Using your education award

Hello,

This blog hasn't had any posts in quite some time, but there are a few tips I would like to reflect on as my year of service has came to a close.

My education award of $5,550 will be applied to finish my Master's at Iowa State. I have requested my payment, and it is being processed. It won't take the full amount, but I will use whatever is left over to pay off some student loans. The interest rate for student loans is doubling, so it's smarter for me to use that award for graduate school.

Hopefully all AmeriCorps members know they also have the option of paying back the accrued interest from your student loans. My loan provider switched during my year of service, but I was already in an up-hill battle since I wasn't in forbearance. I will make another post once this gets (or doesn't get) approved to fill you in on this process. UPDATE: I got my interest payment!

Many of you are or were AmeriCorps members, feel free to post your own experiences with your education awards and ask questions! The awards are handy, and should be used to their full potential!

I have a few other life updates to share as well. :)

1. Curtis has accepted a full-time offer in San Bruno, CA with Google. Yay! I am so proud of him for following his dream and living the life! He will start in March.

2. Babies! My older sister (Crystal) is having a girl, and my step-brother (Matt) and his girlfriend (Kyla) are also due around the same time! Looks like the Kinkade family Christmas is going to expand quite a bit!

3. Once the State Fair is over, I will on campus full-time at ISU. I have been lucky enough to get both a teaching and a research assistantship to fund my course-work to finish my Masters. Spending ten hours a week as a Teaching Assistant for Human Life Span (HDFS 102) and ten hours doing research with Dr. Susan Maude will be a great addition to my experiences. I will also be taking 13 credits in the fall and hopefully whipping out my thesis by next December at the latest.