Tag: Ivy Tech

A Different Summer

This summer is going to have a big change of pace for me.

My wife is expecting our first child, and I am remodeling our basement & a nursery.  I am also going to school to finally get an education that I’ve been working on for a decade.

We’ve decided that I shouldn’t work this summer.  This is easy due to my academic year positions.  Instead I am going to focus on my education and try to cram as many summer courses as possible.

Even though I have been working on this degree for a decade, I’ve only achieved 3 credit hours towards my degree.  This may sound astounding, but my educational history has been filled with disappointment.

I’m going to take 5 classes, with one of them being online.  I’m very nervous about this online course, as I took one several years ago and failed it.  It was the same math class that I am doing very well in right now.  The class in particular is Introduction to Microcomputers, something I could sleep through.  I will be nervous about this until I get a few assignments in.

Here are the classes:

  • CINS-101 – Introduction to Microcomputers
  • ECON-101 – Economics Fundamentals
  • COMM-101 – Fundamentals of Public Speaking
  • IVYT-107 – Professional Presence
  • HIST-101 – Survey of American History I

It’s a total of 13 credit hours, a big load for someone who hasn’t went to school full time since 1997.  All of these classes are in my general education requirements for a CINT (Computer Information Technology) degree.  After completion of these courses, I will only have 2 other gen ed classes left.

I’m excited and scared as hell at the same time.  I wasn’t lucky enough to have a “real” college experience.  I think this will give me a piece of it.  I don’t think I will have the availability to do this again, with the impending arrival of my second child.

So Far…

So far my classes at Ivy Tech Community College have went well.  There have been a few glitches, which I will explain further, but overall it has been a good experience for a change.  This has been the typical time frame where I “fly the coop.”

My math course, MATH-050 (Basic Algebra) is quite boring.  My skills lie between this course and the course between it (MATH-111 [Intermediate Algebra]).  My instructor is also the head of the department that deals with disability issues and I think it spills over into her teaching style.  While I do not have any learning disabilities I can see how this style can help those who need it.  The rest of us feel like we’re in grade school.  One thing that I have issues with is some of the coursework.  She has assigned us to “write 5 things from” a book, “Managing the Mean Math Blues” and two videos.  All of these focus on one  main thing, study skills.  It seems a little off for a math course to assign reading material not directly related to the course itself.

My Visual Basic Course, CINS-113 (Logic, Design and Programming) has been going great!  I enjoy the instructor and the coursework.  My only concern is that the instructor does not write the tests, the head of the department does.  The tests are based solely on the book and not what we speak about in class.  While I am reading the book, it is impossible to remember all the terms and items needed.

I’m hoping to not work this summer and load up on courses so that I can hopefully finish this degree a little sooner.

No Matter What

I will achieve a degree.

Starting school again has become a mini-series of drama in itself.  My past has finally caught up with me to make it hard to go to school.

I started going to Ivy Tech State College in the fall of 1999.  Here it is the beginning of the spring 2009 semester and I have only attained 3 credits towards a degree.

The reasons why are various and run the gamut.  The main reason why is because of opportunity.  Whether it be a job, or just a reason to leave.  I was sure to find it, and find it quick.

This is the 4th and last time I am enrolling in a particular math course, MAT050 – Basic Algebra.  If memory serves me correctly, this course wasn’t hard – but engaging the last time I took it.  This time, it’s almost an insult to my intelligence.  Our first homework assignment – adding negative numbers.  This course is so easy that you have to want to fail, just to fail.

School was never a good time for me, but the good time that I did have was while in high school.  I took my math courses at IU, the county school systems did not offer calculus or finite yet.  But since I never used those tools, they have been lost just like an angel’s share of whiskey.

This is where the drama comes in.  Since I have enrolled and withdrawn as many times as I have, I am on what’s called Financial Aid Termination.  Meaning I cannot receive financial aid, and since our household income is above some imaginary number that only changes when you ask for help, the state will not help either.

So this time, it has to come out of our pockets directly.  But there are specifics, I must take at least 6 credit hours (2 classes) and get a grade of C or better in both courses.  If not, I will still be on “termination.”  If I achieve this I will be switched to Financial Aid Probation because I have shown the college that I am trying.

I am also appealing this decision regarding financial aid.  This process includes counseling with an academic advisor, a letter to the college explaining all withdrawals and F grades.  Also giving reasons as to why this should be appealed.

Even after through all of this, I still want to go.

No matter what I will attain a degree, and the sooner the better.