Thursday, June 08, 2006

back to school?

I've always thought that I could have, and should have chosen a more challenging degree. I like design, and I'm not positive that I'll like something else better, but I can't help but think that I should do something more challenging. I don't know if its to prove something to myself, or to other people... I'm not sure why I have this desire, but its been there for a while. I even half ass started to go back before ayden came along. I took one class at a community college, then didn't go back.

I think I might do it. I think I might try to get my Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. I'd like to set the goal to have this accomplished before I turn 31 (thats 5 years) but I'm not sure thats possible. from the research I've done it looks like I'll have to start from scratch. not many, if any, of my credits from my associates are going to transfer. if not because of where I took them, then because of how long ago i took them.

that may not be as big a deal as I think though. it may add another year to retake the classes I've already taken, but I think it may be necessary. I'm not going to remember the algerbra, trig and calculus that I took in college or highschool. trying to take classes that are the next step up from those without some kind of refresher may kill my attempt to return to school.

I'm also wondering if I'm just crazy. not only am I looking at 5-6... maybe even 7 years of full time work, part time school and lots of loans, but I'm also thinking about trying to get one of the hardest bachelors degrees that is available. tons and tons of math. I'm good at math, but my math abilities and technical thinking only take me so far before its over my head. aside from that, engineers just don't make as much money as I thought. they make a good amount, but not the sizable jump that I was expecting from my current profession. thats not quite as encouraging as a promise of big bucks when I finish.

at the moment I'm thinking that the satisfaction of getting my degree, and the opportunities it will create to do something really rewarding are enough drive to get me started at least. I really want to be totally committed to finishing out the whole thing, but at the moment I don't know enough about what I'm getting into to be that commited.

One hurtle I have to over come is figuring out what school to go to. The only schools in the area that offer the degree are UTA and SMU. I'd love to go to SMU, but its obviously expensive. the teachers would all be top notch though, and having SMU on my resume would be great to land me a rad job. then theres UTA... a decent option, but its all the way in freaking arlington. I don't see how I can come to work in lewisville, go to class in arlington and live in lakewood. its not happening. maybe I can take classes at a community college and then move to a more convenient location when my current lease is up. One cool thing about them... they appear to have a freaking race team! how awesome is that? they would probably be cheaper than SMU as well, although i don't know how much. i'm also not sure if the savings would be worth it in the long run. funny how much i've made fun of the SMU meat heads that invade our bars for all these years, and now i want to be one.

I'm going to UTD to speak to a councilor tomorrow... kinda pointless because they don't offer the degree I want. I had already made the appointment before I realized that, but I'm sure that the meeting will still be helpfull.

hmm.... i may have just run into a slight problem. both schools only offer day classes. as if working and going to school wasn't going to be hard enough. i dunno what i'm going to do now.

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