Single Unemployed Mother/Law Student is not a "Great Story"......This is My Life.

It has been such a long time since I have written in this blog. A lot has happened. I started law school! :-) I am a 1L at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. I'm in the Hybrid JD Program which means that most of my classes are online, but once a semester I travel to Concord, NH for in person classes. We, the students, are responsible for our own transportation and lodging during those weeks, which I initially thought would be no problem because I had started working. Fast forward to me being completely overwhelmed trying to learn a new position, homeschool my son, and complete all of my classwork. Something had to go, and unfortunately I have been unemployed now for around a month. There is an immersion period coming up from October 15th to October 18th in which I need to travel to New Hampshire and my stay will last around five days including travel days. This deadline is quickly approaching all while my MacBook is warning me that it may die at any time, and I still have household responsibilities. Of course I am looking for at least a part time job that will allow for some type of income, but in the meantime we are just budgeting and buckling down.

Out of the blue I received an email from the financial aid office that I qualified for an ARP grant, and that will definitely help offset the cost of going to New Hampshire next month. To set the scene of the screen shot above right after we got this grant, our school sent out an email about a discounted rate for bar prep classes, which in turn makes the subject come up in our class group chat.

I have blurred out names to protect the identity of others, but I had to speak on this because this is the part that no one talks about. I was a little offended at this exchange, but at the same time, it just points out how oblivious the rest of the world can be to those who are struggling. Law school is incredibly expensive, and the mere fact that I am able to attend is God's Grace and Mercy in action. The sacrifices that I am making right now will pay off in the end, but here in the midst of it all, sometimes it's hard to remember that. Especially when someone suggests that a "single female mother" be sent to negotiate for a better group rate for bar prep courses, and especially when I'm told that my everyday struggle is a "great story" to tell the sales rep to get a better price.

This cut to the core because I felt like someone wanted to use me as a prop....a means to get them a better deal without even knowing or understanding that my situation that they think is such a "great story" is my reality everyday. I don't have the luxury of trying to cut a deal for a bar prep class that I won't use until my 2L or 3L year because I am too busy trying to survive my 1L year. Maybe I'm a little oversensitive on this subject, and I will own that, but at the same time....I wish more than anything that my story wasn't so "great". I wish that I had the means like some of my classmates to only worry about classwork and bar prep, but alas my "story" is not written that way.