are any of you...

I am on state aid too (also a single mom). Honestly, not many people know my situation so I don't feel judged and I don't care if people are judging me. Just remember this is temporary, when you graduate and become a nurse, you will be able to take care of yourself and your family. Be thankful there are programs in place to help people like us. It's not like we're sitting around eating bon bons and collecting a check!

I think that helping out people who use the assistance to better themselves and their lives is what assistance is meant for. A few bad apples spoil the bunch and when the general public sees people getting assistance and abusing the system it unfortunately puts a bad taste in their mouth for everyone getting support.

Keep up the good work. One day you will be making great money and have a great career, at that time you will pay back to society what they gave to you and that is the way it is supposed to work. It is a shame people take advantage of it for their whole lives, you are doing the right thing!

My mother is an Italian lady and refused to get help when I was a kid, so we grew up dirt poor. I think a lot of things in my life could have been better if she had put her pride aside, gotten help, got an education, and then got a career. But instead we struggled. I joined the military so I earned great benefits and have a blessed life; so in the end I can't complain too much about the hard times as a child because it got me here. Your kids will appreciate your decisions!

I am going to university with state aid and I am not ashamed of it. My parent doesn't make enough to support me through college for all 4 years even if its a local university. The way I see it is if I study hard and do well in all my courses somehow that would be like paying back the state for its generosity. Right now, I am getting A's and B's in all of my courses. I still have 2 finals to take which will decide my grades in chemistry and biology. My only B grades is a 1-credit lab and maybe a 3-credit English class (it might be a B+ if I do well on this final paper). If I end the semester with what I think I might get in each class I take, I will make the Dean's List. Never lose faith or be ashamed of anything that is given to you, just take it and put your best effort to better yourself because of it. I think that is the best thanks you can give to your state or country for providing you the financial aid.

Hi. I left my xhusband of 13 yrs in the fall of oct. 2008 due to domestice violance..with my son of 12 and my baby of 2 still in diapers..it was very hard..but i had to do something to change my future and of my kids...i had no where to go..no income cuz i left my job as well...i got on public assistance and let me tell you..it has been a blessing since then!!! I was able to get certified in CNA..and I recently registered for phlebotomy training..and...i go into a very very good college...a private catholic universary!! and I am doing awesome..working towards my bachelors in science of nursing...let me tell u something, public assistance has been the best thing that has happened to me..without it..i dont know where i would be..and if ppl are looking at u wierd..then u know what? ..turn and keep u head up high...cuz u r doing it for urself and ur kids and that is all that matters girlfriend...it does not matter what ppl think..u have every right to be in that program just like everyone else...I could not be happier being where i am ..n knowing that I have been blessed with all the help i could get. remember ppl who r on public assistance and just sit at home should be ashamed...not us cuz we are doing something to better ourselves and our kids lives...god bless good luck n keep ur head up high!!:)

Im more than happy to see someone on state aid doing something to better their lives than just sitting at home living off the state.

Dont feel bad about it..this is what assistance is for....its the ones who abuse it that should feel ashamed..not you!

lol! not all.....when didn't have as much and as on gov't assistances. i had no problem with it's what i needed to do to survive so i'm going to do it. my hubby pays his taxes it's taxes and i felt i needed that money back... i'm not a single parent. i'm a stay at mom. i have been for the past 4 yrs. this is why i'm going back to school. i don't ever want to be in that position....plus i've been on the and i've been on the top and i would have to say i like the top better.... it's very funny...people will always find something to judge you about even when it's nothing there......i have 3 kids, i'm 21 and i still have my last name...you'll be amazed the looks i get when they see little ole' (i look like 16, i'm 5'2' weight about 125) walking with my kids in the grocery store. my total comes out to about $600 i know are waiting for me to pull out a foodstamps card. i pull out that damn bankcard and shine on them. i love it....i live in the woodlands.....

single parents on state assistance and going to school on Pell Grant? I feel like the crappiest person ever for being in state aid! It seems like ever where i turn ppl are "judging" me. I know it doesnt' matter what other ppl think, but my husband of 9 yrs lft me when my youngest was 3 weeks old (he is now 3.5 months) i had no income, no "training" so to speak of (i've had the on the job training but not certifications) to go to work to support me and my kids while i'm in school. I am starting my pre-req's for an ADN program (hopefully i will get accepted to the program for fall 2011). Just wondering if anyone else feels like a crappy person for being on state aid...

I am absolutly a single parent using pell grants, food stamps and any other kind of aid that I need to make it. I also have a job working 20 hrs a week and a work study job at the college... I look at it like this, these programs were put in place to help people that need it. Moms that are striving towards a better life for them and their children are definitely worth the programs assistance.

At first I was embarressed, but realized later on that I should not be ashamed because I am working very hard. I am making this life work for me and my family. I am proud that our gov't is supportive of people that need it, I feel very blessed. I give thanks to the lord every day!

As long as you are smashing the classes, you are doing your part. I am using the gi bill to pay for living expenses and classes, which I don't think is much different from your public assistance. I feel that I owe it to all of you to get good grades for using American tax dollars to pay for my school, for those tax dollars came about by the hard work of our fellow Amercans.

So earn your aid, and understand that school comes first.

OP - Bless your heart! As a long-time taxpayer - feeding my hard-earned money to the government, I am really glad you are on the receiving end of some of it. Much better than buying bombs or propping up insolvent, hostile foreign countries... LOL.

Hold your head high and focus on the future.

thanks guys. idk why I'm feeling so bad these days. I think it is because this is my first holiday season alone (and my anniversary falls right after the first of the yr). I found a job opening today for a PRN CNA at my local hospital. I'm trying to decided if i should apply for it or if i should just spend my "spare time" (which i know will be few and far between) with my boys. My parents have told me I do not have to work through nursing school, but i don't like to "bum" off them (or anyone else) for any thing (more than i am anyway). I"ll think i just better hit my knees and talk to the "big guy" and see where He takes me.

God Bless you OP...Do not feel ashamed. One day you will be working and paying into the same system that is helping you now. That is what it is all about. You are doing an incredible job with your studies.. Enjoy the time with your baby, and LISTEN TO YOUR PARENTS. No really, when you feel down just look at the miracle in your arms! You are paving a very stable and financially secure future for you and you child. What is so bad about that? Take the help and then "pay if forward".. Have a very blessed Holiday!:hug:

You, and others in the same situation as you, is what these programs were designed for!!! You take all the help you qualify for. It'll get payed forward and and them some once you graduate. You're a GOOD PERSON TAKING CARE OF YOUR BABIES! Don't let anyone get you down!

I do want to string your husband by his toes for not taking care of his kids... but that is another story.