continued education

For those that don't know, I am a high school graduate. I had no interest whatsoever to go to college and opted to go into the Marine Corps instead.

You know my mother. I've posted a few things she's done that has irritated the hell out of me. One of the things she never seemed to drop was my going back to school. "Adam, I KNOW you could get a degree in three years." That kind of thing.

Well, recently after some persuasion from my wife, I decided to take some online courses offered by one of the nearby community colleges. I got a letter the other day saying I'd been awarded a nice little grant for school. Tomorrow I have a meeting with my advisor. I've picked out some classes to take. I think all that's left is registration and then I'll start the spring semester.

I'm a bit nervous about it all, even if it is over the comp. I haven't been in any kind of classroom situation since '87. People think I would do very well. I seem to be the only one with any kind of reservations about the whole thing.

Today, my wife offered me a "special incentive" for every A I bring in. *wink wink* [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

So...wish me a little luck 'cause I could really use it.

You'll do great! Going back to school was the scariest thing I'd ever done in my whole life, but it's working out fine for me. You've already had to deal with raising kids and real jobs and such, you're already responsible and you're very intelligent, so stop worrying!

What are you taking?

yay! Good for you!

And you're not alone- lots of people take time off before going back to school! I wish I had- I would have gotten so much more out of it!

Besides, if you take it seriously- you'll have a distinct advantage over all the innocent just-out-of-high-schoolers who are still too immersed in forming their own identities to conceive of direction and purpose behind their education.

You got nothing to lose, crazy. you rock!

I don't think you need any luck, but here's some for those A's (cause I'm sure you deserve some "incentives").

You've got the maturity and intelligence to handle school. Don't doubt it.

And, yeah, what are you taking?

Something I've always thought about doing but haven't yet. Good for you Crazy.

That's great to hear. As a "delayed" student myself, I can fully support the benefits of attending college once you've been out in the real world. At least for business classes. (The artsy fartsy classes I found I had no patience for, oh well.)

Oh, and have fun with the incentives!

Awesome crazy a.

*knows crazy'll do well and get hooked on school and eventually get his degree* ;)

If you do start to attend classes physically you'll be able to give some of the right-out-of-highschool kids some advice and guidance on dealing with the "real world" as well.

Many thanks to y'all for the kind words and support. It makes me realize why I like coming here.

Ok....so my wife and I picked out the following classes to take online:
Expository Writing
College Algebra
College Student Success
Art Appreciation
Environmental Biology.

Advisor said that looked good. All I have to do now is take their placement test so they can see where I am in English and Math before moving forward. The math part is what will kill me, if anything on there does. Have started taking a look at math.com to brush up on algebra.

My major is Associate in Arts and we're looking at eventually transferring over to a regular college later on and then wrapping it up. (Looks so simple on the screen, doesn't it? [img]wink.gif[/img] )

Oh, my advisor? My wife told me about him and she was dead on. Imagine Jesus on a surfboard.

Again, thanks for the well-wishes and I'll keep y'all updated as things unfold.

Already hit my first stumbling block. I'm at math.com and I come to a little quiz of 8 problems. Read the problem, tell if it's true or false. So I make my answers and click on SCORE. It says I got 75% right; #4 and #7 are True and that's it, no explanation. I go back and take a look. Maybe it's me but I still say they're false. You tell me.

4. 16 + 10 (division sign) 5 - 3 x 2 = 12

7. 5 x 2squared - 7 x (4+2) = -22

They're true because of BEDMAS. No matter what order they're in from left to right, you always start with anything in brackets, then do any exponenets, then division or multiplication, then addition or subtraction.

So the first, 16 + 10/5 - 3 x 2 becomes 16 + 2 - 6

5 x 2squared - 7 x (4+2) becomes 5 x 4 - 7 x (4+2), then 5 x 4 - 7 x 6, then 20 - 42.


Was that the problem, or am I completly off like usual?

I'm dead....

Thanks, Orenda. [img]smile.gif[/img]

You'll be fine. It's great that you're getting out there and doing things.

I went back to school after a few years delay and had to take 1 remedial math class. As soon as I got into the class things got easy as I remembered the basic rules (as demonstrated by Orenda). Don't sweat it. Plus, you probably won't need much math for the Assiociates.

Good luck.

Math is like any other language. Once you get the basic grammer rules and definitions under your belt, the whole thing becomes much easier to understand.

Ok...

Took the placement test last Tuesday. Did very well in reading and writing. Will have to take a math essentials course. Big surprise.

Visited my advisor today. Says I'll only have to change my math class out of the original schedule. Ok. So he fills out this telephone registration form, tells me what to do. I go to my wife's job, tell her what we did. She decides to register me then and there. Ok....

