update on the eBay coupon sale

A few days ago, I wrote about selling unwanted coupons on eBay: two of my coupons had (low) bids, and even that surprised me.

Today my auctions ended. Here’s the result: I sold five “items,” differing in value from a set of Chuckee Cheese randoms to a free admission at a local zoo. Not one of the coupons had cost me money, and, actually, most came from the local paper. Even with the cost of a stamp on each envelope, I made $10.

10 reasons you should go to grad school

I’m 24 years old, about to finish school for (I think) the final time. And in the course of my educational career, I’ve heard a lot of people knock higher education: they say it’s not as valuable as experience, it’s too expensive, it takes too much time.

I say they’re wrong. Here are (my) top 10 reasons for thinking grad school has been one of my best decisions, ever.

1) It broadened my perspective.

No matter where you go for undergrad, it’s still just one (OK, maybe two or three for some of us) place. That school gives you one sense of the world, one slice of academia, but it’s still just a small, small bit of it. Attending another school, with other people, in another place widens your world, enlarges your perspective.

2) It challenged my beliefs.

I have a very strong sense of my place in this world. My moral views and personal convictions are set, and, honestly, in many interactions, that’s OK. My co-workers and acquaintances will let me hold my ground without much confrontational discussion. But in a classroom? where touchy, controversial issues get brought up? It’s no longer enough to “just believe” something, not really. In my two years of grad school, I consistently came head-to-head with people who disagreed with me, and they wanted to talk about it. What this did for me was push me to ask hard questions–to wrestle with issues that I really feel are important. I became a better defender, communicator, arguer–all valuable skills.

3) It opened up new opportunities.

Through grad school, I scored a copyediting internship with a book publisher that a prof recommended. This was after I’d learned the copyediting skills I needed in a previous course, also at the university. I published an essay and magazine articles that I’d written for classes.

4) It provided connections.

I met people who worked in my field. I interacted with authors, editors, marketers, advertisers. In whatever subject matter one studies, grad school hooks you up with others in the industry; they say networking is a huge part of building a career.

5) It detatched me from my work.

Entering grad school, I was very (too?) attached to what I wrote. They were my words, my thoughts, my chosen sentence structures. Through repeated workshopping with talented students, I stepped a way a little. At some point, I saw my writing as independent of me, as something that needed to communicate effectively.

6) It was fun.

Yes, yes, this isn’t the first argument you’ll hear* for returning to the classroom, and I realize my situation was ideal, since I only worked part-time. Still, studying something you love is … well, there’s nothing like it. I highly, highly recommend it.

7) It wasn’t that much money.

Here’s where we get personal. For me, the base of my total tuition was $20,000. This was for two years of school, full-time. I worked part-time, and I got good grades. The good grades earned me a quarter of the tuition: $5,000. Then, that internship I scored, through the school, happened to be paid, earning me another $3,000. Factor in the publications I had, also because of classes, and that’s yet another $1,000 off the bill. All in all, roughly $11,000 for a graduate degree from an excellent school. When you consider my much better job prospects, my heightened enjoyment in this field as opposed to my former one, and (most of all) the higher salary I will command with an MA, that $11,000 becomes a very small price to pay.

8 ) It strengthened my confidence.

Not just as a writer, but as a person. I feel much more aware of the world around me, the market for writers, the lingo of the industry. When I apply for a job I want, I’m able to fulfill its requirements: I know how to copyedit, to write in different styles, to articulate my thoughts quickly.

9) It was manageable.

As a full-time student, I attend two night classes each week. They are three hours long, and the out-of-class work usually takes around 10 hours of additional time (true, it was more at the beginning). I also commute, which factors for another four hours of time each week. Twenty hours a week is like a part-time job, on top of a busy life, and I know that’s a lot for some people. However, almost all grad programs have alternatives: part-time students take just one class at my school, for example. You can also take a semester off, if that helps you.

10) It’s becoming more and more necessary.

There are a ton of people in my grad program. Seriously. With increasing students getting MAs, those without them will eventually wish they had. In today’s competitive job market, I almost wonder if we can afford not to consider grad school.

*Edited, with the original typo (here) removed.

alternatives to MS Office

When I got a new laptop last year (after having my old one stolen while traveling), I opted out of getting MS Office. The addition would have cost a couple hundred bucks, and the computer was already expensive.

I still needed to be able to make documents for school, though, as homework was one of the biggest reasons I got a laptop in the first place. Lucky for me, a computer friend hooked me up with a sweet deal: I have MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and I use them all the time.

