u/Past_Requirement_738

Idk when it happened, but at some point over the last few years a single thought can throw my body in to fight or flight. My imagination runs wild and gives me severe anxiety. Like for example, I started adderall about 6 weeks ago and recently upped it to 15mg. I’m noticing when the meds wear off I become hyper sensitive to noises. Which can be troublesome when you’re like me and have a 3 year old lol. I start to get a headache and sometimes even feel nauseous from being so overstimulated. But when I sit there and think about it, I’m just making it worse on myself.

Anytime i focus on it like magnifies the bad feeling. Like even right now as I’m typing this, I didn’t take my meds today just because I’m experimenting what my end of day will look like today if I don’t take them at all, but I’m remembering how overwhelmed I felt last night and I’m starting to feel that now. I’m not medicated at the moment and it’s completely quiet in the house because my daughter is at school, but yet because I’m thinking of that feeling my body is having a physical experience as if I’m reacting to it.

I don’t know if this ADHD related or stress related because I’m under a lot of stress right now. It’s been a rough year, I have a lot on my plate and can’t offload anything. I just have to deal with it. I work from home and I think I’m also depressed so I’m not moving my body around nearly enough which I’m sure isn’t helping. But it’s like going to the gym is just another thing on my to-do list that I physically and mentally cannot take on right now.

But do any of you struggle with thoughts just running wild and before you can even realize what’s happening you’re in a panic attack? Wtf is causing that?

Any advice?

Hi night owls,

I am currently in my first term (started July 1st) and am 4 classes down. I'm stalled out on personal finance. BARELY failed the first OA attempt which is so frustrating. But this past week my kids started school, i started a new medication, and my work schedule has been a bit wonky so I'm taking longer than I would like going through the retake requirements (it's a lot).

I currently work for a consulting firm as a financial crime analyst for about 2.5 years now. I got the job when they were doing a hiring spree as they were growing and managed to survive a few rounds of layoffs when they had to trim the fat. I love what I do. I've had some other financial experience before (mortgage and retirement accounts) but nothing compares to fraud investigations. I love it. I am nosey and investigating is my bread and butter.

Unfortunately though, I'm just not making enough. I didn't get a raise, promotion, or even a bonus this past summer because I didn't meet charge hour goals in 2025 even though I have absolutely NOOOOO control over that. (whatever) I have been diligently looking for a new job. Which sucks because I really like my company and all the perks of working there, but I just cant survive on the income anymore.

I am not worried about my degree not being accepted my employers because its not like I work in investment banking or something where everyone has to know someone's dad or grandpa or great uncle.

I'm just curious if anyone in this group also works in fraud/AML and got a finance (or even accounting) degree and was able to get a senior/management position with decent pay?

By the time I graduate I will have about 5 years of industry experience, at least one professional certification (probably CAMS) and then my degree. So i should be a great candidate given that since I work in consulting I have done AML work for an array of different clients in traditional banking, fintech, and crypto.

Just hoping my degree isn't worthless by the time I earn it, lol

My very first term started today. I got everything worked out with financial aid, but how does it work? I.e. when will it be reflected in my student portal that I don’t owe anything because my Pell grant/loan will cover it? And then when should I expect to receive my refund? I know the holiday might delay things but never really saw anything on expected processing times.

Thanks!

Does anyone have a solid laptop recommendation? I start on July 1st and plan on buying myself a new laptop with some of my student loan funds. Currently, all I have is a Chromebook which i know doesn’t support Guardian. And tbh, I hate that thing anyway. I’m not a huge fan of google’s platform.

I realllllly wanna buy a MacBook. Ive done all the research and since I’ve been an apple user for like 15 years I’ve been dying to have a MacBook again. But when I asked ChatGPT for some recommendations it suggested a Lenovo (can’t remember which one - a slim 8? Or something like that)

But I wanted to ask actual students if they have a preference for doing WGU courses on a specific laptop or if just purely preference.

**want to add that I am not pursuing a tech degree, I think I read that program has different tech requirements. I’m going for my bachelor’s in finance.

Thanksssss

Found out about this subreddit and ya'll are making me nervous, lol. I am starting my first term on July 1st and basically starting from scratch. I have 1 class under my belt as I needed to attend WGU Academy to get accepted, 39 more to go! I wish I had learned about Sophia long ago. I would have done that to do all my gen ed classes.

Am I in for it? Lol, did I choose a difficult program?

I am currently a financial crime analyst. However, I'm not sure how much of my professional experience will help in my classes.

I chose finance over accounting because I've dabbled in accounting and HATED it. I am leaning towards the compliance/fraud/AML side of things, and from what I researched and the job listings I looked at, finance degrees were first on the list of preferred education.

ANYWAY....super nervous, any helpful tips would be appreciated :)

I am 28 and I feel like such a failure.

I have been in a long term relationship for 6 years. We have a daughter together and he has two children from a previous marriage. Our relationship is great. It took us probably over half those years to work out the kinks and figure each other out, but we're happy, in love, and i look forward to our future together.

But everywhere else I feel like such a failure. I don't feel as connected to motherhood as i want to be. I LOVEEEE my daughter. With every primal and maternal instinct in me, I love my girl. And I love my bonus children too. Their mother is still very much in their lives, but I feel like I've done my best to be a good role model, a motherly figure when they needed one, someone to talk to, vent to, etc. All the good step-parent things, ya know? I have a step dad who means the world to me. Granted, my father ended up passing away a few years after my step dad was in my life so his role in my life is different than my role in theirs, but he still taught me a lot. Especially now as an adult with step children of my own, I try to mimic how he did things and it seems to worked out well so far. But they are getting older (13 and 10) and i feel like they are pulling away from and my boyfriend...

