To Pell And Back

I've never been much into politics. I hate to admit that I don't really pay much attention, unless there's an election going on. I've always wondered why were the bills put before Congress soooo many pages long. Who has time to read all of that? I heard on TV one day that it's because there's a main bill (umm, healthcare reform) padded with a lot of other bills politicians want to push through. Please forgive me law student bloggers if I'm not using the right terms.


Let's move on to another topic, briefly...

As you all know, I'm sure, college is expensive. And that's putting it mildly. Thank goodness my mother footed the bill for most of my undergraduate studies. Although I only needed 15 classes to complete my degreee, the cost is crazy. Fortunately (and unfortunately), my family's income dropped tremendously last year (uh, can anyone say real estate?) which now I may qualify for a Pell Grant. Yay, finally something in my favor.

Well, to my surprise, I hear that the healthcare reform bill included changes to the Pell Grant. My ears perked up! A bill that finally affects me...directly. Initially, I believe the discussion was to decrease the money offered from the Pell Grant. Needless to say, I am so excited that this is not the case. In fact, the grant amount available has increased. This means so much to me and my family as I'm sure to many of you.

My life is pretty good. The difficulties many people face don't really happen to me. But now I see that I'm not so far removed from what's going on in our country. I can't say that I'm going to start following politics but I will try to be a little more attentive.