So there are a couple of different ways to look at this. The first is if I had gone to college right out of high school that I would be somewhere near the rest of my peers that I work with right now making the same type of money. But that did not happen and cannot be changed. That is what I would like my kids to do and I will do everything I can to try and make sure that they are able to do that.

The next perspective is that I could go back to school now and I could be “caught up” over time. This is what I was trying to do but when you get older you have other responsibilities (like family) that can (and should) take priority over things outside of work and family.

There is also the whole cost factor that you needs to consider in regards to going back to school. I raked up almost $10K is school loans for the couple semesters that I was going. When it was all said and done it would have been about $40K that I would have need to pay back. For me I had to compare how much potential income the degree was going to get me verses the cost. When I looked at it I was not entirely sure that the cost justified the sacrifice of time with my family and cost of repaying the loans.

The final perspective is staying at my current education level and putting my efforts into doing my job really well. With this decision you look to yourself to make personal improvements in order to advance in your job. For me that was getting more familiar with what we sold and volunteering to take on more responsibility along with my standard duties.

I think this aspect needs to happen whether you are going to school or not. Even if you have a degree you still need to bust your butt to get noticed and move up the food chain in your company. I have done this where I am at right now and have begun to take on some higher level projects. For me not having the extra burden of having to go to school has allowed me to take on this little extra at work without impacting my family the way that school did.

I believe that the experience that I am gaining will over shadow the fact that I do not have a degree when I am out in the job market again someday. In fact it was my experience (8 years of experience) that got me into this job in the first place as opposed to a degree. There are several job posting that want a degree or equivalent job experience. To most companies that is interchangeable.

I guess I said all of the above to say this – your best bet is to go to school right out of high school. If you don’t do it then it only gets more difficult as you get older. You gain more responsibilities as you get older and you will pretty much always be behind those who did go to college right out of high school. For me I accept where I am at and will do the best with it that I can. Will I go back to school? There is not a very good chance of that, I have accepted where I am at and I think I will get more return on my investment of time and money by not going to school.

Technorati: Going Back to School, University of Phoenix, Devry, College, UniversityИкониПодаръциikoniИдея за подаръкикониикониПравославни икониикони на светцииконописikoniсвети георгиikoniхудожник на икониИкони на светци

Here is the break down:

Time – my time has now focused more on my family and that strain has been eliminated – this is a good thing and I (and my family) are much happier. It has also taken the strain off at work. I now do not have to rush out at specified times in order to make class every week. Finally it has allowed me to pick up some side work that has actually been very profitable. Coupled with that my blogging revenue is steadily rising which has opened up more doors financially.

So the final question is – do I regret it? No I do not. I have to be candid though, it has only been 3 months. I think the only time that regret will possibly creep in is when I am need of a different job. I have never had this happen before and have never heard of this happing to anyone but it could be a possibility.

I think as I get older I am beginning to come to terms with who I am as a result of the past decisions that I have made. When I was younger I did not go to college – that’s just the way it is. Would a degree have made life easier? Probably but that time has passed. Right now I need to concentrate of developing the skills and talents that I have right now and making those profitable for me. Unfortunately school cannot do that.

So the moral? Go to school when you are young. If you don’t it will definitely be harder (to go to school) when you are older and there is a good chance you will not go at all.

Can you be happy with life if you do not go? I am. I am comfortable with where I am in life and understand that I am here based on my past decisions. If anything seeing this result has helped me to make better decisions for my future and the future of my kids. Are they going to college? You bet. I want them to be better then me and I think college will help them do that.

Enough said.

Technorati tags: Going Back to School, University of Phoenix, Devry, College, University

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The main reason for my departure from the land of higher education is the impact it is having on my family and I. Having to put in the extra time in the form of a couple nights a week was wearing me out. When I did have time to spend with my wife and kids I was grumpy and tired so the time was not the best.

Another reason that got me to this point was evaluating the ROI (Return On Investment). It was looking as though I was going to invest 3 years of my life and and $40-$50K on this education. That is a pretty significant investment for anyone. The question I had to ask myself was this – what am I going to get out of? Well I already am in the career that I want to be – Product Management – and I have a fall back of Web Design and Development. I am covered pretty well so this was looking to not be the wisest investment of my time and money.

In my current position I have room to grow and develop and really learn the ropes of being a Product Manager. I believe that if I take the time and effort that I was going to put into school and put it into my job then I am going to get more of a return then if I was in school. There is a lot to learn at my present job and if I am on top of my game I can excel here.

