When i was 19, i decided to go to college to better my life. I got mail from many other schools and colleges. Among them was the Al Collins i decided to go to. Why? Well the first reason is that i was always able to draw well, in fact in my 5th or 6th grade in a school in El Monte California i was selected amongst a couple other kids (asian) to go to that big building in Los Angeles California that looks like 5 large glass cylinders together, for an art exhibit. I was supposed to draw what i thought cars or machines or buildings would look like in the future. I drew a motorcycle with no wheels and got an honorable mention. Anyways, i was always inclined in this area of ART. So i thougth it made sence to choose Al Collins, an Art School. The second reason was it was close to california, so i could find out what it is to live in another state but still be close to home. The third reason was all the material they sent me and the redicules amount of hours spent on the phone with the recruiter, 3 hours at times. Why so much? Well the recruiter kept me there that long, all the time. Anyways Arizona seemed like a good place to go for me and i went to this school. I sat with the guy on the phone who was just dying for me to go to his school, building up the hype. And finally went in march 1996. The enrollment agreement i signed had a total tuition cost of 16,675 After the whole ordeal it was well around double or more for an Associates in Arts.
My loans were given to me in 3 parts and this was the first menace i saw. Because one or more of the loans became due while i was still enrolled and not finished, and i could not start paying it because i was barely making it paying my own way, working full time and going to school.
I could never consolidate the 3 loans and this was my first Big Problem. I think now that they did this at least for two loans so that they would get their money faster (as all three loans become due there are 3 payments due vs. Just one.)
Well the second was that i graduated without a portfolio. I was so lost, i could not find the proper help to put one together, after graduation i didn't have anything to show. I had trouble in alot of the computer classes because of equiptment or lack of proper equiptment. The students were tought at times by other students that had just graduated or not graduated yet. The curriculum i thought was not worth the tuition cost plus the arbitrary additional cost of materials furnished by the school that would easily grow past the thousands of dollars with just a initial
so, tuition Classes retaken (because most do) supplies= far more than expected or told prior.
I was told that everything was so close together in tempe by the recruiter that he said i could bike anywhere, so i left my car (i made this mistake, thanks recruiter) i sufferd a great deal from the lack of a car and with all my expenses and low earnings i could not afford to buy one there. My dad who suffers from a medical condition crashed my car shortly after i left to Al Collins.
So i had no car, i was going to a school that would not hire anybody as an intern there and at times i found myself on the verge of living on the street homeless. I got kicked out of one place i lived while it was raining with no place to go. Lucky for me i found a place. But i had never thought i would, or experience this while going there.
I got set up with a nice place to live in the beggining but i had to give it up because my 3 other roomates were going to Al Collins too were so destructive and noisy, and reckless. And i was also looking to pay less rent as well.
After i graduated from there i came back to California and could not find an entry level job anywhere. The types of jobs i got were jobs i could get anyways before getting the A.A., and i never was able to get recognition from any employer that i sought after for a job that i felt i may be able to do. The job leads Al Collins sent were always the same printed bundle of papers, and nothing ever came of those leads. I had to look on my own because they did a poor job of providing me with any information for a potentioal job. I always put Al Collins on my resumes and i never got a job that paid or recognized me as a graphic designer. The job i have now, i have worked there almost 8 year now.in the art department. But i dont have the duty of an artist or graphic designer or anything related even though they keep hireing other less qualified people to there entry level positions in the art department.instead my company decided to use me as a driver and i used to type names all day in the art department (data Entry) when i told al collins that i still needed a job in the field but i mentioned this (that i had a seat physically) in the art department, Al Collins surely catagorized me as if they had done this or as a result of their influence, I just got this job because its like 1/4 mile from where i live and i didnt have still a car i could legaly drive (big time in debt and not able to pay for stuff i need to live. Like tags, registration and insurance, to this day i havent had a cell phone for years, my tax refund got garnished and will problably wont recieve one now for at least 10 years at this rate because i cant afford to live and Al Collins just made it worse. They will take all tax refunds untill the nearly 8 grand i owe is paid, keep in mind that i already paid about the amount i saw on the enrollment agreement which is 17,000 and all i owed in the end before i could not pay anymore was 5,000. But its 8 and close to 9 and soon it will be 10,000.
I wrote them a letter once back and told them i wasn't able to ever find a job in the field and that i felt i had paid enough or more for what i got in return. I was sleeping on cabinet shelves i made into a bed. From the time of Al Collins to now, i spent years not sleeping on a bed because i could not afford anything. All my money went to: cost of living (food, essentials, clothes (second hand), and where i live the cost of the roof over my head. I dont have money to go out on dates, nor for anything. Im a 35 single male. I spend money on my lunch for work on fridays when i get paid and i find myself in a situtation where i felt i over spent, because im broke after spending like $40.00.
I just wish they would leave me alone for this debt, cant somebody recognize that this is doing more harm than good. Ohh also i discuriged my younger and only sister to not go to a school when she was getting the flyers and letters in the mail, because of my experience and so she didn't but then had a baby and i felt really bad because i convinced my 18 year old sister who just wanted to better herself to not go to college, when all i was trying to say was "Dont Go TO A SCHOOL LIKE AL COLLINS", instead go to a school where you might actually have a shot. I felt like a fool and very ignorant when i saw that i discouraged her, but then she decided to go to a school after having her baby, after she moved away from me. Im glad for her now.
But my life looks hopeless whith all this debt, and having to take care of my mother and at times my father whom has a terminal desiese which prohibits him from driving. Those two burdens (my unemployed parernts, both) and my personal problems and debt make my existance very difficult. Even at work form day to day where i feel i cant leave for another job because of the economy and my parents depending on me for food or shelter, i feel like ill be living out the rest of my life in debt, alone without a woman that will want me and my problems, i dont have any money most of the time and im so sad on a regular basis that sometimes i just felt like i was just on the verge of crying at work, in front of whom ever was there. If i did't have the al collins debt hovering over my shoulders, i would be able to make a comeback at my age of 35. But Im a prisoner of past actions.
Im human and i paid some, but now i need help!!! At this rate ill be in debt my whole life, im affraid i might never find someone or marry and have kids because of this. This debt is keeping me in the poverty level. I dont have a car i can drive legally because i cant afford the normal cost of living so my car is parked and others ive had in the past had also needed to be parked for same reasons and instead i use a bycycle and i dont have a cell, i cant even affor the $40 a month.
I got 3 tickets that equaled over 3,000 dollars all given to me in a period of about a year, and this has been holding me down also, the tickets were for no insurance and tags and registration. And this year when i thought i was going to finally be able to drive (smog insurance parts tags) which would of maybe increased my odds of getting a better paying job somewhere ouside the little radius i exist in, well that plane crashed when the IRS sent me a letter telling me that my federal refund was taken to pay for this. The sad part is that im just giving away money. Because the interest will grow again past the point it was before. I thought that they were applied to the tickets i owe, even though im on a payment plan. But they just got my state refund. Al Collins got my Federal.
Some one please help.
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