At 27 I have decided to go back to school to pursue being a paramedic – something I put off for 5 years because of financial instability. With 2020, I felt useless, I decided to take the plunge as it never seemed like I was going to get to a place where I was fully stable. I come from a long line of medical officers who were the first on scene, and this is something that has stayed with me.
I am an immigrant, and I studied here in Canada and received my bachelor’s degree. I worked 3 jobs, had a scholarship and still struggled.My father was extremely sick during this time, so I have been entirely financially independent since I was 21.
With school, some toxic relationships that spiraled bad decisions, I found myself in a lot of debt. I work full time, and all the money I make goes to reviving my credit. Over the past few years, I have rebuilt myself.Not just with my credit, but also with my mental health and I have been sober for 2 years and will be doing so for the foreseeable future.
I volunteer with victims of trauma, and do work in the community around inclusion and equity. Being a paramedic means the world to me. I know I will be good at it, this is not a decision I have made lightly.
I have gotten into my first choice program and I finally feel like I am where I am meant to be. I am so excited, and truly feel like a childhood dream is coming true. I have no intention of not giving 100% of myself to this program, but I will be entirely dependent on myself to get me through the next two years.
I am looking at my costs, tuition, equipment, text books and living costs and everything seems to pile on. With everything considered, living on a very tight budget I would be able to barely scrape by. I have applied for provincial funding, and since I have full time income, they do not seem to want to invest too much in me – I understand this but my context has not been considered.
I am looking at every avenue to support myself. Putting myself out here is very difficult but like I mentioned, I will leave no stone unturned. I am also hoping to work a part time job, but I have to prioritize school and the search has been difficult despite my experience.
With my budget as it is – for every aspect of life and school I will be looking at 20K CAD/year. However, if I have enough funds to buy my equipment and textbooks I would be happy. This amounts to about 5K CAD. I have attached a breakdown of the supplemental equipment list, and from my understanding Textbooks run similar or higher costs.
Thank you for reading and if you consider donating to me, I appreciate your kindness.
https://paypal.me/getmetoschool?locale.x=en_US
