On My 18th Birthday, My Parents Told Me My Education Fund Was Gone — I Didn’t Cry, I Took Notes

of my earnings, my expenses, my projections. I researched mechanical engineering programs at state schools, cross-referenced scholarship opportunities, calculated best-case and worst-case scenarios for costs.

The foundation under all those plans was my trust fund.

My grandfather—my father’s father—had been a mechanical engineer at Boeing for thirty years.continue reading …