Still. All things considered, I’m wondering now if an even cooler deal would have been using alternative providers, via the Web. At writefly.com, for example, you can create and store documents online, even making it possible to share/collaborate with others. And through Google you can make documents, spreadsheets, even manage a calender similar to Outlook.

I just created a spreadsheet at Google for my April finance-managing. Coolest thing to me? no need to save it to my USB drive or desktop. It’s accessible anywhere there’s Internet.

thankfulness

You know, with all this job-hunting and forward thinking, I’ve sort of forgotten how great it’s been to go to grad school.

As a rule, I’m a big fan of education: I love being a student, I love learning, I love the environment a school gives. But, even beyond that, for me, going back to school for a master’s was particularly extraordinary because I had gone to an unaccredited college for undergrad.

If you’re not familiar with all the terminology and red tape of accreditation, here’s a nutshell version: you need it if you want your degree to always be recognized. Many, many schools will not honor a degree from an unaccredited school (side note: why I went to the unaccredited school is another story–one to be shared later).

When I’d started thinking about another degree, back in 2004/05, I looked for a good program that I thought would accept my credentials. I applied to a school in Virginia–religious like my undergrad was–and got accepted.

But later I learned the VA school didn’t offer the highest academics, and it too lacked the reputation to get me jumpstarted career-wise. Back to the drawing board. I searched online for any college that would offer a writing-based master’s degree, in the Chicago area. One stood out to me, and I applied.

Amazingly, still surprising to me to this day, I got in. No one ever questioned my background, and I’ve been in the top percentage of every class I’ve taken.

One of my old classmates contacted me today; she’s planning to attend that school in VA. She wondered how I managed to get past the accreditation issues with my current school. I told her God worked it out, and He did.

what to do with coupon mailers

Last week I got a Brookfield Zoo coupon in the mail–one free admission. I’m not planning to go, so I posted it on eBay. Believe it or not, someone’s bidding on it. I’ve also got a Lenscrafters’ $75 Off coupon selling: again, it came in the mail, and I wasn’t going to use it.

Something that came free to me, that I don’t need, will bring me a few extra dollars. I love deals like this!

article 1

Yesterday, I talked to the magazine editor who bought my first article. She’s nine-months pregnant, I found out, so it’s understandable that’s she been hard to reach. The mag made a few changes to my piece, so she wanted to tell me that she’d e-mail me the new draft to check and edit.

She also got back to me about payment. The article is around 1100 words, but it’s a list piece–”A Dozen Great…”–you get the idea. I expected at least $100, as that’s how much I was paid for an essay that was placed in a book last year. I’d spent about ten hours on it, including phone interviews and light internet research. I probably would’ve been happy with $75, honestly.

So imagine my surprise when she dropped this news: $600 will be coming my way next month, when the piece is published. That’s $60 PER HOUR. Sweet!

job-hunting 1.1

A publishing company in the suburbs got my resume and called today to set up an interview.
Source: Monster.com

On Thursday, April 12, at 2:30 p.m., I’ll be meeting with the editorial director and some other eds. The position, associate editor of an organization which publishes three national magazines, is in what’s considered a niche/trade industry: the subject matter revolves around construction, machinery, and IT departments.

On the plus side, it’s a casual work environment, 30 minutes away, offers benefits, and boasts a “competitive salary.” I’ve done some light research on the company–good so far, printed extra copies of my resume and writing samples, and will put together a packet or two later.

magazine writing

For one of my classes last quarter, I had to create three magazine articles that I would actually submit for publication. My prof showed us the best ways to query and how to market writing to specific magazines, and his practical advice proved helpful.

I sold the first piece quickly, though I still haven’t been paid for it: this seems to be common in freelance magazine writing–editors are busy and hard to reach. It will appear in a June issue, my editor said in her one voicemail message.

I sold the second today, to a local newspaper. They will pay me $50 at the end of the month. I’m glad to have sold the article, especially because it benefits the shop I profiled, and they were very helpful there. But I’m disappointed too–the piece focuses on a national trend, and I queried at least three larger publications that never responded. A local paper’s OK, but smaller than I’d aimed at. I guess it’s always good to have backup options.

job-hunting 1.0

I received my first callback from job-hunting this week.
Source: Craigslist.org

Someone from the outplacement company in Chicago got my resume and called to discuss the editorial position they are filling. The job is full-time, in the Loop, and involves editing resumes for laid-off employees: not my first choice of job, but I would do it.

Problem? The salary starts in the mid-20s, and the company offers no benefits. Considering health insurance alone would take a big chunk of my pay, I’d barely make enough to survive. Pass.