Happy Wednesday!! I actually spent the weekend in the hospital with another flare-up of my esophagitis, but luckily this page was already mostly finished! It’s too bad my buffer keeps being taken up by random emergencies, but at least this one was already in the hopper. 🙂
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TRANSCRIPT
oh my god there’s a lot of text in this one, here we go
Panel 1 (close-up of Alex looking back at Imogen while her hair is being clippered)
Alex: Hey… remember you talked about wanting to go back to school?
Panel 2 (Imogen exclaiming while Alex looks optimistic)
Imogen: I can’t do that now! The tuition alone…
Alex: I’m sure you could get a bursary! Or a loan!
Panel 3 (close-up of Imogen, looking doubtful)
Imogen: But what if I just end up dropping out again? Student debt, and nothing to show for it again? I should just get a job and save up.
Panel 4 (Alex looks over her shoulder at Imogen/the viewer)
Alex: Imogen… with all the love in my heart… what job? What entry-level job is going to support five people, with enough left over to save for tuition?
Panel 5 (Imogen, disgruntled)
Imogen: You don’t have to rub it in.
Panel 6 (Alex turns around and braces her hands on the back of the chair)
Alex: I’m not trying to! I just don’t want you to keep putting off what you want because you think you can’t do it.
They’re certainly speedrunning the relationship challenges – from the frustrations of sharing space, to the perils of finance 😬
( love it, can’t wait for more! )
“With all the love in my heart”
YEAH I BET
She’s not wrong though. With only a high school diploma, there are not a lot of jobs that Imogen could get that would pay enough to keep a roof over the kids’ heads, and enough food to feed them AND save for any kind of college fees for herself, even if Jonathan goes against his nature and actually pays child support on time. And if she wants to get a better paying job to be able to afford things like uni for the boys or any extra-curriculars, she’s going to need some sort of diploma to get a better paying job.
I’m glad they’re having a talk about real stuff, but I do wonder if now isn’t a great time for a heated conversation. Seems risky with clippers around.
I do not blame Imogen for feeling defensive, it’s natural, especially with her frustration and how Jonathan liked keeping her feeling powerless. She feels very small right now, I’m sure.
Similarly, I don’t blame Alex for cutting to the quick, since she’s right. This is likely a time for action.
It really does speak to the honesty the two women have with each other to be able to speak this frankly about it all.
TIL what a bursary is!
What did Imogen go to school for originally? Can’t remember if it has already been said or not
@Tiffany: When she first talked about going back to school, I feel like she mentioned that her psychology credits probably weren’t good anymore. So maybe psychiatrist or social worker?
Does Canada have the equivalent of FAFSA?
I get Imogen’s money concerns just as much as I get Alex’s wanting to cut to the point, but there ARE ways to mitigate that risk of student debt! Part time classes, certificate courses and/or community college (we have the latter in some provinces, I checked), see if she can test out of some credit requirements if she wants to complete her old degree… class auditing still requires SOME money and she can’t use it as a graduation credit, but it means she could see what catches her interest before committing to a specific program.
She DOES has options, even if she was never made aware of them!