Countdown to JIBS

26 Jun 2009 | Posted By: Maria Markenroth

Written by Brenna Shelsta

My countdown to JIBS has officially started, at this time in exactly
6 weeks I will be on a plane on my way to Sweden. Once I arrive in
Sweden I will have a short little vacation in Helsingborg, and then
just a few short days later I will be arriving in Jonkoping to start a
brand new phase of life.

Last time I wrote to you I shared a little bit about myself, and why
I chose to attend JIBS this fall.  And now I will get to the really
fun and exciting stuff…Loans, scholarships, and visas!!! ;) Ever
since I received my acceptance letter to JIBS it’s been a whirlwind to
say the least. When I received the e-mail on April 21st informing me
that I had been accepted, I was so excited to move and live in a new
country with a completely different culture and language, I was
thrilled at the thought of starting school again. I was also really
nervous about being apart from my family and good friends for three
years. All those emotions were quickly overshadowed by the stress of
getting everything ready and in order.

My visa for instance, has been quite the process… I had to hurry to
get everything together for the consulate, (it takes 2-3 months to
process a visa)  I sent in all my paperwork  and now I’m just playing
the waiting game… Waiting is the worst, you can’t do anything but
wait… Just waiting… waiting… and more waiting. Hopefully soon
enough I will hear back from the consulate, and it will all be okay.
But for now I’m still waiting.

Things are tight for a lot of people these days, and for my family
it’s no different. Because I’m one of five kids and my parents can’t
afford to support me for 3 years, I was forced to start looking into
different options… Scholarships and student loans. I had received a
scholarship from my high school, however when I approached them about
it they didn’t know how to pass the funds to me. Usually my high
school would just send the money to the university for tuition, but
because there is no tuition fee at JIBS right now I haven’t been able
to receive the scholarship.

So my search for other options continued… A student loan was the
next obvious alternative. When I was researching different student
loans, I ran into a problem. The problem is JIBS is not on a list of
accredited schools and universities that are eligible to receive
federal student aid from the american government. The student loans
from the government have the best interest rates, and re-payment
options. When that door was closed, I didn’t know what to do. So I
continued looking… Looking into different types of personal bank
loans, however I ran into the same problem with JIBS not being on the
list. I’m trying to help to get JIBS on the list of accredited
schools, however this whole process can take 6-9 months (if not
longer). If JIBS gets onto the list of accredited schools it would not
only benefit me, it would also benefit other american students who
would like to attend JIBS in the future.

This brings me to where I am now… STUCK. I’ve been saving as much
money as I can, but it’s simply not enough. My next idea is to look
for a couple individual people who would be able to personally lend me
some money that I could pay back with interest after I’m finished with
school. I’m hoping this idea will be the one that work. I would be so
grateful for any advice or suggestions, at this point I’m open to just
about anything!

So here I am yet again at another hill. I’m climbing this hill hoping
that when I reach the top, I will finally find the open door that will
lead me to JIBS. The challenges grow, and the countdown continues… 6
weeks.

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