6 down, 60 to go...

[awp101]

Finished my first two classes last week so I now have 6 credit hours in a 66 credit hour degree plan.

Wheeeeeee!

[olyinaz]

GOOD JOB! Hang in there.

[Mescalero]

The part of my life I disliked the most.

[new pig hunter]

school is awesome: chicks, beer, and studying .... what's not to like ??

Cheers,

Carl

[AJMD429]

What'cha studying...???

[Mescalero]

chicks and beer................. I don't remember that.

[Blaine]

Biggest screw up of my life is not getting a degree while I was in the Army and had time...(and, they would have paid for it ) I'm a loser because of that

[Mescalero]

No, you are not.
I can admit to it now I am retired,
I did a lot of hiring for very sensitive positions.
A degree was a strike against you in my eyes, I looked for people with practical experience.

[new pig hunter]

yep, chicks, beer, and studying ..... and the Navy and GI Bill paid for it all. Engineering school, psychology school, more engineering school, and the study time far far outweighed the chicks and beer time.

without the education/degree, I'd never have ended up in the career I ended up in. The degree was simply the magic key that opened the door, the talking point to begin the job interview. The hiring people would not even look at me without the degree. In the world I was in, practical experience was 100% worthless without the degree. You want "that" job, you gotta have "this" degree.

I'll presume there are worlds where practical experience is the most important door opener ..... but that wasn't mine.

Cheers,

Carl

[Eye-Bite!]

Biggest screw up of my life is not getting a degree while I was in the Army and had time...(and, they would have paid for it ) I'm a loser because of that

You served your Country... Good Job and no one can take that away from you. You are a Hero! I finished up my Assoc. in a Science on active and then got an assignment to Dessert Storm. 20-years later I retired from the AF. Loser.... Hardly!

[Eye-Bite!]

True Story: After retiring from the AF after a 20-Year stint. I became a Letter Carrier..... One of my stops was a young struggling family of which I ended up getting to know them very well. He applied to be a mailman also because of me etc. He failed the test a few times and got discouraged thus decided to try a different approach to life. He searched the internet and applied to become a Doctor. The Goobermint paid for all the schooling...6-years worth. The only hitch was that he join the Army afterwards. We were sitting down around his moving truck one evening (got Assigned to Hawaii).... He said to me "Life is funny, The Gooberment decided I was not smart enough to be a Mailman so, they made me a Psychiatric Doctor. Keep going to school and good fortune.

[rjohns94]

Well done. What is ur major?

[madman4570]

Good Job---------you will get there!
Eat a lot of blueberries!

[awp101]

Graphic Communication which I think is the new, techno-savvy description for Graphic Arts. By the time I'm done I'll have had Basic Graphic Design (which I just finished), a drawing class, computer illustration and a couple of other computer arts and artsy-fartsy type courses that I don't recall offhand plus some math, psychology, etc.

Being a shutterbug, the appeal to me is the chance to take some photography and digital imaging courses. In fact, I need to get with an adviser and see what I can do about focusing more on the photo side and less on the computer illustration and the like.

I did two courses this semester, but I think I'm going to keep it to one course from now on. This is not for a career change, it's just for my own edification and satisfaction so I'm in no hurry.

Blaine, check what WA offers for Vets. I did the same as you and by the time I "got around to it" the time to use my GI Bill had passed (10 years). Turns out Texas has the Hazelwood Act which is a program for vets that enlisted in TX, were TX residents during their service or ETS'd in TX (I think that's how it breaks down ). It offers assistance for attending State funded colleges. WA state may have something similar and being retired you probably have all the time in the world now, right?

[2ndovc]

Way cool Dude!

I've been thinking a lot about pursuing my masters and eventually a doctorate in Psychology.
Need to do something else before I burn out completely!


jb

[Blaine]

Blaine, check what WA offers for Vets. I did the same as you and by the time I "got around to it" the time to use my GI Bill had passed (10 years). Turns out Texas has the Hazelwood Act which is a program for vets that enlisted in TX, were TX residents during their service or ETS'd in TX (I think that's how it breaks down ). It offers assistance for attending State funded colleges. WA state may have something similar and being retired you probably have all the time in the world now, right?

Having achieved the ultimate promotion (retired), I no longer have time to work....

[Griff]

I have a perfectly good liberal arts degree... qualifies me to teach high school... or ask, "...would you like fries with that burger..." A 4 year degree that took me more than 8 to attain... and along in there somewhere I got another one that I wasn't looking for, and a 3rd that only took 6 more months... I goofed off a lot, skipped classes, never failed but one class, and after 5 years of dickerin' with the administration I got that removed... (turned in my drop notice the 1st nite of class, teacher never turned it in... carried me for the semester & failed me). I actually audited two classes in US History that I never attended... received "A"s in both.

So, now I drive a truck! Doesn't require a high school diploma... and in fact... if I was an employee somewhere, it might be a benefit to NOT have one... And like others, when I've been in an "office" environment, practical experience was more meaningful to me than a degree... HOWEVER... if two folks came along with like experience, and one had a degree... that person usually got the job. Stickin' to a plan shows a prospective employer something. I ain't sure what yet... but they seem to think so! Or so I've been told!

Com'n LOTTO... I wanna get a LAW degree...

[Bill in Oregon]

Andrew, I am impressed. Follow that dream!

[Canuck Bob]

Congrats on the school. Focus and work hard. When opportunity knocks open the door.

I went back to school after crawling out of a nasty mess. I blew an early education gifted me by a football scholarship. One of my painful regrets that got turned around.

Blaine, I can imagine a number of colourful adjectives for you but loser ain't on the list.

The biggest losers I ever met had all kinds of letters after their names.

[awp101]

Thanks guys! Surprisingly, I wasn't the oldest student in both classes (I might have been in BGD but I'm not sure). And also surprisingly, I was the only cigarette smoker in my Speech class. I figured it was still the cool, hip thing for college students to do.

Then again my role model to be a cool, hip college student is this guy:

I have a perfectly good liberal arts degree... qualifies me to teach high school... or ask, "...would you like fries with that burger..." A 4 year degree that took me more than 8 to attain...

I'm ballparking 5 years for this 2 year degree since I'm (most likely) going to stick to 1 class per semester.

Com'n LOTTO... I wanna get a LAW degree...

Wouldn't you rather associate with a better class of person? Like outlaw bikers? That's a lot of work and money just to be able to put "Esq" behind your name on the truck...

[Streetstar]

without the education/degree, I'd never have ended up in the career I ended up in. The degree was simply the magic key that opened the door, the talking point to begin the job interview. The hiring people would not even look at me without the degree.

This --- the 4 year bachelor's degree is the new equivalent of a high school diploma in a lot of fields . A degree certainly isn't an absolute requirement to do my job, but it is a requirement to get an interview ---- they don't care if your degree is in Leisure Studies or something , so long as you showed the sack to stay in there and get the paper
-- I have been asked but once for a copy of my diploma , but have never been asked for my GPA, and never been asked one question about high school (I also have an FAA A&P license and pilot's license and have been asked to produce these a few times though)