This whole post needs to be prefaced by an explanation of our current situation. After I graduated from BYU-I almost a year ago, Daniel and I moved back to Washington, without definite plans of what we'd do next. We knew that I would find a job, and Daniel would still go to school hopefully for Electrical Engineering, but we didn't have exact plans or locations. When I got the job with Saint Martin's, it seemed like the perfect way for Daniel to get his education. After being employed for a year my spouse/dependents would get free tuition ($23,810 a year!!). The only problem was that the closest program they offered to what Daniel wants to do is Computer Science. We tossed the idea around, but didn't feel like it would be the best fit.
The next option we considered was the Computer Engineering program at UW Tacoma. This would be close enough to where we're living that Daniel could have a reasonable commute and even take the bus to save money. Again, not the perfect program, but I enjoy my job 85% of the time, and we're close to wonderful family and we both like where we're at right now.
Last weekend, while discussing plans with Mike and Cindy, they about had us convinced to save every penny for the next while so we could get into a house in Tacoma and be neighbors. Now this would be fun, but after looking at homes in the more desirable areas of Tacoma, we figured we would have to be saving for quite a while before anything like that might actually happen. On one particular real estate page, we had houses pulled up, and were trying to get them to sort from the lowest price to the highest, instead of the other way around. When the page started loading, the cheapest houses were at the top. The cheapest houses were also not in Tacoma, or really anywhere close to it. They were in Vancouver. We thought it was kind of weird, but kept looking at all these houses in Vancouver. I then remembered that there was a WSU Vancouver campus, which might have a program Daniel would be able to do, so we live in an area where we could afford a house. We pulled up the website, and there, announcing clearly, an Electrical Engineering program starting in Fall of 2008. This is such a perfect educational opportunity for Daniel, and we both Love the Portland/Vancouver area, that it would be a great place to live. The drawbacks: we would be moving a couple hours away from our family friends, my job, and our comfort zone. With all this in mind, we're now facing a decision. A lot has to do with whether we could find jobs down there, and when Daniel will transfer to UW-Tacoma or WSU-Vancouver(August or January).
So we face a fork in the road... Do we choose Tacoma with it's almost good enough academic program, and family close by, or Vancouver, which would be the program to set Daniel up for his dream job (and hopefully dream salary) later on in life, but venture a couple hours away from family with whom we love to spend time. So I open it up to you, avid readers. There is a poll on the right side where you can vote, and while we won't base any decisions off of the poll, it is fun to see what other people think, and please share comments or insights we may not have thought of. All advice is welcome!
5 comments:
I think it sounds like you should move. You need to do everything now to set up your future. There will be plenty of time and opportunity in years to come to live by family. I vote for Daniel getting the education he wants which will lead to him truly enjoying his career later down the road.
Wow. I was going to say just what Lisa said. Get the degree, get the experience and then you will be able to live wherever your heart leads you. Sometimes, no, a lot of the time, the right decision seems so hard to make but if you can manage to strip away all the emotion, you usually will find the answer sitting right there in your lap. And two hours isn't really that far, that would still be quite do-able on long weekends.
Go for the education that will lead to the dream job. You could move to Pullman. It is cheap to live and it is a great campus. You could even do graduate work while Daniel is in school. Just a thought.
Ahem! What does education have to do with any of this. I thought this was about a BABY!!! Yes thats right a baby for me to watch while you worked , did school or whatever else.All I can say is TACOMA! TACOMA! TACOMA......oh and our first house was in the ghetto, we lived there for 4 years and had fine neighbors and no crime. Then we traded up when we could afford it. But I don't want to try and sway your vote so I won't leave my opinion :0)
btw- I voted for TACOMA!!!!
I really am not this selfish, really......
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