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Kristian
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Joined: 18/February/2004
Location: Canada
Points: 43
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Topic: Lost in Saskabush. Posted: 18/February/2004 at 6:38am |
(stumbles in wildly, panting) Hey! I'm glad I found you guys!!
I have spent 7 years in some college or another, gathering diplomas to
ensure at least a reasonable-paying job. No dice. I have
diplomas in journalism, business admin, computer science and computer
network technology. At the end of this adventure, I have amassed
$37,000.00 in debt with three loans. At the peak of the madness,
my total payments were $600.00 a month.
A bit of negotiating and fiddling, I managed to knock it down to
$300.00, but that was tenuous at best. I had to put one of the
loans into interest relief...or so I thought it was....
I was laid off from my crummy $8.50 an hour job (which was completely
unrelated to anything I took in school) just last Friday. The
same day, I received a letter from CSL (the loan I thought was still in
interest relief) stating I owe them $2300.00 RIGHT NOW!! DO NOT
PASS GO!!!
Thankfully, I do qualify for EI but I have read CSL can take EI
benefits (and tax returns) for payment. The CSL loan is the
smallest of three loans and I would hate to have that bugger up my
meagre finances. I have contacted the unnamed recovery
officer at HRDC to ask for an arrangement that won't leave me starving
under a bridge.
Oddly CIBC has been the good guy in this. I know...I never would
have thought it either. They have been understanding and have cut
my payments from $170.00 to $80.00 a month -- I think that's just
covering the interest. I'm still waiting for that axe to fall...
The Bank of Montreal is the biggest at $20,000.00 and it was
unmanageable even when I was working. It's actually a line of
credit which I (STUPID) took out to go to CDI (STUPID STUPID) and get a
(STUPID STUPID) diploma in network tech.
By the way....If any of you who are considering going to
CDI...DON"T. It's way overpriced and the education is very
weak. All I have is a bunch of books that are now outdated.
Where was I? Ah, bugger it. I've said too much.
I love this forum.
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polyhymnia61
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Joined: 10/January/2003
Location: Netherlands
Points: 915
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Posted: 18/February/2004 at 3:33pm |
And I love your writing!!! Kudos to your talent...if not your journalism school!!
Do you freelance?
Why is bloody hell NOT?
Sorry...I just get frustrated seeing talented people starve...
Have you considered leaving Saskatchewan (which I assume you're from)?
And how do CDI and all those other ripoff joints get away with what they're doing? Has anyone ever known anyone to find an awesome career directly because of what they've studied there? I know I haven't...
Welcome to the club, Kristian...Please hang with us awhile?
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Home is where you are allowed to prosper.
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Kristian
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Joined: 18/February/2004
Location: Canada
Points: 43
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Posted: 18/February/2004 at 6:00pm |
Hi poly!
I enjoy your writing as well. No, I'm not freelancing and I've
been told a few times that I darn well should be. That's a whole
story all by itself. I'm not starving...yet. I have at
least six months of body-fat to chisel away at.
And no, I'm not originally from Saskatchewan. I came here from
the Yukon almost five years ago. I followed my wife down here --
her family is from around these parts...actually they've all collected
in one small town an hour away from Saskatoon.
I've been thinking about leaving Saskabush for sure. Most of my
family is in Alberta, so there's an avenue to The Promised
Land. Too bad I hate the whole province. It's
so...unfriendly.
Private colleges are a bit of a curse here in Sask. They're
everywhere and the people who are turned away from university and tech
school end up there. There was one case of a group of students
who managed to successfully sue one of them. It wasn't CDI,
unfortunately. If I had my way, I'd shut down the
whole lot of them. A lot of people are going through some
incredible suffering because of these colleges and the money that's
involved.
I guess I've gotten off track. Wasn't I supposed to be talking about debt?
..'er somethin...
Thanks poly, for your greeting. I'll be here for a bit.
When I find solutions (besides winning the lottery) I'll share them
with ya'll.
