Okay, now that I’ve officially given notice at work, I feel I can finally talk about this on the site: PDR is dropping out of job and getting a school.
Some time ago on this very website I wrote my thoughts on going back to school. To sum it up, it was basically: I hated school, but I’d go back if I could afford it. I still can not afford it, but… I’m going anyway?
This October would have marked my tenth year working of at the job I currently have (accounting for various promotions and such) and I really just don’t want to reach that milestone. I’ve not enjoyed the job, I’ve considered it a waste of large swaths of my life, in fact, but I stayed because I needed the money, you all know how it is. Well, my monetary situation isn’t improving, my debt remains, my attempt to get a roommate has proven useless toward money-getting, progress just isn’t being made, so what is the point?
Instead of continuing in this treading of water for another decade, I have decided to just dive in the opposite direction. I will weigh myself down with a student loan but, theoretically, I will be improving my life. Here’s hoping that this beats stagnancy for money.
I’m going for a degree in English. But the degree doesn’t mean much to me (and being a degree in English, it won’t mean much to other people either), what I want is the education. I want to get better at doing stuff I like, such as writing. In my previous schooling attempt I felt like it was the aiming for the degree that held me back. The main drawback, I feel, of going for a degree is that the school actually cares about how you get there. They have a whole list of classes they require you to take if you want that degree, even if you have no interest in those classes. But this seems mitigated for the English program. I have actually selected a handful of courses and, when I look over them, there isn’t one that makes me think “Ugh, I don’t want to go to that” based on the name alone (Things like Calculus or Physics would do that to me). I’ve got whatever actual English things I’m supposed to get, but I’ve also got a class on mythology, one on European history, and one on Astronomy. Obviously things may change as I see how the classes actually work, but for now, I’m kinda actually looking forward to this.
Let’s see how I feel about it a couple months from now. Whatever the case, I expect that I will be talking about my actual life on the site more often now that it contains something actually worth talking about. Let’s see how it goes!
In four years, you will have learned a degree of English. They only take you as far as N. You have to go to grad school for the rest of the alphabet. In all seriousness though, not stagnating is good! Go PDR!
Really, the first half of the alphabet is all one ever uses anyway.
If that were true, this sentence would be half all.
So when does your currant job end and what will you do for cash? Sell your body on the street corners? I always wanted to be a pimp so let me know if you need a pimp.
I end my job the first week of September. As for what I’ll do for cash, I just know I will not need a pimp. Sorry.
Good luck, Pat. In spite of what you say, I think it’s pretty obvious – because I read this website – that you *are* smart, in certain ways (there are different types of “smart”…).
Well, let us hope I am the kind of smart that can do an English degree.
School is cool. PDR is cool. Therefore, that is cool squared, and you have officially made squares cool, thus making it so that robot children no longer get beat up for square heads. You have made the world a better place. Nice!