Employed!

As of 11:15 this morning, I am officially employed again! I can now add to my resume the oh-so-coveted position of tour guide at the veterinary teaching hospital. Is the pay great? Nope. (More important question: Is it paid? Yes!)

During the last 3 semesters of my undergrad at ASU, I got plenty used to working 20-35 hours a week for what started as $7/hr and ended up at $12.50. Certainly not enough to totally support myself, but add in a full tuition waiver PLUS an annual living expense stipend from ASU, and I was pretty set. It was nice to have that feeling of working hard and getting a much-deserved paycheck every couple weeks.

Life at CSU is a bit of a different story. My vet clinic job ended in mid-June and I had a summer gig through early August that paid somewhat decently. Since starting vet school, though, I've been leeching off those around me - namely, CLH, my parents, and the government. All of a sudden, I have to pay this thing they call tuition (which costs about $45,000 a year for out-of-state students... gasp). CLH's income covers the majority of our day-to-day living expenses and bills. What's my contribution? Oh, about... $0. At times this has been intensely frustrating, especially as I first got used to the feeling of not helping at all on the financial end of things. (And, to make matters worse, accruing student loans at breakneck speed.)

So I have a job. Is it going to make a difference? Financially, almost definitely not. Psychologically? Absolutely. With an estimated 3-5 hours of work a month (and a rather laughable hourly wage), at least I'll have a teeny tiny something to contribute.