eunoia93

It's really not like the good old days our parents grew up in where you worked at some basic job and made enough money to pay rent, tuition, eat, and every 5 years buy a new car. Seriously if you live in a populous state it's insane how expensive living is. You hear stories about people who somehow managed to be full time med students on the deans list while working 2 jobs full time and raising a child, plus walking up hill both on the way to and from grad school. There are only so many hours in a week. We all need to sleep so we can think, that's at least 6 hours a day ideally 8. We need a day to decompress a little, I mean you should have at least 1 day you can kinda chill, unless you want to burn out. How well do you think people do in a 5 day a week, 5 classes a quarter masters program when there is zero self care. If you need to work to survive, so be it, but if you have a roof over your head and can take out some loans, apply for stipend programs and grants etc, you don't have to work over night and go crazy. I mean maybe you are tougher than me, no friggin way I'd be doing a full time MSW and working over night plus weekends. Like 75 percent of school work is done at home, it's reading, researching, writing, you know all too well. These things take time. In undergrad you can stretch it a bit, you can wing it sometimes, but this is important now. I just think many of the imaginary standards we hold ourselves to are unrealistic and unhealthy. I'm going to personally maybe work 1 day a week while I'm in the MSW program, full time in the summer, take out loans, apply for aid and grants and take advantage of the fact that I'm super lucky to have a place I can live for next to nothing staying with my mom. I hate living with my mom, she loves it, I love her, but it's very awkward. The deal is though it's worth it, cause 2 years in the grad scheme ain't crap, I'll be earning a livable wage after that 2 year point and the rest will be history. I say cut yourself some slack, give yourself enough room to do a good job and learn something while you are in school, and people who have a problem with it probably don't really know what they are talking about and over exaggerate their uphill battle of pulling themselves up by their boot straps. It's not 1955 anymore, it's not 1985, it's 2017 and it sucks. Thank you and God bless America.

I am doing it with my partners support, i think its really important to have a plan to be sucessful at a project like school. I need help to do this, for sure. Your quality of life could be greatly increased by working less and spending less on housing. Doesn't have to be all or nothing, you can take a quarter off and see if you like it, or work part time or both or etc etc.

You would be amazed how many people your age and older stay with their parents, and you have a good excuse. Even a part time MSW program is going to have the 2-3 days of interning every week for 2 years after a year of part time 3 classes a semester or quarter work. 2 years will fly by and you will be done. You can freak out and try to find a way to make everything happen all on hour own, or go with the flow, have a rich experience in grad school, and move out when you are done and earning more money with your MSW. 

Firstly, check if your school has a deferment option should you choose to work your butt off and make more money for savings before you enroll in school. That will help you know what timeline you are working with to take some stress off your shoulders and evaluate what needs come before you getting your advanced degree. For example, it might make sense to pick up some extra time at your current job or pick up a smaller high paying job on the side for 6 months to bring up your savings (I'm thinking maybe tutoring if you can find one that pays $20/hr or nanny-ing). Certainly not glamorous, but less stressful than figuring out how to add 40 hours of work into a PACKED schedule.
My honest outsiders perspective (I do not know you, your boyfriend, or your parents): if you are passionate about getting your masters and want it to happen sooner than later, then staying at your parents for those two years will be worth it. Remove the stress that you don't have to take on. If your boyfriend is understanding of the pressure and money it takes to move while studying, he'll be there when you graduate ready to move forward with you. Prioritize your goals and take some deep breaths!