Micheal’s rantings, ravings, and general banter

This has always been a pet peeve of mine. I don’t normally share much about myself openly to people, but when I do, I expect some semblance of respect and understanding. Talking down to me or treating the topic of discussion with disregard is not how you treat someone with respect. Especially if they are sharing frustrations …

I debated about sharing this story for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is still happening. Secondly, it could cause trouble for one or more parties involved and I have enough problems to deal with. And lastly, I’m just so tired of all these problems. But maybe, just maybe, someone can learn from my misfortune and avoid the same mistakes and problems.

So here it goes. As I hinted (okay, outright stated) in another post, I’m attending more than one college at the same time. Here’s why.

I graduated high school in June 2002. Yes, that puts me in the neighborhood of 23-25. I won’t tell you my age though. I feel old enough. I worked as an intern at a local company handling tech support, running network cables, some network security, and various other tasks that are meant for interns. In the fall, I grabbed myself another job at a company that was for outsourcing from other companies, the area hospital, and of course area residents that needed computer help. I was able to put some decent money in the bank while working those two jobs, and in December of that year, I applied at a local college. It was Baked Alaska getting in. (here’s hoping I start a new trend :P)

When I spoke to the advisers/counselors, I said that I was interested in computers, law enforcement, and I wanted transfer to a 4 year school. I was put in the computer program. I started January of 2003. I went through, took some Criminal Justice courses, and was to graduate in the Spring of 2006 with an Associate’s Degree in the computer program that they offered.

Note I said was. That’s very important. I spoke to a college recruiter from another university in the hallway one day and was told I was in the wrong program to transfer. Wrong program?!? After talking to a couple of people in the counselor’s office, turns out that I was indeed in the wrong program. Why then, had I been put in the wrong program? After 3 years, interactions with faculty and staff, including the counselors, more than one dean, including the Dean of Instruction, my boss and coworkers, I had to hear from someone that didn’t work with the college that I was in the wrong program. I was devastated. I put all that work, time, and effort in to getting good grades (I made President’s List several times), only to find out it was more or less for naught. I ended up failing the last course I needed to complete the computer program that spring. I was later put in to the right program the following summer. However, I overloaded the courses and failed them all, except for one that I dropped out of. That was not a fun summer.

In the fall, I spoke to the Criminal Justice instructor, and he said that I could graduate from his program in two semesters, and transfer to a 4 year school. So I took classes that fall, did well, and took the last classes I needed for that program in the spring, only to find out part way through that no, it was the wrong program again. So the running tally right now is almost done with two Associate’s degrees, and started on a third. However, by this point, the General Studies program that was the correct program for me to be in so that I could transfer had another twist added to it. There was now a Criminal Justice-concentrated program. So now I have 4 degrees underway. I dropped the Criminal Justice courses as they were just a waste of my money and time. I then spoke with the 4 year school of my choice and was able to make a deal.

This deal was that if I took just 3 more classes, I would be accepted to the school. I was guaranteed admission as if I had my Associate degree, and much of what I had taken over the years would transfer. For those not following, this happened in the spring of 2007. So in the summer of 2007, I took two classes that I previously failed, and passed them with an A. Do you think that maybe, just maybe, this doesn’t have to do with difficulty, but rather extreme stress I was put under because people decided to withhold information from me? Turns out one of the counselors admitted to me that she knew I was in the wrong program and knowingly did not tell me. Thanks. Aside from the fact that this raises questions of competency (not that there weren’t before), thanks to this person and others, I have spent thousands of dollars in books and tuition that could have and should have been spent elsewhere.

Well, back to the story. As I said, I completed the two summer classes with an A in each. I then registered for one more class in the fall that year, and squeezed out a B for the final. I was on my way to a real school! You would think my problems ended here, but you would be wrong.

I got my papers and everything from the new college days before I was to be there. When I got there, I did not have classes registered because my ID was not setup yet. So I did not have an ID card, which meant no way of getting food, no way of getting in to my room, and various other complications. Fortunately I was given a temporary card so that I could get in to my room, and my parents gave me some money so I could eat. That was on a Sunday evening. Classes started Monday morning. So I walked all over campus getting lost (it isn’t a small campus, but not the biggest either, fortunately), managed to pick up a map of campus after getting lost once, and went to another part of campus to talk to my adviser to get registered for classes. Before continuing, it should be noted that I did not get to attend orientation or anything because of the way things worked out. In fact, I was so stressed, I didn’t eat anything until Wednesday night. So I get in to the classes, go along, and I’m not doing very well. I just don’t have the energy. I’m burned out, tired, stressed, angry, depressed, and come to find out, the problems from my old college followed me. I have to take various assessment tests and general education classes because I didn’t get an Associate’s degree.

