I remember sitting in the school auditorium, my parents taking notes about college even though I was barely a senior in high school. They were learning how to fill out forms and I was wondering what the big hurry was all about. Where was the proverbial fire?
To that point I don’t think I had ever given college much thought. I suppose a part of me assumed I would go to the closest state university, which, it turns out, I did, but I could just as easily have seen myself staying in my small town and doing the things that I already did, stretching my back against the horizon and wondering what else was out there.
The irony of course is that the further I get from the doings of small towns the more I think how great that life would be for my own children.
I suppose it’s true, you can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy. Or maybe you can but I’m just sick of traffic. I’ve heard it both ways.
The point is, my parents were less ready than I was, and there wasn’t a dime set aside for my higher learning. It would take a combination of community college rates, my dad working extra shifts and too many student loans to get me through college. My sister was four years behind me.
Don’t let that happen to you.
September is almost over, and a new wave of students are still settling in across the country, one college campus at a time. September is also National College Savings Month, and ScholarShare wants to help. That’s right, college savings has its very own month. Beat that, tuition hikes.
How does one celebrate National College Savings Month? Easy, you take the College Savings Pledge and get a chance to win a $500 ScholarShare 529 account for a child (ages 3-14) and a $500 Visa gift card for the child’s teacher. You will also have the chance to win one of 20 ScholarShare 529 accounts. There’s even an additional opportunity to enter by sharing the pledge with your friends and family. [UPDATE: THIS PROMOTION IS NOW OVER, PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR MORE SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES AND INFORMATION FROM SCHOLARSHARE 529 IN THE COMING MONTHS.]
That’s a lot of winning—and the first step toward a future with a lot less worry. That’s nice, too.
For more information, including the rules of the contest, please visit www.CollegeSavingsPledge.com.
This post was written in partnership with ScholarShare and I have been compensated for it. All opinions are my own, because education is important, people, but it isn’t cheap.
