Seemless in Germany...Problematic at Home

So...things have been good as far as Germany is concerned, but "regular" life problems seem to have cropped up. It goes without saying that my current life situation will affect areas of my academic life in Millersville, but as of the present, things are slightly more complicated than they should be - as far as I'm concerned.

I filled out my FAFSA when I was home at Easter, and because Frank changed jobs a few times and got unemployment, and because my mother started to work this year, it wasn't as simple as it had been in previous years. That said, it was not new that the school wanted to audit my FAFSA since they've done it the past three times that I've filled it out. My inclination is that if your "Expected Family Contribution" (EFC) is below a specific amount, then you're automatically "randomly" selected to be audited. I can see that - we don't want people to cheat the system. It's just the fact that I didn't like being lumped into the "possibly dishonest" crowd simply because my family's income is a bit less than might be considered enough to foot the college bill. I wonder how many other people get audited...anyhow, that has been an ongoing project and has continued since I've come back to Germany. I forgot to sign paperwork for the audit - had to mail that from Germany. My parents needed to send specific stuff in - had to explain that to them. The school realized something else was needed - had to talk with my parents again. When all is said and done, because Frank receive unemployment income this past year, his regular income seemed inflated...and that makes my EFC higher...no matter it was unemployment income...it was income...and that's what is used to compute the EFC - my income and my parent's income.

More school problems related to study aboard have arisen as well. Directly after getting back from the US to Germany, I took care of my grades from last semester. The Office of Global Education at Millersville sent me an email a few days later to indicate they received my transcript. That was more than a month ago, and as of yesterday, there is no change to reflect this on my transcript at Millersville. I talked with the Registrar's office yesterday, and they weren't sure what's happening. They entered some grades from Germany a few days ago, but don't know why mine weren't entered. At any rate, mine aren't posted yet, and that bothers me because this affects my financial aid because I need to make "Academic Progress" in order for my aid to come through...if the grades don't get posted, that just means more paperwork for me.

But...life really is going well here in Germany. This semester is going a lot better than last. I'm busier, which is a huge plus and a huge positive! And the weather has massively improved - for the most part. Last Saturday, Elisa - a friend from Italy - and I went to Göttingen for the day. It rained the whole time we were there - of course. It was a nice trip though even though it rained for the second time that I'd been in Göttingen. I did take a picture of a fantastic pastry shop while I was there. It's not unusual for Germany, but the picture turned out better than most when I try to photograph through the glass.


A Konditerei in Göttingen

I trust and pray that everything is going well for people at home. I keep in touch my parents, sister, and - of course - Grandma regularly, and they haven't reported anything too horrible, so I assume that the little world of central Pennsylvania hasn't fallen to pieces without me to there to hold them together!!