How I Managed to Finance My Education in Canada

An inspirational story for the ones who are willing to pursue their studies but are afraid of the huge expenses involved

I am sharing this story with the hope of inspiring and motivating people who want to pursue their passions without thinking twice. We know arranging funds for education, especially in a foreign land is hard. Today, I’ll be sharing how I managed it all by myself and moved one step closer to pursuing my dreams.

Working as a freelance writer was always fun. I was financially independent, I was working at my own pace, and I was not accountable to anybody but me for the work. I believe my self-disciplined attitude helped a lot in my freelance career.

I had clients. I had work, a lot of work. I had my finances in place. Everything was good. And then one day, I realized that I need to go out there and implement my Accounting and Finance knowledge (being an MBA) in the real world. I knew that freelancing was going to stay with me, no matter where I’d be or what I did. So, I was totally up for it.

Now was the time to explore more. If you ask me, having more than one stream of income signifies more financial freedom and more peace of mind. And, I was confident that I’d achieve this goal too.

I decided to leave my home country, India, with new aspirations and hopes that something better was awaiting me. After taking the required English-proficiency test and applying for a 2-year program in a Toronto-based college, I moved to Canada.

“Never consider the possibility of failure; as long as you persist, you will be successful.” — Brian Tracy

It was time for new beginnings, new experiences, and challenges. I was up for it all. Now, I’ll get started with how I managed to finance my educational fees in Canada without taking any loan:

Freelancing

If it was not freelance writing, I don’t know if I would have been able to arrange funds for my tuition fees. My tuition fees for the entire 2-year program was around $32,000. At the time of registration, I paid a whopping amount of $8,000 for my first semester. At first, my heart sank seeing the hard-earned money getting debited, but then I had my ‘optimist’ cap on and saw it more of an investment for a better future.

Prior to moving to this new country, I had been working as a full-time freelance writer, editor, and proofreader since August 2014. I made the decision to move to Canada in 2017, and in January 2018, I was here, all prepped up to start my Business Accounting program.

From 2014–2017, I worked on many exciting projects and a couple of well-paying projects lasted for more than a year. Since I was having those projects in my pocket, I was able to earn and save incredibly good. I spent 1/5th of my freelance income on paying for my first and second semesters. FYI, this amount excludes books, living expenses, transportation, etc.

In spite of studying and trying to figure out this new place, I didn’t give up on my freelancing career. I knew this was my thing and I am not going to give it up anyway.

I was loaded with school projects, assignments, and tests. So, I decided to hire writers, assigned them projects, edited and proofread them, and then paid them for the work. This kept my freelancing on track and helped me in making my freelancing game even stronger. And what about earnings? They still kept growing.

Brand Ambassador

I always wanted to keep my income from freelance writing as a buffer. Hence, I was only willing to use it, when in dire need. When I landed in Canada, one thing I was sure of was I’d be working here part-time and accumulate funds for my tuition fees.

I tried my luck in a couple of jobs. But soon after getting started, I realized that I was not enjoying my work. Then one of my friends told me about the ‘Brand Ambassador’ job positions.

For the ones who are unfamiliar with these jobs, they involve promoting a company’s products/services, engaging with customers, organizing exciting events, and rendering pretty cool paychecks. Being a shy and introverted one, I was not really impressed with the idea of interacting with strangers at first. But then, I thought of giving it a try.

For the first event, I arrived at the given venue, stood there for 3–4 hours engaging with prospective customers having that smile on my face. And after it was over, I realized that I could happily work as a brand ambassador.

The lively ambiance, new events, new faces, new experiences, chances to grow your network, and handsome paychecks! A win-win for sure! I worked between 10–20 hours per week, but still, managed to gather around 85% of funds for my third semester’s fee doing this fun job.

Peer Tutor

I had never thought of being a peer tutor, and TBH, I had no idea that any services like ‘peer tutoring’ existed in my college. But when I came to know about it, I wanted to give it a shot. However, the hours were limited, the pay was ‘okay’. But what I loved the most about this job was the no need to commute. Working as a peer tutor for a year, I managed to gather my last semester’s tuition fees.

So, I was being paid for sharing the knowledge about the subjects that I took in the last semester. The coolest thing was helping your peers and guiding them through to success. And receiving the ‘thank you’ notes from peers and seeing those happy faces after results, were some of the best perks of tutoring.

In the last semester, when I had no obligations to save for my tuition fees, I just used my tutoring funds in incurring my living expenses.

In Conclusion

It’s exactly been a year since I finished my program, and yes, I am still doing freelancing. Besides, I am working with a Finance Company on a full-time basis, and keeping freelance writing as a source of side income. I’ll just go with the flow and keep moving with the belief that whatever happens, happens for your good.

Last but not the least, I am grateful that I came across the freelancing industry as it opened new paths of success and leadership for me, and made it a lot easier to follow my dreams. I am grateful for where I am right now!😃