When I graduated from high school, I felt very discouraged. I had a high GPA, high SAT and ACT scores, and worked very hard to achieve my goals. And yet, in spite of this, the only financial aid I was ever offered was a collection of loans– mostly private loans, with ridiculous interest rates that accumulated even while I was in school. I vowed that I would never again seek financial aid. I felt as though it didn’t matter how hard I worked or how well I performed in life, that I would never be recognized for what I’ve done.

This year has changed all that. I applied for financial aid for the first time since my freshman year and was finally rewarded for my hard work. I got a tuition waiver on top of scholarships– I am, in essence, being paid to go to school.

As I’ve written about recently, I have been applying for jobs and graduate school, and was recently offered a graduate research assistant position which offers a tuition waiver with a stipend. After much thought, I decided to accept this offer.

…And yet, this morning I received an email from the company I interviewed with a couple of months ago. They were quite impressed with my analytical abilities and my language skills. So impressed, in fact, that they have offered me a position. The base pay is $51,000 with a $9,000 annual language bonus. In my first year out of college, with merely a bachelor’s degree, I’ll be receiving about $60,000– and, on top of that, up to $25,000 in hiring bonus pay.

This is a very prestigious position. From the numbers they gave me, only about 3% of all those who apply actually get offered a position.

So… now what?

I already accepted the RA-ship, which is very likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At the same time, there’s a chance that I may never be offered this job again. Although I could always back out of the RA-ship, I have to consider which is more important: getting my degree now, or working. In an earlier post, I described this job as my dream job. Should I see if they’ll let me defer employment?  It’s highly unlikely they will, but I guess it’s worth a shot. At the same time I have to consider whether I can drag my family away from the only home they ever knew.

While I’m pleased that my efforts are finally being recognized, I have no idea what I want to do. I don’t have much time to decide, either. This is a very, very big decision. I thought I had come to a conclusion last week, but I guess I didn’t take into consideration what I would do if I were offered the position I had interviewed for.

What would you suggest? I’m at an utter loss at the moment. Any advice at all would be appreciated…