brainylady

You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the (mostly terrible) jokes. Most of us have a groaner up our sleeve for occasions like that, don't we? Here's the one I always use:

Why don't cannibals eat clowns?
Because they taste funny!

I do feel quite a bit better today. I could even knit! So I did, and I finished the second sleeve of the Must Have. On to the front pieces; I'll save the back for last.

I am very, very pleased to announce that, as of this afternoon, I am free of my student loan. It was huge, and I've paid it off.

I graduated from university with a B.A. in the spring of 2001. I had spent five years on it (an extra year for Honours) and received student loans for the whole period. It was my choice not to get a job during the semesters I was at school; I wanted to be totally focused and have the time to do my best. I was lucky that loans were available, but mostly I was lucky that I finished my degree before Gordon Campbell became the premier of British Columbia. He was elected just months after I graduated, and one of the first things he did was to lift a six-year tuition freeze in the province. Since then, tuition fees have increased dramatically at B.C. universities and colleges -- many schools have raised tuition by around 70 percent, and a few by 150 percent. It is outrageous that postsecondary education has become less accessible than ever in British Columbia. How many people won't even consider going to college because of the high cost? Also, how many people will give up dreams of studying philosophy or art because they can't count on a high-paying job after university to enable them to pay back their loans? I came halfway around the world to pay mine. That's why I'm here in Taiwan. I had to leave the country.

The Canadian Federation of Students has set up a website specifically about tuition hikes in B.C. If you're from B.C., or even from Canada, you should write a letter to Mr. Campbell and let him know that he's so wrong on this. I just did. (But don't mention Hawaii or drunk driving -- he's still a little sensitive about that.) (God, what an asshole.) (Sorry, Mom.)