Archive for College

I’m Approved for Financial Aid

Elf Dragon's Crown

I was able to get my Pell Grant and subsidized loan. I had to file an appeal and set up an “academic plan” before my financial aid could be released since I already have a degree. I’ve never qualified for federal aid before (I’m turning 24 this year), so I didn’t know how any of this stuff worked. I guess they put people who already have a lot of credits through the same appeal process as people who fail classes, as though knowing too much is just as much a punishable offense as knowing too little.

The grant covers tuition for the next two semesters and I will set aside the loan money as an emergency fund in case anything happens or if I don’t qualify for federal financial aid next year. I’ll also look for scholarships for next year.

It was a difficult decision, but I’ve decided to resign from my current part time job so that I’ll have more time to dedicate to school, starting my game studio, and freelance work. I’ve offered to help find a replacement since I could only give two weeks notice (I know two weeks is standard, but I didn’t know if they could find someone and have them start by then). I should be able to make enough freelancing to cover my bills. Freelancing hours are much more flexible, and depending on the project, I can make more per hour than I could at my regular job.

I hope I’m making the right decision. What are your thoughts on working while going to school? Does a regular job vs freelancing make a difference? What about starting a company while you’re still in college? Comment below.

(Picture is unrelated and is a preview of my cosplay for Midoricon. Check back soon if you’re only looking at my blog for the cosplay stuff!)

Looseleaf Textbooks: The Latest in College Student Scamming Technology

I enjoy minimizing the amount of money that I’m ripped off each semester from purchasing college textbooks. That’s why I get a list of required textbooks early, before the college bookstore even starts selling books for the semester and compare prices on Amazon, eBay, and Half.com. This also allows me to avoid the insanely long lines in the college bookstore.

I guess in the couple years since I completed my first degree, things have changed and colleges are starting to move more towards looseleaf “textbooks.” Either that, or my college just likes to rip students off more than most.

For those that are fortunate enough to not know what a looseleaf textbook is, it’s basically a ream of computer paper, but instead of being blank, and therefore serving the functional purpose of allowing you to print your own documents, it has the kinds of things that you would normally find inside a textbook (information, stock photos, unfunny comic strips, etc.) printed on each sheet. They also come with nifty little holes on the edge of each page so that you get to spend another $5 on a 3-ring binder on top of the $100+ you already spent on the fancy ream of paper. How cool is that?

Publishers like to say that looseleaf books are more convenient, since you can just take the chapters you need each time you go to class, or that they save you money. What they hope you won’t notice is that they still cost over $100, and you’re unlikely to be able to sell them back to the bookstore (which is already a ripoff. Textbook buyback days are essentially the Gamestop trade-in events of the academic world) or to other textbook buyback websites, since book-buyers are worried that you may have lost some of the pages. If you’re lucky, you may be able to sell them to another eBay member if your price is low enough.

I had one once when I was working on my last degree that I bound with string as soon as I got it and was able to resell on eBay. Now, for Fall 2013, two of my four classes required looseleaf textbooks, both of which the college bookstore expected me to pay over $100. I ended up getting a previous edition of the Intro to Theater book, which was an actual book, for $8 shipped. (Yes, $8. That wasn’t a typo.) I also got the international edition of the Entrepreneurship book for $34 shipped (always look for the international edition. Publishers say they’re only for sale outside the US, but they’re perfectly legal to import).

At least my game design class has a normal “learn on your own” non-textbook type book. My C# book still cost a small fortune, even though Amazon has similar books for learning C# for under $30. All-in-all I saved a lot of money compared to what the college bookstore was going to charge me.

It’s pretty obvious that looseleaf textbooks are simply a way for publishers to curb used book sales and drive up their own profits. They don’t care about the poor college students who can barely afford Cup Noodles. It’s almost as if Microsoft has teamed up with the textbook companies to find new ways of extracting money while screwing over their customer base.

