genuinely don’t know. If I can’t register I lose my housing which then leads me to being homeless.

Hi all! I am searching for a planner for the academic year.

I want it to have:

YEAR
→ annual calendar
→ important dates
→ goals
→ birthdays

SCHOOL
→ semester schedules
→ four-year plan
→ courses/credits
→ individual class planning
→ assignments
→ exams/studying
→ projects
→ GPA goals
→ scholarships
→ extracurriculars

EVERY MONTH
→ monthly calendar
→ goals/progress
→ budget + expenses
→ reflection
→ brain dump
→ notes

EVERY WEEK
→ weekly overview
→ meals
→ groceries
→ workouts
→ habits

EVERY SINGLE DAY
→ hourly schedule/time blocking
→ to-dos
→ notes

I have Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

If you don’t know what that is, the short version is that my connective tissue is basically held together by hopes, dreams, and whatever structural integrity a wet paper straw has left after 20 minutes.

I’m also young. At the time of this story I was 18 and I’m currently close to turning 21.

These two facts apparently combine to create a fascinating phenomenon where complete strangers become board-certified physicians the second they look at me. (The education system has truly failed in teaching about invisible disabilities. Most of these people think you can only be disabled if you’re blind, deaf, or paralyzed.)

I’ve gotten the classics:

“You’re too young to have all those problems.”

“But you look healthy!”

“Everyone’s joints hurt sometimes.” (Like thanks susan but it’s constant pain for me)

And, my personal favorite:

“You don’t look disabled.”

Normally I explain.

I explain that disability doesn’t have a “look.” I explain that hEDS and the whole umbrella is genetic. I explain that being able to walk doesn’t mean my joints are functioning normally. I explain that hypermobility is not just being super flexible.

I have given the Ehlers-Danlos TED Talk more times than I can count.

But this particular day, I was tired.

Someone in my extended family hit me with the “you don’t look disabled” and then basically doubled down when I told them I have a condition that makes my joints unstable.

They clearly did not believe me.

And something in my brain just went:

You know what? Visual learner.

Now, I want to make it VERY clear that this was stupid. Please do not intentionally dislocate or sublux your joints. I already know. My doctors would probably reach through the screen and slap me for this.

But I was annoyed, and unfortunately in possession of a body capable of producing evidence on demand.

So instead of continuing to argue, I just looked at them.

And popped one of my joints out.

Right there.

On purpose.

The transformation on this person’s face was IMMEDIATE as they saw my arm dangling unanchored to my shoulder.

They went from skeptical to absolutely fucking horrified in approximately 0.2 seconds.

“OH MY GOD. WHAT THE FUCK?”

And because apparently I had already committed to being the worst possible version of myself that day, I just looked at them and went: “Yeah. It does that.”

Suddenly there were no more questions.

No “have you tried yoga?”
No “but you’re so young.”

No inspirational story about somebody’s cousin who cured their back pain by cutting out seed oils.

Nothing.

Just horror.

I put my joint back where God intended it to be and carried on with my day while they stared at me like they had just watched a haunted American Girl doll rearrange its own limbs.

Was intentionally popping a joint out to win an argument medically advisable?

Absolutely fucking not.

Did I probably cause more damage to a body that already has the structural integrity of a Nature Valley granola bar?

Probably.

But I had spent so much of my life being expected to prove that I was actually sick because apparently looking young and relatively normal meant I couldn’t possibly be disabled.

So, for once, I provided supporting documentation.
In 4D.

They never told me I “didn’t look disabled” again.

And I have since retired from live demonstrations. (For now).

Hi everyone! I hate to have to come back here but I was wondering if anyone had any free codes or rewards they’re willing to spare.

I recently got out of the ER for an infected kidney and due to being uninsured, my medications cost a good chunk of money.

My paycheck doesn’t come in until tomorrow and I’m practically out of groceries.

If anyone is willing to help out, it’d be greatly appreciated!

I’m in Indiana if that helps.

Hi, I hate to be asking this but my account is at a negative right now and I don’t get paid until Monday (15th).

Is there any chance someone could help me out with some points? I don’t have a car so for pickup the places closest to me are Panda Express, Culver’s, Slim Chickens, and Panera.

I’m not picky and anything helps. Anything that I could stretch to maybe lunch tomorrow would be great.

It would be greatly appreciated!

(Please no judgement. I’m a disabled college student and trying to make things work out. I work 38 hours a week and I’ve been trying to find stuff I can do on the side. I’m trying to get in contact with community support services but they’re only available during my working hours so I plan on calling tomorrow. I’m hoping they can help me find a little more balance. Suggestions are appreciated on how to stretch food, meals, etc for cheap.)

Hello! I hate to be asking but I don’t have any money and need dinner for tonight. If anyone has points they could redeem or willing to help out in anyway, I would greatly appreciate it. 💕

Hello! I am working over the summer and need a place to stay. Unfortunately I do have a smaller budget so preferably $500 and if there are roommates I would prefer female roommates.

Close to campus preferred as I don’t drive but if it’s on a bus line like Lark or Alight that’s also perfect.

I do have an esa (cat).

Someone got hit in front of Granite. Does anyone have more information/know if he’s okay?