i got a call from my mcat prep class that was supposed to start next week, and it starts later than all the other classes. they told me the class i signed up for was cancelled, they'll give me my money back and let me keep the books. needless to say, i started screaming, because keeping the books won't help me if nobody is teaching it! they said only 2 people signed up, so they couldn't get a teacher for 2 students. so now, i'm looking around for another prep course to take, and i found one, but it meets every single saturday. which means i can't go to my skating classes. which means i lose my money. and i won't be able to skate. and i was counting on that to keep me sane. i just called the rink, and they said they're going to try to see if i can get some credit and sign up for it again. but i wanted to skate!

is it really sad that i'm more upset over not being able to skate than i am over my MCAT class, the test results of which determine my entire future, being cancelled?

No, it's not sad. It's even understandable - you focus on the lesser thing!

All the same, what a horrible blow for you. Are you sure there's no classes you can do at another time - do check with the rink to make sure that you can't transfer. Maybe it's time to bite the bullet and go for private lessons? One 15-minute lesson a week won't break the bank - or even once a fortnight if you can't afford a weekly lesson - and will keep you on track. Don't give up hope - after all, skating is important as it helps keep you fit.

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Mrs Redboots
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the thing is, it's the only class i could take. there are no other ones i could do. and i can't take private lessons there because it's too far from my school. i can't get private lessons at the rink by my school (i looked into it) because they only give lessons during the public sessions or freestyle sessions, none of which i could make because of my classes. this just makes me so mad.

they just called me, saying if i want to, they could let me transfer and give me some money off, but the closest place is too far for me to drive twice a week, and i'd be coming back to my dorm at around 11 pm, which i'd rather not do.

I have always worked to live and not lived to work, hence I have had a reasonably happy life, never a great job, never a lot of money but happy, but ask me if I could have my time again and study as opposed to play?? You sound like a clever person I'm sure if you think about it you will work out a way to balance both, good luck to you.

believe me, i don't just sit around studying all day. but the thing is, i need this prep course because i need someone there teaching it to me. i cna't just study on my own, because if i don't understand something, i'll be able to ask someone. also, going to a class forces me to prepare and study. on my own, i wouldn't focus as much. but being a doctor is my dream. i know i'm facing years of school and debt and stress. but it's what i want to do. and i guess we have to make sacrifices to do what we want, the problem then comes what happens when you have to pick one over the other? unfortunatly, i am not such a good skater that i could make a living with it, and i really can't imagine being anything but a doctor.

but i figure it'll all be worth it when i am filthy rich and can then spend my entire fortune to build my own full size skating rink, a la the cutting edge. i'd be able to hire coaches and skate all day happily into my retirement. sure they may foreclose on my house because i'd miss mortgage payments trying to maintain the ice rink, but who needs a house when you can skate?

i guess this break from freestyle may be a good time to work on power stroking at the insanely crowded sunday public sessions, but it makes me sad to think that's all my semi new skates will be doing until after april 16.

Rotten break for you!

You don't sound to me as if you really want to be a doctor to get "filthy rich", but just in case you do.....don't count on it. None of my friends who have become physicians are filthy rich, and many of them no longer enjoy the practice of medicine, mostly because of the constraints of malpractice insurance and HMO's, but also because so many doctors (in the US, at least) are unethical creeps.

It doesn't hurt to work on power stroking during public sessions, and you may find there are other things you can work on as well.

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So you know what to do, then!!

Can you skate early mornings or Sundays, instead? Or maybe they have a Club evening?

I expect if you explain to the rink, they will make a refund (especially if you have that impoverished, deserving student look ...)

Just tell them that they may may need you one day!!

no, i'm not really the type to try to get filthy rich. if that's what i was looking for, i'd head in another direction, instead of planning on graduating with $100,000+ in debt, and then starting with a starting salary of around $40,000 give or take. i actually hate all the politics involved in medicine. i just want to treat people. although i think if you work in a hospital, it's other people who deal with the insurance and HMO's, as opposed to private practice where it's all on you. but i could be totally mistaken. that's just the impression i got.

the problem is, the only early mornings my rink has are at 8, and i have class at 9:30. It normally takes 20 minutes to get there, but with all the traffic, it would be more like 40 (i found that out the hard way). so i'd get there and have to leave after about 40 minutes, and that's if i go to class without showering first. i would then also need to find parking on campus, which my school is notorious for not having enough parking for all the students. So i'd probably end up in the farthest parking lot and then tacking on another 15 minute walk to get to class. so it's not really practical because i would need to leave even earlier from the ice rink. and i can't make club ice because i have either my prep classes or work.

i wouldn't mind if the rink just gives me a credit so i can sign up after the test is done. i paid for 12 classes, and saturday would have to be my last class, so i would have only gone to 4, so maybe i could get an 8 class credit? but i'm definitly going to use the poor college student to my advantage (which isnt exactly a lie)

I understand how you feel. I always have pressure from money worries because the type of work I do is dependent upon the demand for it. So when low demand then no work and no money for skating.

Thankfully I have not had to give up skating but I have at times cut back and have done without lessons for quite a while because I can't afford them and it is so depressing.

At the moment work has picked up and once I get some other financial stuff sorted out I might be able to have lessons again soon.

I hope you can get this situation sorted out, because when it is one thing that you really enjoy and gets you through a difficult patch in your life, to lose it can be really depressing.

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