Pie-Full of Truth Part IV.

I am in a lot of debt. More than US$50,000.

The state of education funding in America is pretty bad. New Zealanders have it a lot better. They get really inexpensive tuition and a weekly student living allowance. Being a foreigner, I have to pay 4 times the cost that a domestic student has to pay. Even so, after the exchange rate my entire course costs only a few thousand dollars more than one semester at Boston University. Unbelievable.

But I had most of my undergrad covered through scholarship and financial aid (thankfully, because I never would have gone otherwise). But I did take out loans for room and board and other expenses. So here is the breakdown of why I am in so much debt.

NHFC is Natural History Filmmaking and Communication. My current schooling. Is it worth it? Only time will tell.


If you are interested, Other Debt is my car back home. There is under $500 left to pay on my auto loan, and it accounts for less than 1% of my total debt.

Pie-Full of Truth Part III. Now In 3-D!

Welcome to the third episode in the Pie-Full of Truth series. So far we've seen I've lived about a third of my projected lifespan and spent about 4/5 of that time in schools. Today we compare how much time I've spent at each institution.

Time Enrolled in Each Alma Mater

I just realized I didn't include a summer course I took at Elmira College, but I suppose that doesn't count because I wasn't matriculated and it was during the time I was enrolled at BU.

Pie-Full of Truth Part II.

Here is the second installment of my pie-chart fiesta. Today we look at how I've spent my 24 years.

Percent of life spent in school

That is years of my life I've attended school (preschool, kindergarten, grade 1-12, 4 years undergrad, 1 year-in-progress post-grad) and the few years I haven't.

Pie-Full of Truth Part I.

Here is a new segment I'm going to try for a while. Blogging has gotten boring and tedious, so I've made up some pie-charts about my life. Enjoy the visual insight offered by comparing percentages and relative amounts.

First Up:

Percentage of Average American Male Life Expectancy* Lived

*77.2 Years. Source: The Internets