Out of the original five classes we planned on, only one is not already filled (the math). So...she eventually calls my advisor, who she kinda knows already, and they start throwing around suggestions about reworking my schedule. So we get something worked out and get it registered. So...after I pay the tuition and whatnot, I guess I start classes in January. Now my classes are:

expository writing
the basic math
public speaking (!)
music appreciation

Also, part of the reworking meant I'll now have to take a face-to-face class.

That's where we stand.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 03, 2002 10:37 PM: Message edited by: crazy a ]</font>

Best laid plans, and all that? [img]tongue.gif[/img] on schedules. I tried for four years to take one lousy English class and never got it because it was either always full already, or they cancelled it that sememster. (and why they would cancel a class that was full every sememster they have it I don't know)

Oh, right, my question...

What's a face to face class?

Oh, and good luck again!

You know...a class. I'd actually be in a room with other students and an instructor. "Face-to-face".

Well, cool, glad you're in. I take it the public speaking is "face-to-face"? I can't imagine that as an internet class...

Good luck and I KNOW you'll do fine.

Oddly enough, the music appreciation class is face-to-face. The public speaking is face-to-face for about the first two weeks then moves to online. I'm not sure either how that would work, but will let y'all know.

That is odd! But it sounds way more fun to me than taking turns talking in front of each other. Public speaking...*shudder*.

I bet you'll have fun in the writing class. Hope you get good teachers [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hey, crazy... maybe you can submit some of your talented posting here as examples of how good you are at public speaking on the internet?

Public speaking still makes me nervous. I had to give a presentation yesterday. I purposefully kept the technical details to a minimum so I could explain my project to people without any background in the subject. I was kind of disappointed that the faculty didn't grill me with questions.

You're going to have a blast come January. And even more fun when you pull in straight A's at the end of the semester. ;)

Well. It has been a long, sometimes bumpy, sometimes unenjoyable trip.

After looking over my class requirements and meeting with the advisor, and assuming I pass my classes this semester (which I don't foresee a problem doing), it appears I will graduate from Pitt Community College in mid-May. I'll be walking out with an Associate's in Liberal Arts.

I've told my wife that if I have anything to say about it (and by now, I feel I should), I will not attend the actual ceremonies. I understand the actual diploma is mailed out anyway, so why should I bother? They got 3 years of my life, I'm sure they could do without me for one day.

That sounds a little bitter, doesn't it? I look back on it all, and I will admit the whole thing wasn't a total turn-off. I liked some of the classes. I liked some of the instructors. And yet, I have this relief-anger feeling inside.

Well, I'm not here to make a rant post.

What's next? I guess I'll hustle up some rinky-dink job. Continued continued education? Like at ECU or somewhere? Not in my plans, but dad has mentioned I should consider taking more classes at another school. But not in my plans, preferably.

Oh, those "incentives"? That didn't last long. But, of course, I knew the wife wouldn't follow through on them.

Anyway.

It looks like I'm done in May. [img]smile.gif[/img]

*good vibes sending dance*

All brains of the world are teaming up to send you their power [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[img]smile.gif[/img] happy for you

I had expository writing once, but I drank a tall glass of salty water and it went away (snaps fingers) just like-a dat! (Chico Marx)

Congradulations! Remember that when you're starving after graduation, you Bake an MA but you Fry a BA. A PHD you can eat most any-old way, eh? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Awesome! Congrats!

*hugs and smooches*

You've got me beat. I haven't finished up my Associates yet. Though, I could do it in 6 classes (2 semesters and maybe a summer). I'll get around it one day.

Very proud of you for following through.

Heh. Can't believe I forgot to update this. Which I guess goes to show what the whole thing meant to ME. LOL

Anyway, last Monday afternoon (8 May) I took my last final of the semester. That Wednesday I got all my grades: A, A, A, A, B. That Friday night was the graduation ceremony which I didn't attend. And now I'm just waiting for my diploma to arrive in the mail, presumably this week sometime.

Wife is kinda pushing for me to start classes at ECU, but that's up in the air right now.

But let's not worry about that now. I graduated!

*brings out cake and assorted beverages* [img]graemlins/cake.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/martini.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/coffee.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img]

Awww too bad about those low grades...
Ha! That's more A's than I got in my whole academic career! [img]smile.gif[/img]
Well done Crazy!

Great! [img]graemlins/martini.gif[/img]

Congratulations!!! That's awesome. It didn't take as long as you thought it would either, did it? :)

Long enough! lol

The diploma arrived in the mail today: Associate in Arts, Pre-Liberal Arts. And so it is now officially official.

*goes to typewriter to finish writing about it*
Oh, y'all didn't know about that, did y'all? I've been writing about my time at PCC. Looks to be a somewhat slim volume. LOL [img]biggrin.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img]