We received news while waiting to board the plane to Hawaii that Josh had been selected to receive the SMART scholarship.
Now he just has to decide whether or not accepting it is in our family’s best interest.
The fine print states that if he does not finish his degree, he has to pay them back every dime. That’s the stipend plus tuition. And he’s still considered an out-of-state student, so we’re talking probably close to $200k. I could be way off, but I know it’s at least over $100k.
And finishing his degree is not as simple as merely completing all required works, he has to do it by May 2012. His coursework is completed, but the thesis is another story. He’s already pushed back his pre-lims once and will need special permission to do it again.
But before he can even start on the thesis, he needs to find out from San Diego what they want him to work on. We hope it lines up with the courses and research he’s already invested thousands of hours in.
He’s met with advisors and been assured that it is possible to complete a doctoral degree in two years. However, he won’t make a decision before hearing what research San Diego will have him do.
I want him to stay. I want him to finish his degree. But I don’t want him to be miserable. It doesn’t sound like he’ll be horribly overworked, but I’ve never heard anyone declare a doctoral degree to be easy.
If he does decide to stay, I’ll need to once again commit myself to being the Wife Of a Perpetual Student. I’ll need to recognize the sacrifices made on both his and my side. The late nights, the Saturdays gone. I’ll need to amp up the support and downplay the self-pity I enjoy entirely too much. The end is in sight. May 2012. He’ll even have a job lined up for him.
God, give me the grace to be the WOPS You long for me to be!
More pressing, in my mind, anyway, is the more immediate question of how we will survive the summer before the SMART scholarship kicks in. We’ll get a half a months pay at the end of May, and then nothing again until August. God has always provided in the past, I don’t doubt Him now. I just wonder. With eyes wide open. So I don’t miss whatever opportunity He intends to bless us with.
How are my other WOPS doing out there? Just curious, who’s been a WOPS the longest? What’s the record for longest WOPS? Having been a WOPS since we married our Junior year of undergrad, it’ll be 7 years this May for me!
Congrats on the scholarship! I know that the SMART scholarship is really tough to get.
My husband was in school full-time “only” three years after we were married. He finished with a MS. However, he will be husband of a perpetual student for about 6.5 years before I finish my PhD.
I’ve been married to a perpetual student for about four years now.
That’s not counting tech school in the Air Force. It’s hard to make these decisions especially for your husband. Jason has tried so hard to strike that balance between what is good for the family now and what will make our future for our family good. I’ll be sure to pray for you and Josh as you weigh out these choices.
I found your blog today and I find you very interesting. Currently my husband and I are both students. We’ve been married for a little over two years. The first year he was deployed in Iraq and as soon as he came home he started his final installment on his bachelor degree. In the fall, he plans to start law school. I just wish we knew where. All of this while I’m finishing my masters degree.
I look forward to reading more from you. At this point, it’s just the two of us and our furbaby. So I can see how my challenges will be different from yours, but I’m curious to see how you handle them.
.-= Jill @ Two of a Kind´s last blog ..You Capture: Fresh =-.
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