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justme
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Joined: 04/March/2004
Points: 1
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Posted: 06/March/2004 at 8:32am |
Alberta is definetly not the promised land... unless your extremely financially secure and established. I've been working at it for 5 years now... and this weekend I move back to Saskatchewan ( I swore I would never do it) But, its not sensible anymore. I refuse to continue to pay $3300 a year for car insurance when Ralph Klein is simply pretending to acknowledge it. Unfortunely, this province is definelty set up for the rich and established. So, next weekend I go back to the land of PST and potholes.... with a smile on my face. Maybe Lorne Kalvert will give me a job as poster girl for "saskatchewan - we're wide open - please come home - we've got jobs - honest"
As far as my student loans go.... I'm tired of fighting with Collectors over it. I know that I can't make money magically appear for them. So, instead of having a mental breakdown... I try to have fun with it. I call them before they can call me... I only call them to say 'hi' they can't stand it... every single call ends up with them hanging up on me and me laughing at them. Hmmmmm... I think I might give my buddy "bill" a call right now.
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Kristian
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Joined: 18/February/2004
Location: Canada
Points: 43
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Posted: 06/March/2004 at 12:39pm |
Good luck in the Land of Wheat. Are you off to Sasktoon or Regina or some other sprawling metropolis here?
I've heard a lot about people moving away from here, but you're the first I've heard who's coming back.
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kevmetric
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Joined: 31/December/2003
Location: Canada
Points: 70
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Posted: 06/March/2004 at 10:03pm |
In fact, DeVry was sued by a bunch of students
in 2000, for alleged "guaranteed jobs" and
also "guaranteed pass marks" for anyone studying
there. All bogus.
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Kristian
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Joined: 18/February/2004
Location: Canada
Points: 43
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Posted: 07/March/2004 at 6:55am |
CDI didn't have the hidden "guarantee pass" clause, as I'd seen a lot
of people fail a couple of exams and then be asked to leave.
The students who did the coursework and had experience with exams did
just fine. Compared with public institutions, the effort needed
to achieve a passing grade at CDI was minimal.
As far as I know, no one has tried to sue CDI yet. I've done my
part for revenge, though. I personally talked twelve people out
of going there.
The "guaranteed jobs" mantra was big at CDI too. It was the only
motivation for people to hurl $14,000.00 into a black hole. It
worked on me.
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Nicesmile4all
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Joined: 26/February/2004
Location: Canada
Points: 27
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Posted: 07/March/2004 at 8:37am |
I too went to CDI in Vic, BC. I don't know of anyone who got jobs in their field. My "Legal" schooling (of 10 months and $12000 later) got me work in a collection agaency, not a law office. I mean the education was helpful in some way.....I mean really Collection Agency/Lawyer whats the differnce...it's all just evil right...ha ha....Sorry..anyway I agree that these type of "Private Education" institutions are just all a big scam for us working poor.
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Ex-Collector, for a reason..... So I can help not hurt.
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anuk
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Joined: 25/May/2004
Points: 6
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Posted: 27/May/2004 at 4:45pm |
yea Kristian nice writing, lol I've heard that CDI does suck. My friend went their, and can't find a job for the life of him.
If I'm lucky, I'll just pay my student loan off with my line of credit, before they give me crap about it.
T
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kevmetric
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Joined: 31/December/2003
Location: Canada
Points: 70
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Posted: 27/May/2004 at 9:45pm |
For extreme ills, there should be extreme
medications or solutions.
When there's a big debt, maybe it's time to
go work in Korea or Taiwan, as a sacrifice
to pay back what's owed. Or to change line
of work. Or to move to another region where
there are brighter pastures.
If you look at reality, a lot of people get
things done, for no other reason than the fact
that they are able to extract a maximum of
benefit for themselves in any given situation,
by adapting to it, and getting other people
to contribute in solving their problems,
and getting them promoted to higher paying jobs,
or a higher responsibility.
The saying "united we stand, divided we fall"
much applies in life.
Oftentimes, the key to getting relief in life,
is actually working together with other people,
and not working against them.
