IntheCrease36

Hi all! This is my first post here, and since I didn't see an appropriate introduce yourself section, I figured I'll try here. I graduated in 2008 from a state college (not an overly big one, student population of under 10,000) with a degree in communications/journalism. I originally had no plans on going to grad school once I was done, but now my thinking is starting to change. I regret my choice of school, as the department was defiicent in a lot of areas and I did not get the education that best prepared me for a job in my field. I see only now I could have gone to a college with a stronger communications department and had more educational opportunities. I also never predicted the economy going downhill like it did, so I even though I have good writing/editing skills, I'm basically unemployable because I lack a lot of design and multimedia skills. My college also really didn't have any good PR or general communications courses , so I have a lot to make up for. Some of it is my fault because I didn't realize how many internships I needed, so I was hoping I could get a second chance at getting some knowledge and work experience by going to grad school. My choice of field is either a master's in communications or sports management, as I became interested in the latter later in my college career. But again, I didn't realize how much work experience you needed to break in, and now I'm hardly competitive in that field at all. I'm starting to look at programs and have requested brochures from various schools. I'm trying to set aside time when I'm not working to go through them and think of questions for department heads. I'm looking into both online and campus programs in my chosen areas of interest and have found some that I feel would meet my needs for career preparation. I am NOT interested in academics/teaching college, so I'm likely going to go into a program that has a non-thesis track or doesn't require one at all. I'm worried about some things like letters of recommendation. Because I never planned on thinking about grad school, I didn't save any past papers that I could send back to my profs as a reference. I'm also worried they won't remember me and the fact that I don't recall some of my grades in their classes. I have the general concept down as to how to approach them for one, but I'm just nervous because I won't have much to show them to remind them how I did in school, and thus, they won't agree to write one. I'm also not sure I want to tell my current employer I'm planning on grad school, especially since it will be to prepare me for work elsewhere and not with their company. Also, the thought of a GRE or a GMAT makes me sweat. I'm fine with writing/reading comprehension (I sure as hell better be seeing as it was a huge part of my major), but I hated math, so going back to learning math problems is nervewracking. I'm glad some schools don't require them, but I don't want to apply to just those programs. Financing is another issue. My parents have said that while they are fine with me or any of my siblings going to grad school (one already did), they are not paying for it. This means more loans for me, and I'm prepared to not get funded because I'm not going to be an academic type. I would also have to work while going to school, and I don't think my employer will pay for it. I'm considered a contract employee and am not entitled to benefits. What if I can't manage everything? How can I calm down and sort through all my options, plan for tests, letters of recommendations, etc.? I know even enrolling for fall 2013 seems unrealistic at this point, but what about spring of 2014?