TL:DR version: Avoid giving in to textbook scams like looseleaf textbooks. Instead, buy international editions and/or previous versions when you can. And when you’re done, sell them directly to other students on eBay or in person instead of getting ripped off by your college bookstore’s Gamestop-esque trade-in policies.

(Don’t worry. The photo isn’t my desk. It’s from Morguefile.)

Going Back to School and Starting an Indie Game Company… At the Same Time

Grunt Birthday Party

As I briefly mentioned in a previous blog post, I will be going back to school at the end of August for Computer Game and Simulation Design, which is my college’s fancy way of saying “video game development.” It doesn’t look like I’ll be getting financial aid this semester because of the fact that I already earned an Associate of Arts (before I knew what I wanted to do with my life), but I should be able to afford at least this semester with what I have saved up. I have an appointment to speak with a guidance counselor in a couple weeks (which is the earliest appointment they had available).

I am also in the process of starting my own independent game company. I’ve always dreamed of starting my own business, and this will give me a lot of extra industry experience by time I finish my degree in game design. It might be crazy to be starting my own company while still in school, but plenty of other people have done it, and I’m just crazy enough to give it a shot. My plan is to start out small and offer my first few releases for free (supported by ads on the download pages) to generate buzz around my company while I gain more game making experience before actually trying to sell anything.

I’ve just started a new social media project on an independent contractor basis, so I’ll have some money coming in. I haven’t yet figured out what I’m going to do about my regular job. I don’t think I’ll be able to work 40 hours a week between the two jobs, plus work on getting my own company up and running, plus going to school full time. I don’t want my school work to suffer from lack of time that I’m able to spend on homework and studying.

Aside from applying for tons of scholarships for next semester and beyond, I’m brainstorming other ways to fund my education, such as crowd-funding. Have you tried crowd-funding to pay for your college tuition? Please post in the comments of this post what your experiences have been, both positive and negative.

Also, I’d like to hear from anyone else who has majored in game design or started their own indie game studio. How did you like your classes? If you already graduated, what are you doing now? If you own an indie game studio, how successful have you been thus far?

I’d really like to hear from anyone who’s on a similar career path. In this modern internet age, networking with like-minded individuals is probably one of the most important things you can do to become successful in your career.

I’ll keep this blog updated with my progress in school and in my indie game business.

(I don’t have an appropriate picture for this post, so I’ll just use a random Grunt enjoying his Grunt Birthday Party that I took on my phone many months ago.)

Just an Update

As always, I’ve been busy and forgot to update this blog for a long time. Since the last time you’ve heard from me, my boyfriend and I have moved out of our small apartment and into a townhouse. I’ve also decided to go back to school for video game design this fall. So here’s everything that’s going on in my life right now:

Our new place is pretty awesome. We have an extra bedroom, which I have turned into a classic gaming room (pictures to come!) We still need to get some poster frames so we can finish decorating.

As long as nothing happens with my financial aid, I’ll be going back to school for video game design. I realized that, at this point, I’m probably never going to “grow up” and decide on a grown-up type of career, so I might as well try to make a career out of something I actually enjoy.

I bought a Kinect as soon as we moved into our new place, since we have enough living room space for it now. I’ve already lost a little bit of weight playing it. I’m hoping to get into awesome shape so I can go to the beach this summer, not look like a gamer stereotype when school starts, and be able to pull off a Golden Axe cosplay.

I won’t be at Colossalcon this year (unless we decide to go for maybe one day), since my friend is getting married that Saturday, and I’m going to be a bridesmaid. It would be pretty douchey to skip a friend’s wedding for something like that. But I’ll hopefully be able to go to other cons later this summer.

I did go to Shinbokucon, which was pretty much how you’d expect Shinbokucon to be. We just reused our Elfen Lied costumes for that, since that con isn’t really worth making a whole new cosplay.

I guess that’s about it for now. I don’t have any photos for this post, so I’ll use one from my Elfen Lied cosplay. Notice how I switched from the horns to bows.