Back To School

Have I mentioned yet that I'm going back to school this fall? I'm doing it because the last time I attempted post-baccalaureate education, I had such an amazing time. You may think the phrase "giggly as a school girl" as somewhat ridiculous, but for that semester, I truly did giggle constantly because I was once again a school girl/man/person.

All of that was a blatant lie. I tried to go back to school at the University of Texas during the spring of '05, and it was a total catastrophe. I didn't know this at the time, but that place does not cater to people who happen to have jobs and also want to learn things. Well, maybe they do cater to those people, as long as they have a night-time job, such as participating in sleep studies or working as a Ghostbuster. In order to make any classes, I had to rejigger my work schedule. Then, once I had done that, I discovered that I, the man with the fulltime job and thus not entitled to any financial aid, had to register after every other group of students. Talk about bang for your buck; hello, classes I'm not particularly interested in, I'm glad I'm making so many financial and personal sacrifices for you!

The end result of me rescheduling my working hours, paying a lot of money, and making a herculean effort to balance my job and my weirdo, borderline useless classes was great unpleasantness for me and everyone around me. It wasn't pretty, and once I was done with it, I thought, "Screw THAT." Clearly that experience didn't take, as it's now a year later and I'm starting it up again.

It's my sincere hope that it won't be as bad this time. First, I'm doing it all online, so I'll be spending much less time on hobo-filled buses. I won't have to interrupt my work schedule, which is great. Also, since I'll be taking my classes online and not occupying an actual chair in the classroom, the university in question (this'n here) has had a much harder time throwing me into bizarre and terrifying classes. It's a good school, it's reasonably priced, and I attend class whenever I want; the only downside is that I won't be able to buy school spirit items at the local Walgreens. (In Austin, you can buy UT items pretty much everywhere, including Pep Boys, pinata stores, and the Army/Navy store. Very strange.)

School starts tomorrow. I have my supplies, and my brain is keyed up to learn. All that remains is for my new school to pull a fast one on me. Subsequent reports to follow!

Posted by Cody at August 22, 2006 5:56 PM