I’ve applied to the Teach & Learn program at Instituto Franklin, through la Universidad de Alcalá, specifically the Master in Bilingual and Multicultural Education.

I wish I was writing to say that I got in, but I don’t know that yet even though we were supposed to find out by the 9th of May because damn it Spain get it together you’re killing me here!.

What I do know is that my life has a funny way of happening.

The application asked for academic history in the form of:
Educational Institution
GPA
Years Attended

I graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a 3.74, but because I transferred there, years attended are only 2003-2005. So if I just put that down, then it would look like I finished in 2 years and not the 4 1/2 it actually took me…which led me back to my 3 semesters at the University of Miami. I didn’t remember my gpa there (shocking) and in accessing my student records online, I found
Fall 2001: 3.3
Spring 2002: 4.0
Fall 2002: 4.0
Spring 2003: 0.0

One of these things is not like the other.

Remember how I said three semesters at UM? Yeah, I wasn’t there in Spring 2003. I was eating In-n-Out burgers and pledging ΑΦ at a Catholic school with no football team.

So I called up to sort it out.

MULTIPLE phone calls and emails and weeks later–I’ll save you the back and forth because it’s boring and the resolution is all that matters–turns out that due to the way my loans were dispersed at the time, I was never dropped from my classes aka they didn’t care that I wasn’t writing papers ’cause they were still getting their paper.

Which leads us to the email I woke up to this morning:

As mentioned, your tuition is going to be reversed for that semester [less your financial aid]…The net result is that you will be issued a refund in the amount of $6,531.75. These adjustments require assistance from our financial aid office, so we have not been able to complete them yet. We apologize for the delay.

Umm…what?!

So here’s the thing that makes this extra special amazing:

When I was 30 (oh, so long ago) I said to myself that I wanted this, the next 5 years, to be the time in my life that I travel, and also when I pay off my student loans, of which I have 3. Incompatible life goals, one might say, considering that both LMU and U of M are private universities and Sallie Mae would take my firstborn if only I were having kids.

I care not, I would respond.

I didn’t particularly have a plan for how these 2 things would come together, but whatever, declare what you want and let the universe sort it out, is basically how I run my life.

The smallest one I was able to pay off a couple weeks ago when my landlord FINALLY returned my deposit SIX WEEKS AFTER I MOVED OUT but let me not get my pressure up.

The next one is around $3500.

Look who’ll be paying off 2 student loans this year!!!!!!!!!!!

And all this time, ALL THESE YEARS, that money has been sitting there without me knowing and would have continued to if it weren’t for this application. An application for a program I wouldn’t have even known existed if it weren’t for the shitty job I had in Sydney. (One of my coworkers, another American, put me on to the idea of teaching in Spain.)

So 2 down*, 1 to go and 4 years for another miracle!

Can’t wait!

*well, once I actually get the money