It boggles the mind how often employers get on the
wrong side of employees, and the same thing happens
in married couples, or friends, relatives, school
teachers, etc.
I had to laugh ...on a newsgroup some time ago,
a female student indicated that she had no debts,
no rent to pay, and no tuition either, because
a samaritan sugar-daddy had paid all those costs.
This is just an example ....there was a study
done in the Federal Government, by the auditor
general, that found upto 40% of employees in
many Federal Departments were working husband and
wife in the same place. They had also hired cousins,
close friends, and so on. Each making upwards of $40,000
or $50,000. This is another example of getting other
people to work for you, in solving your problems.
Or what about ...sharing the rent with other people,
to split the costs ? Or buying one set of school books,
and photocopying the books ?
The people that really get ahead in life, are those
that have a "network of personal contacts" all over
the country, on which they can rely on for many
kinds of assistance, psychological, circumstancial
and financial support. They can find them jobs,
housing, social activites, etc.
Oftentimes, this is called "Emotional Intelligence".
When people have high levels of debts, not only
does a suspicion of excessive spending come into
play, but also ...a suspicion that they're failing
to reap all the benefits that they could have reaped,
from many situations that confronted them in the past.
They didn't get the promotion. Or the job. Or
the apartment. Or the invitation, etc.
It all has to do with team work ...in getting out
of debt, that isn't being fully taken advantage of,
quite possibly.
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blah
Senior Member
Joined: 18/June/2003
Location: Korea, South
Points: 101
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Posted: 28/May/2004 at 5:21am |
justme wrote:
I only call them to say 'hi' they can't stand it... every single call ends up with them hanging up on me and me laughing at them. Hmmmmm... I think I might give my buddy "bill" a call right now. |
Ok, well that’s just way too funny! We should make every day “collector appreciation day”. Can you imagine if every single person in our situation called a collector every day just to express how much we care about these wonderful people?
Hello. I just wanted to tell you how much I truly look forward to hearing your calming voice each and every day. By the way, have you ever thought about going into broadcasting? Your voice is like creamy butter on a paper-thin wafer. Did you have a puppy when you were a kid? ‘Couse I read somewhere that people who had a puppy when they were growing up tend to become more empathetic adults. I mean, the way you make it a point to devote a few minutes of every day to little ol’ me…I bet you give one heck of a warm hug. Shucks…are you married? Silly me… of course you are. Darn it, the good ones are always taken. I’m so glad fate has thrown us together like this. I hope we stay friends forever and ever! Say, let’s get together this weekend! Oh gosh, I’m getting a bit misty-eyed. Mother always said I was too sensitive. Listen, I’m really sorry but I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow, though. OK, come on…you hang up first…no, no…you hang up first. OK, together, then…One…two…three…No, you hang up first…
…I can’t believe you hung up on me. Was it something I said? Maybe we got cut off and you think I hung up on you. Maybe I should call back just to make sure we’re OK. Yeah, this would be a good opportunity to talk things out.
….wow…Our fist fight…
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Friends don't let friends take Arts degrees
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Kristian
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Joined: 18/February/2004
Location: Canada
Points: 43
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Posted: 28/May/2004 at 5:47pm |
kevmetric:
I agree with you. I agree that if we try to live in a vacuum,
we're doomed. Everyone needs help from others to keep going, to
keep finding, to keep living. There's still this romantic
mystique about the loner who carved a niche into the world all by
himself. There was a time when I wanted to emulate that rugged
individual, not so much now.
I have problems with adopting a nomadic lifestyle to follow work,
though. It just may be my loss, but I'm staying here and
re-evaluating my expectations from what I want from life. Wasn't
there a saying that if you expect nothing you are never
disappointed? Something like that.
When I look upon my debt, I see myself as the only person to blame for
it. I could have said no at any point and packed it in.
Curosity drove me, student loans fuelled me and the debt is all mine.
If I can't pay the debt off in my lifetime, it will surely be paid off
after my death. I'm worth far more dead than alive. More if
it's an accident.
Yeah, I agree with you for the most part.
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