One step close to what I want, but still has second doubts.

I'm wondering how things will pan out for the remaining time of this year. All of last week was quite an adventure, well...maybe just Tuesday and Wednesday. I headed out to the North side to visit 2 beauty schools: Pivot Point (in Evanston) and Steve Papageorge Beauty School (on North Clark Street) by buses and the "EL", Red and the Purple line. Both visits went well as a matter of fact. I passed the entrance exam to Pivot Point, while I had a one on one with the owner of the school himself. The only differences are the textbooks, techniques over the basics, tuitions, and the atmospheres.



Textbooks:
Pivot Point International Academy issues their own textbooks.
SP goes by the Milady textbooks, which is the most popular one out there.

Techniques:
Well...maybe not so much. Maybe it's just the number of classrooms along with the salon.

Tuitions:
Pivot Point is over $18,000!
SP is nearly $12,000!
...Both schools do provide financial aid, since they're both accredited.

Atmospheres:
Pivot Point definitely has a diverse, but professional vibe. The people were very friendly. They also have a dress code, but that's fine with me though.

I've also visited Capri Beauty School in Oak Forest. It felt like a "very close to home" kind of vibe. Nevertheless, I still liked it. Small, but local. It's also a Pivot Point Member School, so it goes by their books/standards as well. It's over $16,000. I was quickly leaning towards it because it's so close to home and work. If the counselor didn't tell me to go visit other schools, I would've signed up in a heartbeat!

Who did I choose?
Pivot Point International Academy in Evanston! For these reasons:
*It's one of the best schools in the world, teaching in over 60 countries!
*The world headquarters and corporate center is in the same building.
*Some of the most famous stylists are graduates!
*Good location and atmosphere, and lots of apartments to see! Oh and lots of clubs/restaurants if anyone's up to hang out with me.
*Small classes, 8-15 students
*Close to the train, CTA Purple Line and Metra.
*My salon manager and several co-workers graduated from there.
*The admissions representative answered all of my questions!
*They also have week long study abroad programs!
*Get to learn about everything and get the extra help and classes to succeed: people skills, time/money management, and business classes!
*Lifetime job placement.
*Backed up with financial aid.
*I'll be starting in September real soon, wish me luck!

I'm beginning to fall in love with the North side. It seems like they have just about everything up there at every corner: a store, a restaurant, and a spa/salon! There's a train/bus at every other corner. The view is pretty sweet as well. If I ever wanted to find a place to live, it would be there! Oh yeah, the rent prices are pretty cheap if you're going for a studio or a 1-3 bedroom apartments around: Edgewater, Evanston, Lake view, Rogers Park, or Uptown.

I'm also thinking if it's possible to live near the school for the other half in order to find a job out there. I've already been looking into studio apartments. I just want to prepare for whatever is coming ahead.

The only doubts I do have is the lack of money I'll have since I plan to go full time, which is 10 months long. I need it to get tickets/passes from CTA/Metra, gas for the car, pay for bills... It's a long commute that's about um...2-3 hrs to get here and back. I only get on two trains, the Metra and the Purple Line. Another one would be the total LACK OF SUPPORT from my parents. My father had always shot down my future career choices from day one...should be used to it, but it still hurts sometimes. My mother is okay with it, she just doesn't like the fact that it's so far away from home, that the program is too long, and that it's so expensive. Somehow, I still feel it's worth it for some reason. If my older sister, Tasha drove in and out of state to go to school for the LPN program, getting up at the crack of dawn for her clinicals and still managed to graduate, then so can I dammit!!! I just want to do something different for once than returning to the mundane classroom of a community college (no offense). I know I'm just 3-4 semesters away from graduating, it's just that internships for either management or marketing are hard to come by these days. I'll have a better job doing something fun, challenging, fulfilling, and having more money in my pocket.