Crappy car, crappy house, sacrifices

Nursing Students General Students

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My husband and I have went from a income of $35,000.00 per year to $20,000.00 all for a sacrifice I wanted to take to accomplish my dream of being a surgical nurse. I am attending a private college with the uglyest and loudest car in the parking lot, everyone stares at me when I pull in, and races from me when I pull out. I avoid making friends because I'm affraid they will want to come to my house that the siding is pressed board and is chipping off. I'm hoping that ugly car last me long enough to make it through college and plan on firing my landlord once I get a good job. I can't wait, and it's showing, I plan on loading up the classes in the spring and going full force until it's done.

Hope to turn that ugly Buick into a Cadillac upon graduation.

:D

Well I thought I was the only one with the crappy car! I also go to a private school and everyone I know is either driving a benz, mercedes or an SUV. I was afraid to make friends at first. But alot of them didn't care. So now I have a bunch of friends and yes they all cram in my one bedroom apartment, with my yelling son. Don't assume that people will just judge you just by looking at your car. You'll lose alot of good friends.

Hi there,

I agree with all the posters here and I too drive an older car. It is a '92 Ford Taurus and I'll tell you that it is my baby and I don't think I could live without her.

Like people, it's not what it looks like on the outside, but what is in the inside that counts. My baby has had her problems but all in all she has been a very reliable car. Sure, she isn't as sleek as the newer cars and she has a bit of rust but she has shown herself to be even more reliable than a lot of brand new cars out there and I wouldn't trade her for the world. I certainly plan to get another 3 years out of her and if she is still running after I graduate and get my first nursing job I intend to keep her, til death do us part. (Knock on Wood).

I wouldn't want to be friends with anybody that judges me because of the car I drive. If they think mine is bad they should see my husbands '92 Toyota mini-pick-up with mismatching shell!

In fact, I am not friends with people who judge me because of my car. My boss one day said "I don't know why you drive such an old car, you should be driving something new and hip." Yeah, buddy,well, when you start paying me more then we'll talk.

My dad is an airplane mechanic and has always told that just because it's new doesn't mean it's reliable and when you drive an older car you save so much more money on insurance and low or no payments. I just choose to spend my money on things that are more important to me like tuition and a roof over my head!

So, don't care what other people think. If they judge you on car and house alone then you probably wouldn't want them as friends.

Take care and know that there are a lot of old beat up cars in the parking lot of my school!

Col

...was an old Chevy Chevette I paid a hundred bucks for...that thing went through hell and refused to quit. It looked like hell, it was loud sometimes, and it smoked at other times, but it worked, and got me where I need to go. I remember putt-putting around in that car when other people had to admit their brand new cars were in the shop for some kind of expensive maintenance. And Oh My God how people go on about their new cars until something happens to them...but anyways.

I guess what I want to say is, do you want other people to value or judge you as a person by the kind of car you drive? Prolly not eh?

Hang in there, and don't be afraid to make friends. I went to a private college for nursing school, there were a lot of new cars in the parking lot and the amount of spoiled rotten brats, who thought that the definition of being poor was having to attend public school, in my general ed classes was enough to make me sick. However, most of nursing classmates were there on scholarships, grants, loans and long term payment plans too. Most of us had crappy cars we were praying would last through school and would not break down in frightening urban neighborhoods during our public health rotation, or on the way to your first day of clinical with a new instructor. My car crapped out (lost the engine) a month before the start of my last semester, had to borrow my grandfathers car for my last semester and buy a decent slightly used car after getting a job. One of my friends had to carpool with another classmate for all of her classes last semester (registration office was very nice about accomodating them with the same rotations) because she lost her car at the end of the second to last semester. All of us had crappy cheap rental houses, some of my friends wound up banding together to get out of their crappy apartments and into a slightly less crappy house. We would go to eachothers homes for study group and sit on pillows and the floor because there wasn't enough room on the couch or chairs (no one had much furniture).

Don't be afraid to make friends, you will need them to get through nursing school. You are all students, you'd be surprised how many are in the same boat. Your friends will turn out to be one of your greatest sources of support in school, they are all going through it to. And like I said before, hang in there, after school you will be able to get yourself a decent working vehicle and a nicer place to live.

Originally posted by maire

Oh gordi24 (Gordon? 24? NASCAR fan by chance?) hang in there. I know exactly what you're going through. I personally am piss-poor with a huge childcare bill due to school (and driving a beatup minivan with a really tacky cartop) but in the end it will all be worth it and I can kiss these days goodbye.:p

That's right BIG nascar fan!!!!!! That's my second love!!!!!!!!

I am so glad I have friends like all of you! Your all right I shouldn't worry about what they think, if they are my true friends they wont care about the material things in life. I'm going to focus on school and someday be a nurse.

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