As some Kossacks know, back in January I returned to college, at the age of fifty-four, to get an AA degree (No, no, not Alchoholics Anonymous, Associates of Arts, although...). Well, ahem, anyway, my main reason for this is because I am no longer able to work in my recent "career", which was commercial truck driving. I was seriously injured, nearly killed in fact, in a solo truck wreck back in July of 2007. Disability payments aren't providing nearly enough to sustain a living, so the only sensible choice was to go back to school.
I have promised to give a report on how it's been going with college for me so far, for those who have expressed interest, and that full report shall be forthcoming in a few weeks. For now, I'd like to just give you all this sneak peek, as some of my predictions may not turn out to be true, and because I have scholarship applications in the works, and also because I have a completed essay to be submitted for competition (cash prize!!) and I don't want to take any chance that discussing those things here could compromise their success. (Not that that's likely, but just to be on the safe side...)
I've been carrying twelve units this semester at Feather River College, which is located right here in my home town of Quincy, California. FRC is a fully accredited two-year community college. My major is Liberal Arts, with emphasis in Social and Behavorial Sciences. Previous college work back in the '90s carried over to satisfy all my general course requirements, so my educational plan has me graduating at the close of spring semester 2010, i.e. just a little over a year from now. Next semester I plan to carry fifteen units, and then nine units in my final semester. Of course, it all depends on whether the classes I need will actually be offered.
It looks like I'll be able pull straight A's in my courses for this semester; after Spring Break I've only got four weeks left of classes and then finals. To supplement my pocket book I'm also doing tutoring on campus, and in this capacity I'm officially employed by FRC. Naturally, it doesn't pay a great amount, but every little bit helps.
Scholarships have the potential to provide me with several hundred dollars, perhaps even a thousand (or more). Due to my wife's income level I don't qualify for any state or federal student aid money, and there is also no help for me from Veteran's Affairs -- I served in the Navy 1979-1985, and the program in effect at the time sucked -- Veteran's Educational Assistance Program (don't even ask) -- so I've had to pay tuition, fees, and books out of my own pocket.
Summer work I still don't know about. I've made some inquiries, but have no promised job offers or leads yet. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to find something.
Oh, and that essay I'm going to submit? The contest is being sponsored by the FRC English department, and all I know is that there's a cash prize being offered, but the contest flyer didn't say how much, which I suspect is because the department heads hadn't got to figuring out how much they could offer in the first place. Apparently they don't know what's in their own wallet. Ain't college life fun? But, anyhow, this is how much I can share at this time: the essay prompt was "Where Are You Going, and Where Have You Been?", with a 1000-word limit, and a due date of April 13th. I completed my final draft and copy this morning, and tomorrow I will turn it in. I've had several people read it and comment, to check for clarity, spelling, etc., and it looks good. I'll let you know how it turns out as soon as I know.
OK, that's it for now. Any other old geezers/geezerettes out there doing the back-to-college thing?
ps: I do have plans to continue on to a Bachelors, at least, but I'll be crossing that bridge when I get to it.
pps: I notice I lost my TU status. Haven't been commenting much lately because my time has been gobbled up by class work. So it's nice that I get a little (just a little) time off, and I'll be commenting more this upcoming week.