Saturday, August 23, 2008

A Little Thrill

I have been an M.I.A. Student at the Wayne State University School of Business for almost 14 years now. Why? Because we usually go to college to get a career. My career found me mid semester in 1993. I was enrolled in the Professional Development Program at a large IT employer in the area. This was a class and a job at the same time. On numerous days I would arrive before 8 in the morn and not leave until 9 that evening. Which made it rather hard to make those three hour classes three evenings a week. I learned to be a work-a-holic then. I have had the good sense to forget though...

After the program ended, I was put on assignments in Michigan that had me traveling to at least an hour each way to go to work. So the classes didn't get picked back up. When I finally did manage to get assigned close to the city, life happened. Fell in love, became a home owner and a family man. You know, grown man shit. As I said, life happened. And here I sit 14 years later without a bachelor's degree that I started my quest to find in 1985!

Yesterday I went to speak to my academic advisor. I had been in contact with her over the last couple of years. Trying to make progress. I have been out long enough that things have changed. So I needed to get a new plan of work to determine what was needed to finish my quest. I still don't have that. But all the paperwork and transcripts and readmission thingies have been submitted. Much to her surprise. The plan of work will take a couple of weeks to process since it is spin up to the fall semester. And she wanted to make sure that every thing was cool since I have been in that particular school since 1988.

Four good things I found out as a result of that meeting:

  1. She said that there may be some requirements that I don't need to take because of my ancient admission date. Cool. Even less than I might imagine is needed.
  2. Since all of my readmission stuff is out of the way, I can register for fall classes.
  3. A query by me to determine the approximate number of credits needed for graduation, barring surprises on the plan of work is...16!!!
  4. If I jump on things, I can have an answer about my financial aid package in about 2 weeks! About a week after the semester starts!!!!!
Needless to say I had a nice little bounce in my step. Even enough to erase the fact that I had just dropped off $16 in late library books!

I don't know where the hell all the money is coming from, but dammit I am gonna be in somewhere between 2 and 5 classes come next week!!! Now book money is a whole different story...

6 comments:

RealHustla said...

OMG! 16 credits, that's only like a year of school right? Soooo very close. It would be great if the graduation requirements for you don't change to the ones new enrollees are bound to. Is this what you were saying?

Finally another chronic book borrower. I thought I was the only fool out there who borrowed books for that long. What is wrong with us? You can buy a good book for $16.

I'm not superstitious, but is the number 16 trying to tell you something?

Bananas said...

Dude...that's nothing! But regardless, (IMHO) one always needs to continue their education.

Hell, I have an MBA and I've went back to Junior College (because I'm a cheap bastard and don't want to pay the tuition elsewhere) to start working on a undergraduate in African American Studies. (Don't ask)

So...go forth my Son and concur the educational world!

It’s all you Dawg!

The Second Sixty-Eight said...

@ Realhustla - Dang. Now you gonna have me on the lookout for the number 16 all weekend. I am especially gonna have to watch The Boy Child who is 16!

It is not necessarily a year. I am thinking hard about standing on my advisor's neck to see exactly how many. That is just a busy semester. I have done that many before... Hmmmm...

And yeah, the new requirements for the most part don't apply to me.

I don't know WHAT happened on those books! I thought they were due a week later than they actually were. I tried to renew them so I didn't have to pay the fees, but they had already barred access to my online account, and I didn't have the opportunity to get them back sooner. The funny part is as usual, when I get more than two, I always turn stuff in unread or barely read. The other two I might cop to get some web design in... Hey! That ain't a bad idea for my computer class either...

@ Terry - I was elated and similarly kicking myself in the ass when I found out how many. I might even start to look into the GMAT. I been stressing to my kids that they need to make their educations the priority in their lives at least until their mid 20's. Especially when it is free. They don't wanna seem to listen. Well I am listening! And I am gonna try to get The Wife to stop worrying about old loans and finish her BS too!

Anonymous said...

Man, I read this and need to stop procrastinating and finish my bachelors degree. I'm going to e-mail my advisor and see what I need to do and how many more classes I need. It's way past time.

I've been thinking about it for a minute now and I guess it's good timing you wrote this post. Thanks for the push.

Anonymous said...

Great news. You will knock those 16 credits out in no time.

I'ma need you to return your library books in on time. I've been waiting a week for a book that 3 people can't seem to return on time. I could go to the other libraries that aren't on my side of town but gas to high.

LadyLee said...

GOOD FOR YOU, MAN!

*Ladylee doing the high rockette kick*

Go back to school... Knock that ish out.

Doggonit, now you got ME 'bout to call somebody and try to get in somebody's school!

Go 2nd 68!!