A Nightmare of Epic Proportions

How many college students out there have filled out the FAFSA paper work? For those of you that don't know what that is, it stand for Financial Aid, the money the government gives you to go to school.

How many people had your parents do it?

How many laugh hysterically when other people tell you it's insanely easy?

I personally fall into the second category. My mum is a computer phobe who gets hysterical and calls me everytime she needs to turn on the computer. God forbid we should actually DO SOMETHING on it while it's on.

Not only that, she is neurotic to the point of driving me insane about giving out her information. How many people have HAD to order something online because that's the only way to get it? My mum is the one person in the entire world that calls that company and demands to be allowed to order said item over the phone.

For those of you familiar with FAFSA, you know that it is more trouble than it is worth to do said form on paper and mail it in, and if they don't lose it you will be lucky. The computer it is. So it was up to me to fill it out FOR my mum. Even though for some odd reason the government requires your parents do it even if they refuse to have anything to do with your schooling.

And then I get the bomb: she hasn't done her taxes. In like....6 years. I thought I was bad! i did 07's just this spring so that I could do 08's, and here it's March and i'm trying to fill out the FAFSA and I have to do my mum's taxes. Fine, i do them.

And the promptly lose them.

So here it's September, I'm living in a dorm about ready to pull my hair about because of all my problems, and i sent in my mum's taxes yesterday. YESTERDAY! Which obviously means I have no financial aid yet. OH NO. not only do they allow you to click the button that says you haven't filed your taxes yet, they allow you to do so without telling you that that means your forms won't go through until you UNCLICK THAT BUTTON.

Last week I finally got the nerve to go to the Financial Aid office and figure out what was going on.

1. I needed to send in my mum's taxes. DONE
2. I needed to send in MY taxes. NOT DONE.
3. I was randomly chosen by the government to have my paperwork gone over so I need to fill out a page telling them that we did or not do our taxes. SHIT!

This last weekend I went home, so that mum could sign that blasted sheet, and her taxes, and so that we could fish out her W2s, and mine, and send our taxes off. I gave her two weeks to look for our W2s. TWO WEEKS. She's the last one who had mine cause she faxed me a terrible copy when I was filling out hers. I still have that terrible copy, I can't copy it it's so bad. On Sunday, when she sat down with me to fill out the papers, she batted her eyelashes at me innocently and said "You should've warned me I needed my W2s." WHAT? I told her the weekend before when she visited. I brought it up in every single email. I TOLD HER THE NIGHT BEFORE WHEN I HAD ARRIVED!

How much more notice did she need? Seriously, tell me, I want to know.

And then, she decided that I filled out the wrong Tax form. Last spring she told me 1040 EZ. Now she wants to claim me and THAT takes the 1040. I guess it's good we switched forms cause with the EZ she owed money and with the 1040 she didn't....BUT technically she couldn't claim me and declare my tuitions and things because of this little fine print that says....You can only do that if your son or daughter is under 25, pursuing a higher education, and has a diploma or a GED.

That is one failing in my life. When I took college courses in my senior year, they decided not to award me my diploma. Now it's coming back to bite me in my ass. I am a 19 year old college junior, without a bloody high school diploma. Great.

So it's tuesday, I should be on bent knee at the Financial Aid office but I cannot find my W2, I'm hesitant to send in the copy I have because it's unreadable and I am not sure I want to go into Financial Aid and admit what went wrong.....

Oh, and I was supposed to fill out a Dorm Contract which has mysteriously disappeared in this bloody room, and I really want to keep my head down until i turn it in. Lovely, yeah?

At least I got a Deferment so technically I have a few more weeks until I need to pay the 2nd third of my tuition. Hopefully I'll have this mess unsnarled by then, Yeah?

Regards from Purgatory,
Monica