Back in 2005 I made the decision to stop being self-employed and started looking for full time employment. That is when I discovered my lack of college degree had really come back to bite me.
I am not stupid, but like most people, I do stupid things. Not completing my college degree was stupid. It is hard to go to school when you have small children. It is hard to go to school when you have no money. It is hard to go to school when you lack family support. It is hard to go to school when you have to work to put food on the table and a roof over your head. But it is not impossible. I had determined that it was impossible for me to complete my degree due to those circumstances and set aside my dreams and desires until circumstances again made me change my mind and made me determined to go back and finish up. This was not an easy decision, but I made it and have worked hard.
I don’t have small children anymore, but my children do and I’m an active part of their lives. I still don’t have a lot of money, and I don’t have all that much support. I do not have to work to put food on the table or a roof over my head. I have had to borrow every last dime to go to school, but I’m there. The last time I went to school I paid $25 a credit hour. Now it’s close to $500.
I made what some people perceive to be a ‘stupid’ choice by going online with school. Online classrooms are not for everyone. I believe it takes a certain amount of what I call reference knowledge to be successful doing classroom work online, mainly because of the pace. It most certainly demands that you be a self starter. There are a lot of misconceptions about online schools. One is that you can do whatever, whenever. That is so not true. Student have weekly assignments that address the reading and generally involve writing a paper of 700-1700 words with a minimum of three citations. There is generally a weekly team assignment that involves a paper or project. In addition, there is weekly participation that, in the case of my school, most instructors require four out of the seven days that you participate in a ‘substantive’ manner and is graded accordingly; generally 10% of the total grade. Not being involved is not an option if you want to do well in an online class. Conversely, one (not me) can manage to sit in a regular classroom and never participate without taking a hit to one’s grade. Some online schools make teamwork mandatory and up to 40% of one’s grade. The student does not get to pick their team and one learns to work with people, or it affects the grade. One can manage to get through the regular classroom experience without having to interact substantially with classmates. I will admit that the team concept is something I have struggled with. I have a low frustration tolerance with people who do not do what they are supposed to do when they are supposed to do it, and I have met my fair share of those types during the last two years. I am learning to assume nothing and state my expectations of the team members and how I will deliver right up front.
I have found the online students to be more committed to the learning process than the students I encountered in ground and FlexNet classes (a mix of ground and online). I have also found the academic and financial advisers to be more responsive and proactive than their ground campus counterparts.
I am down to my last four courses to complete the 60 hours of requirements to receive my degree in Information Systems. I also need to take four CLEP exams that I’ve been preparing for sporadically for about a year to receive my degree.
I can’t say this is the hardest thing I have done, but I definitely have worked hard over the last 2 years and am glad I finally did it.