To begin with, I want to speak out about how influential tuition debt can be when deciding between continuing graduate school versus dropping out entirely. Prior to entering the Air Force, I was attending graduate school at a private research university at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Before I enrolled at Case, I was already in substantial debt to begin with. I had lost all my financial aid in my sophomore year due to an error from FAFSA, which forced my hand to pay tuition with credit cards for the remaining semesters until I sorted it through with FAFSA. I ultimately had to take private loans and borrow more money from credit cards until FAFSA reinstated my loans which came too little, too late. I ended up graduating with both honors and a substantial debt. Once I got word …show more content…
As mentioned before, I was a tutor for many years, both paid and volunteer, serving mostly the Armenian community. A tutoring company sent me to Burbank and Glendale to tutor some high-end students for an hour or so after work, where I would then use my spare time to tutor a few good Armenian kids for free down the street. Through networking from Church goers, I naturally found myself being called up by parents to help their young adults revamp their grades. It grew from a few favors to a full-time job, which I’d have to admit, really took its toll on me. Something about being Armenia makes it hard for me to say no them even if it drains me. I didn’t charge because I knew they really couldn’t afford it even though I really wanted to stop yet I didn’t have the heart to abandon those kids who needed me. I simple arrived, tutored, left, came back, and helped out again without ever thinking twice of charging a fee. I think that’s the kind of people we are, we look after one another, sacrificing our comforts for the sake of our brothers and