As if I wasn’t under enough stress, I have to go back and take classes I have already taken at my old college because of problems they caused. Well, I was able to find a potential way out of this, and worked with the various offices at school to get it approved, or so I thought. Well, back to the spring semester. I continued to struggle to get past the lack of energy, anger, and stress, but I ended up failing 2 of the 3 classes I took that semester. My GPA bombed, and because I was a transfer student with 60 credit hours, I was booted out on my bum. That’s right, I was kicked out of school for an entire year. Once again, the problems caused by my old college plagued my life. Now, I’m not saying I’m not at fault too, because I should have done better, but the way I see it, I wouldn’t be in this situation had I not been under such intense stress trying to complete classes and fix the problems caused by my old school.

Well, I immediately filed for an appeal and thankfully I was granted readmission. Then I took the two summer classes at my old school to get closer to get not one, but two of the General Studies degrees. One standard, and one with a slight focus on Criminal Justice. If you are wanting to update your tally, at this point, I have 0 degrees, almost done with 4 Associate degrees, and not even halfway through a Bachelor of Science. I could take possibly 3 semesters at my old college and have all 4 degrees from there. However, back to the story. So I take the 2 classes this summer. One teacher hardly communicates with the students, posting assignments nobody knows anything about, and then goes for weeks without responding to emails. I’ll skip the rest of that and let you know I managed a B in each of the two courses. So when I call my new school to let them know about this, I get told that I shouldn’t have been approved to take the two courses because it didn’t result in an Associate’s degree. What!?!?! I specifically explained what I was doing and why when I applied for the approval to take these classes at my old school. So I re-explained for the xth time.

After a long and deafening pause, the person on the other end told me that I was in the clear after all. Well good. But let me back up a little. Because I was kicked out of school and readmitted, I was not eligible for financial aid or a loan. That’s right, apparently I can’t get certain types of private loans. I still don’t understand how this works. A private loan is one that has nothing to do with the federal government or its rules about maintaining a certain GPA. But apparently some do. After arguing with my financial aid office for a couple of weeks, I got that straight. For now.

And now I am in the present. The last conversation I had with the financial aid office was a few days ago. I still have no way to pay for this school year, but at least I get to go. So what does all of this have to do with my topic title? Well, when I’ve tried to explain this to a few people, they’ve rolled their eyes, told me that they spent 16 years in school, told me that Colonel Sanders was 64 when he came up with KFC, and various other things. These are not things you do and tell people who have been through the living nightmare that I’ve been through. I don’t care if you spent 16 years in school. I don’t care if Colonel Sanders got in to the restaraunt business at age 64, these are my problems, not theirs. I am not anybody else but me. Unless you can sit there and tell me that you went through exactly what I went through, shutup and give me a little respect. It ticks me off that people treat me like this, after all I have gone through. Is it supposed to make me happy to know that I may not be able to support myself until I’m 64 years old? Is it supposed to make me happy that you switched majors however many times, causing you to spend more time in school, when I have not switched majors? People don’t understand. When someone speaks, you listen to them. Personally, I’m angry, embarrassed, stressed, and simply burned out. Most of the people I have spoken to seem to be unable to grasp that concept. This is not about you, Colonel Sanders, or anybody else. This is about me and what I have dealt with to get where I am now. I have been going to school non-stop since January of 2003 until now, which is August 2008. In fact, I can only think of one summer semester where I didn’t take classes.

I mentioned waaaaay up there that there might be something for you to learn from all of this. Well here it is. Don’t take anything your school tells you at face value. Get it in writing. In triplicate if you can. Verify, verify, verify. If you are told that you can do xyz, go behind that person and ask someone else. And another person, and keep going. Read the guideliness. Read what you have to do to transfer. Read the requirements for your program. Always, always, always have an exit strategy. This goes back to my education in both Computer Science and Law Enforcement, but you must have a way out. This exit strategy will not only help you, but will save what’s left of your sanity. If you have to, use what you got in writing to take the person in front of review boards. Fight for your rights. Don’t let anybody talk down to you. If they do, tell them that you don’t appreciate it and that they should give you more respect (but do it nicely, otherwise you won’t get the respect you deserve!).