Yes, I said boyfriend. 6 years, no ring. And its not that he doesn't want to or is "still thinking about it" - its because we genuinely have never been able to afford to do anything except survive. The economy post-covid has royally been fucking us over and over. Every time we think we get caught up, something happens. A layoff, an unexpected bill, an unexpected event...etc. I have been in my current role for about 2.5 years. I just got weasled out of a bonus this past week for not meeting a parameter that is completely out of my control. It really hurt. I worked my ass off last year when the company was laying people off left and right, I was still left standing. I made myself available to any and all projects i learned about, and yet..that wasn't good enough. Its really effect my morale.

But honestly, that was just the cherry on top of how fucked my life has been these last 6ish months. My boyfriend lost his job in February, landed a sales job, but they ended up kinda scamming him so he quit, truck's transmission goes out ($5k expense), the brakes and rotars on my minivan are ready to just rot off my mini van, the AC in my mini van goes out, property taxes increased, battery in the mini van dies. There's a also so many tiny things that have also compounded over time that adds salt to the wound. Had to borrow one of my mom's spare vehicles in the meantime. My pathetic salary doesn't even cover our monthly gas and grocery expenses. I have genuinely pulled money out of my ass to cover the basics. I haven't paid my mortgage since March, my credit score is in the 400s because I am MONTHS behind on credit cards (thankfully not too much debt there, like $5,000) but i also had to go to predatory lenders and get LOC's so i have a little over $3,000 in debt with those too just to buy groceries. Barely made eligibility status for EBT for the first time in my life. I know its there to help people, but I am not that kind of person. I am not the "needs to live off government assistance" kind of person. And it is killing me.

Thankfully my boyfriend has landed a new job in sales where he works as contractor for a local company. The ability to make some pretty good money is there if he sacrificies and puts in a ton of work, which sucks because thats more time away from me and the kids and unlike a lot of people in relationships these day we actually like spending time together - lol.

But the pay schedule is ONCE A MONTH. So no paycheck from them until mid-july. I think i can try to stretch things out between now and then.

On top of all of this I decided to go back to school. I start classes at WGU on July 1st and I'm basically starting from scratch. i did one class already to be accepted, 39 to go. So many people accelerate in this program and im just so worried that its gonna take me even longer than a traditional 4 years. I was a terrible student in high school, never learned study skills and then i dropped out of community college. I know I shouldn't compare myself to others but its so hard when I am almost 30 and I'm still working in an entry level position, struggling to provide for my kids and make ends meet, and still have to ask my mom every now and then for gas money or diaper money...its fucking embarrassing.

All of this is to say I feel like I cant catch a fucking break. Every step I make just further elongates my path to get things back on track. We have already discussed the tight budget we will be living on in order to pay off this debt, save money, put some in an index fund, and get the vehicles back up and running smoothly - and all of that looks so daunting from the starting line.

I'm sure to most people this might sound whiny and privileged as i know most people have it even worse than I do, but jesus christ. I feel like I am drowning. Like nobody is out there looking after me. Like the universe is working against me. It feels like I am walking through quicksand to try an get half an inch closer to my goals.

I just want to afford a modest wedding. I want to afford a house where all the kids have their own space. And I want to have a life where I can give them experiences and maybe annual vacations.... before long they're gonna be adults before i get to that point and its just breaks my heart.

If you read this far, thanks for reading. Not expecting any responses or suggestions...just needed to vent because adulting SUCKSSSSSSSSS.

I start my classes on July 1st with no prior college experience. I found my way to learning about Sophia . org over the weekend. I start orientation for WGU tomorrow and already have my student loans figured out (qualified for the full pell grant - woohoo!) So at this point I'm all ready to go to start my first class next month.

Hypothetically, if I wanted to back out of my start date so i could go finish a bunch of sophia courses and then transfer back to WGU...is that allowed? Is that recommended? I already work in the field I'm studying for and am just trying to get a degree for potential promotion or better paying job elsewhere. But i think I am past the "transfer in credits from other institutions" deadline.

Hi there,

I am 28, a mom, a wife, and I work full time as financial crime analyst. As a first generation college student and a community college drop out, I am going back to get my bachelors in Finance to help me further my career and also, earning a degree is just a personal goal for me. I love my job and this industry is fascinating to me - I want to grow as much as possible but unfortunately, like most of us probably feel, not being able to check off the "bachelors degree" box for HR is holding me back.

I went to high school in a rural town in Tennessee where the curriculum was a joke. I had no support, no mentor, no guidance. And with that, I never learned study skills. I had to do WGU Academy where I took the Project Management course. It took me THREE tries to pass my exam, which I did on the very last day of my course. I start classes on July 1st and I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel like I was on a bit of an island lol. Anyone I know either didn't go to college or went to a traditional University so I have no one to talk to or ask questions about what to expect with this program or school.

Everything I've read has said WGU was the best choice for them, but I'd like to know anyone's experience with the Finance program specifically? Any difficult classes I should be aware of? I'd love to be able to accelerate as much as possible, but with as much as I have on my plate, I think earning my degree in the normal 4 year time frame would be impressive enough - lol.

My biggest concern is that I was such a shi*ty student 10 years ago that its gonna take me forever to find my groove. Any study tips would also be greatly appreciated!