Going back to school advice/help

[AidenCarby]

Thanks for all the replies guys...been really helpful. I've been researching some of the colleges near me as well. MTSU is the closest "real" school to me, but there are several community colleges. I would definitely be going to a community college first, it has been a looooooong time since I sat in a classroom. lol

I see what you're saying Ksandra, I am open to teaching something else for awhile...I had thought about special education before and that seems to be a needed area.

Community college is a real school mang don't let the word community fool you. It's cheap, and if you limit yourself to 4 classes a semester(4 is full time, 4 and under is good) pell covers all of it and books and usually a few bucks at the end of the semester that you can pocket. While some CC's let you add more than 4 classes, you want to make sure that you have enough cash left in that Pell grant to cover both Fall and Spring semesters, possibly summer class too. What they do is give you 5500 for the school year and break it down into 2700 for each semester, if there's money left over after books and shit you get to pocket that. With that being said, you can also pull out a few bucks from the splittings and put them toward a summer class or two(I wouldn't recommend more than two summer classes at the absolute most, summer classes are fucking retarded and ultra fast, rightfully so as their cramming an entire semester into your summer.) I'd start with filling out the FAFSA, I'd ride it out for the full two years, get your associates(so you have some leverage for a short term job to help with the bills and what not) then go to university to finish the bachelors.

Also, (FUCKING IMPORTANT MAN) don't start right away taking a full semester, start part time with one or two classes. Get yourself reacquainted with college life and having to study/do homework etc. School takes time, you don't want to have to redo classes because you bit off more than you can chew, it might seem like bullshit but you'll be happy you took that first semester to test the waters.

Edit: Also important, if you find for whatever reason you can't finish the semester and are overwhelmed, make sure you withdraw properly and speak to a counselor and explain the situation, make sure your paperwork is squeaky clean. You don't want to have to pay back all of that Pell money. Good luck man, hope everything works out.

[Lucki]

Also, (FUCKING IMPORTANT MAN) don't start right away taking a full semester, start part time with one or two classes. Get yourself reacquainted with college life and having to study/do homework etc. School takes time, you don't want to have to redo classes because you bit off more than you can chew, it might seem like bullshit but you'll be happy you took that first semester to test the waters.

^

Can't agree enough with this. I'm currently in school, and between working full-time, homework, and some semblance of a personal life, 2 classes is about the limit I can take. I took 3 last semester (well, 2 classes and a lab) and that was difficult. Not impossible, but something that I won't repeat anytime soon.

[Melena]

As others said I'd say do community college at least for the general ed stuff to save some money. Think long and hard about history for your bachelor's degree though. One of my groomsmen has his bachelor's in history. He currently works in San Francisco as a combination secretary and accountant/bill payer for a robotics company. You can probably imagine the amount of curator jokes he had to endure when we played Wow.

The county I work for we got a couple of people with history degrees working as parole officers since the history field blows and the only educational requirement to be a PO here is having a bachelor's in any field.

[Ddz]

I am going back to school for a second degree at 29. I'm working full time, and I've only been able to keep up with one or two classes per quarter at a community college. I find that's about all the homework time I have. Luckily, I've been able to pay out of pocket for all of my classes so far (it's about $575 per 5-credit class, plus books), but I'm gathering credits for a transfer degree to University, so I know that it's ending soon (I've got 59/90 credits toward my transfer). I definitely recommend starting off at a community college - get a transfer degree or a general AA then move on. Just make sure you have enough time to do all of the homework for the classes you decide to take. Good luck!

[Blubbartron]

The posts advocating teaching Special Ed make me wish the 4chan 'tard thread was still alive. I saved a massive archive someone posted about some 'tard named Neal. It's worth reading if you want to get into that field (I can post it later when I get home from work if there's an interest in reading the offensive hilariousness).

Also, this is from a guy who was only a senior field experience away from having a degree in secondary ed mathematics. I can confirm that math/science *will* get you a job, but please be aware that the public education system in America is a rotting cesspool that has been circling the drain for 20 years. If you go this route, please, for the love of all that is holy, actually spend some time in the area/school that you want to work. Spending a simple 2 weeks (junior field experience) in an inner city school in Pennsylvania crushed all my hope for humanity.

edit: as promised - it's a long read, and I'm not going to bother to properly img tag it since it's insanely huge. http://bucket.bluegartr.com/6fbf80cb...034013eec3.png

[archibaldcrane]

My dad was a hs math teacher til he retired 3 years ago. He never complained about the kids. It was parents and administration that drove him to early retirement.

[Blubbartron]

My dad was a hs math teacher til he retired 3 years ago. He never complained about the kids. It was parents and administration that drove him to early retirement.

It generally takes less than one generation to go from that to kids that deserve to be punched in the face for their behavior in the classroom. My mom was a high school and junior high school math and computer science/typing teacher (retired as of 4-5ish years ago). She lives in a really shitty area of northeastern Ohio, and as plagues are wont to do, they start in the worst areas and take longer to spread to nicer communities. Your dad should consider himself lucky he got out when he did. You should find out if he's kept up with his old colleagues - I bet they would tell him the children are getting inexplicably dumber and uncontrollable in the classroom.

[archibaldcrane]

Eh, he taught at the best high school in a great public school district (Madison, WI). Kids were pretty solid, and he wasn't exactly the guy to take an interest in them, he always said if a kid wants out of his geometry class, he'd GLADLY sign their transfer slip.