I'm Going Back...to Finish

So I've been saying for months and months and months that I am going to go back to school to finish what I started. It all began back in 1999... At the spry young age of 19, I realized that the major that I had proudly declared (life) was not going to result in quite the happy, easy and fruitful ending I'd thought. You see, I was banking on obtaining my degree in life by moving out of my parents' house and into a teensy apartment in the southend with my hippy boyfriend and learning more through my experiences than what could be taught in a college classroom or in some stinky dorm. Wait a second, was I a hippy too? Anyway, I decided to go to school to be an elementary school teacher. I love kids. I love to teach kids. Why not? Well, because elementary school teachers in Washington state don't make jack shit for money, that's why. After 3 semesters of what I imagine is the classic community college experience at Highline Community College, I decided to go to the University of VZW and try for a career there.

After a few years slaving away as a customer service representative at Verizon Wireless, I figured it was a good time to go back to school. I had heard some of my co-workers raving about University of Phoenix, where the philosophy is that working adults with full time jobs can still get a degree...all online!! I was skeptical, but took a few classes there anyway. The premise that I'd have to be buddied up to my own "learning team," a group of oddly mix-and-matched strangers, all from different backgrounds, schooling, even age, was a little daunting to me going in, but it wasn't too bad. I mean, there was an occasional slacker that would ride the coat tails of everyone else on the learning team (usually consisting of about 4-5 people) and not contribute anything at all, but their efforts to fly under the radar were usually unearthed by the end of the class.

Being that I had shifted my focus from Early Childhood Education to Business Management (sounded good) one of my first classes at U of P was Computer Information Science. It was in this class that I joined a learning team in which I was the only non-slacker on my learning team. We were all supposed to research different elements of a 15-page paper we had to compile and turn in. Being the natural leader I have always found myself to be, I divvied up the parts and trusted that my team wanted as good of a grade on this as I did. This was not the case. Not a single person had anything to contribute when it came down to the day before the paper was due. I ended up researching and writing an entire 15-page paper in one long night. This situation really made me reflect on the quality of the education I was actually receiving by this boastful school. Was it truly a university? Why must I be forced to work with strangers and hinge my success on their efforts? Were the credits I was slaving away to earn going toward a degree I even wanted? Was my choice of school being secretly scoffed at? I pondered these questions as I continued my thriving education at the University of VZW, preening my career in corporate America more and more with each year of employment.

My job is great. I have learned so much about myself through tough lessons of politics and office drama, I don't even know if I could learn about these things in a school setting. I have become a training professional at Verizon Wireless. I have trained countless employees to be the best they can be at their jobs as customer service representatives. But I still want to write. So, I have decided to go back to school to finish getting my degree. In what, you ask? Business Management? Seems logical in this dog-eat-dog corporate mecca I have found myself entangled in, right? Nah. I'm going to go for a degree in communications. I would love to be a journalist when I grow up, so here I go.

I am proud to say that I have recently registered for summer classes at Bellevue College. It's no longer considered a community college anymore because you do not have to transfer to get a four-year degree. Sweet! I went to pick up my books the other day, though, and found myself surrounded by youth. A tall boy, early-twenties, wearing a neon green polo shirt with the collar upturned, carrying a notebook and a backpack, sauntering to his next class. A hipster mid-twenties girl, hair in a side ponytail, skinny jeans and a tight halter top skipping to the bookstore. I had just walked into an alternate reality where all my peers were ten years my junior! Augh! I questioned my decision to take the leap to returning to school. Although I'm opting to take online classes, I still shuddered at the thought of competing for the coveted position as teacher's pet with a 21-year old. However, I am still going to do it. I will take the required courses to finally figure out what I want to be when I grow up...I figure I still have a little more time.