After pondering it for 2 decades, I finally enrolled in my dream school

When I graduated with a master’s degree in 2020, people kept asking me if I’d ever go back to school. I looked them in the eye and with all seriousness said, “Over my dead body.”

Well, color me pallid, because it turns out I was wrong.

It was my mom’s idea. On a chilly fall morning, she broached the subject. She’s recently discovered a Social Security Administration program called Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS), which allows people to put part of their income toward an approved plan with the goal of reducing or eliminating their dependency on Social Security. One person, for example, might put their Supplemental Security Income toward funding a new startup, while another might invest in a business degree.

In my mother’s proposed plan, I’d go back to school to get a bachelor’s degree in English.

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I’m pretty sure she was expecting me to turn up my nose at the idea, but I was intrigued. Graduate school, while grueling, gave me a sense of fulfillment. Writing is my passion. It’s what I want to do with my life, but I do struggle with the uncertainty of it.

It’s different when you’re an agented author with a deadline, working toward publication alongside a seasoned professional. Breaking into the industry as a multiply marginalized individual is a lot like throwing spaghetti at the wall. Sometimes it sticks, but more often than not, it just goes splat.

School, on the other hand, is certain. I know what I’m supposed to be doing. More importantly, I know it’ll be worth it when I get to the end of the line. I thrive on deadlines, and school is full of them — and not the kind of self-imposed deadlines I’ve been working with for years.

OK, I wasn’t just intrigued, I was all in. But first we had to put together my plan.

Crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s

A PASS hinges on your ability to prove how your proposed plan will lead to employment. I did some research and discovered that a job in the publishing industry — not as a writer, but as an agent or editor — requires a degree in English. My dream is to publish books, but working part-time in the industry would undoubtedly sharpen my skills as a writer. I could perhaps even make connections that would bolster my dream in the future.

I discovered that the University of Minnesota’s (UMN) Crookston campus offers a completely remote bachelor’s degree in English. When I first transitioned to online school back in 2015, there weren’t many options, as learning remotely was still considered less than ideal. But the pandemic changed everything, including the viability of fully accredited online programs. I was over the moon to have found a school with that in my home state.

My mom and I spent weeks on the PASS application. We eventually decided on two classes a semester, which would allow me to make consistent progress toward my degree while ensuring that I’m able to navigate my day-to-day life with SMA. After double- and triple-checking our math, we submitted the application and hoped for the best.

After months of waiting, we heard back a couple weeks ago. My PASS had been approved. Four years after graduating with my master’s, I was going back to school.

A dream realized

I’ve wanted to go to the University of Minnesota ever since I was a child. I had my spinal fusion at UMN, and I often saw doctors at the university’s Twin Cities campus. I fell in love. The city seemed glamorous to me, as did the underground tunnels leading from building to building. I pictured myself as a freshman in college, living my best metropolitan life as a UMN student.

That vision never came to pass, as SMA prevented me from going to school full time on campus. But the dream persisted. Part of me still longed for the burgundy and mustard of the UMN logo. Don’t ask me why. It seemed really cool to me at 9 years old, and as we all know, that 9-year-old lives on in me somewhere, even 20 years later.

As I’m writing this, I just received my acceptance letter from UMN. I’ll be starting my bachelor’s studies in English — minus my generals, thanks to the bachelor’s degree in psychology I already have — this fall.

Dreams really do come true.

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