Graduate Teaching Assistant Available

Now that I’m married, pursuing this program is a joint effort. While I may be the one doing all of the coursework, studying, exams etc.., my wife is holding down a full time job, paying rent, buying groceries, cooking meals, paying the bills and overall making sure that our household is properly functioning. I jokingly say that I married her because I couldn’t afford all of the services she provided otherwise. Which is a morsel of wisdom I culled from her favorite childhood book:

The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins

The woman I fixed my eye on, was the woman who kept house for me at my cottage. Her name was Selina Goby. I agree with the late William Cobbett about picking a wife. See that she chews her food well and sets her foot down firmly on the ground when she walks, and you’re all right. Selina Goby was all right in both these respects, which was one reason for marrying her. I had another reason, likewise, entirely of my own discovering. Selina, being a single woman, made me pay so much a week for her board and services. Selina, being my wife, couldn’t charge for her board, and would have to give me her services for nothing. That was the point of view I looked at it from. Economy–with a dash of love. I put it to my mistress, as in duty bound, just as I had put it to myself.

Anyways, the one thing that we both agreed on was not going back into debt over this program. We had just clawed our way out of debt shortly after getting married and vowed to never be enslaved again. We aligned our goals and financial values by attending a Financial Peace class offered by Dave Ramsey. Personally, I think Dave can be a jerk. But, his Baby Steps really worked for us and gave us the traction we needed to even be in a position of thinking about Masters school.

All this to say we were either going to cash flow the program by 1) dipping into our savings or 2) concurrently working a part time job. I really didn’t want to dip into savings (despite the proverb of education being an investment in oneself). So when the above teaching opportunity presented itself, I jumped all over it.

As stated, the assitance offers to pay up to 12 credit hours of tution, offers a stipend of $9393.00 for the academic year (about $15/hr) and basic health insurance.