I did it and dropped 20k in the Admiral version
Thanks everyone for all the feedback
Some additional context, perhaps a poor choice of word usage when I said high costs, actually referring to the high price, 50 something a share relative to the historical price (as low as 17 I believe).
Additionally, my fathers experience was coloring my fear of moving forward. My dad is a steady, value investor and loves Index funds. I remember visiting the library(!) to research stocks and funds when I was a kid. While it didn't totally rub off, as I was a sucka consumer until 28, it did give me an interesting foundation to draw from.
All this being said, he lost half of his money, which some was earmarked for my college savings during 2000-2002. With the urging of this forum I continued investigating historical returns, realizing this was nothing to be fearful of. I live overseas and haven't had many opportunities to discuss with my dad his investments and how the rebounded. I'm hoping this Thanksgiving when I am back to visit we can discuss and I can smash this insane fear forever.