The final reason that I quit school was that I dreaded it, hated it in fact. I do not know what it was but I really did not like to go. Every time it was time for class I could find a million reasons not to go. If I actually made it to class I would be there thinking of all the things that I could be doing if I were not in class. That is sad especially because I was paying to sit there! I know that this is sort of a maturity issue but when it comes down to it this is a me issue. This is just the way that I am and I have to deal with me and utilize me the best I can for the best results.

Final Thoughts

I looked at school as an investment, tried it out, weighed the cost of the investment verses the return, and made what I believe is a good investing decision. There are many factors that need to be considered when going back to school – your current occupation, family, and financial situation. You then need to prioritize those things and make your decisions based on the results.

I think college is something that you should really strive for right out of school. I am going to push my kids to do that. When you are young and do not have any work experience school is the thing that can get you in the door to the career that you want. When you are older experience in a particular field usually trumps school alone or is considered an equivalent. The current position that I am in required a Bachelors degree and preferred a Masters degree but I had 8 years experience in the field so my experience was considered equal to a degree.

The only time that I think getting your degree when you are older may make sense is if you aren’t really in a “career” at the time (doing whatever jobs) and you want to establish a career.

Now I am off to pay the couple of student loans that I have acquired in my little experiment.

Technorati: Quitting School, College, University, DeVry, University of Pheonix

The extra added bonus is that I have 25 units at this time which puts me as a second year student at UoP as opposed to a first year student at DeVry. This makes a difference because I will actually qualify for a little more financial aid as a second year student. If all of my figures are right I should end up with about $1000 extra money which would be refunded back to me. This money would go towards paying off the new Mac I just bought.

I probably would have been better of by going to UoP in the first place but I had not looked into them. I as kind of at a cross roads in life at the time and just needed to get into school ASAP so thing really did work out since DeVry got me started so quick.

Anyway, I do not have my classes yet but will update here once I get them.

Technorati: University of Phoenix, DeVry, Class, College, University, Going back to School

I got the call this morning and met with the counselor during my lunch hour. It was a good meeting.

UP (University of Phoenix) is a little different then DeVry in a couple of areas that has prompted me to consider switching. The first is that they do not operate on a semester based layout. Classes are 5 weeks long and you only take one class at a time and are considered a full-time student. At DeVry their classes are 8 weeks long and a semester is 16 weeks. You have to take 3-4 class every semester to be full time. My financial aid only covers enough to take 1 class every 8 weeks and therefore I am considered part time. With UP my financial aid will their 5 weeks classes so I can go “full time” and finish sooner.

The other thing that is different at UP is that their online classes are actually cheaper then their in-house class. This is the opposite at DeVry. At DeVry you can take online class but they cannot exceed 50% of the classes you take or they charge you more. The one catch is that the lower price at UP only applies to the lower tier class which account for about 2/3 of the classes that you need to take. The upper tier is more expensive then the standard in house classes (it ends up being cheaper at UP in the long run).

The two items above are pretty significant to me because 1.) I am only going to school part time right now and it is going to take me forever at this rate to finish, and 2.) I think that online classes will be easier for me as my schedule gets out of control sometimes and missing class is a probability.

The final difference that I feel between University of Phoenix and DeVry is that UP seems to be more established in the Austin area. Their facility is much larger and does not appear to be a satellite campus like DeVry in Austin is.

If I decide to switch I won’t start taking classes at UP until July since that is when the 2007-2008 Financial Aid kicks in as it would be really messy to try and do it sooner. I am going to discuss it with my wife before making a decision (that is one thing they don’t teach you in school ).

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Technorati: University of Phoenix, DeVry, Class, College, University

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I know that a degree will help me in the future but at the moment it is hard to tell if it worth it. I just really do not want to be here.

Oh well, I have 2 more hours to serve on my setence to school today so I might as well get on with it…

What am I feeling?

I am feeling tired from all the demands that a guy in my spot is going to feel keeping everything a float.

This weekend was different because I did not get a break on Saturday from work/school like I usually do. I had a 2 hour meeting with my classmates on Saturday to go over our project. Then I headed over to work to work on my homework.

I think being at work even though I wasn’t working was a mistake. There is just something about this place that says I have to be here that wears me down. I do not think that I will do that again. I definitely need a change of scenery. Those are the tricks that you have to learn though and I guess that I am learning them.

Technorati Tags: DeVry, Tired, University, School

I was going to send an email to my Professor asking for another day or 2 to finish it but then I noticed that you are only docked 5 point a day from the due date. Cool. I was really glad that I did not send that email since in class he made a point to not give him excuses about turning in your homework. Embarrassment avoided.

What I did instead was my home work while in class. As I was uploading it to our class website he started going over it in class. I was really thankful that they way he did his example was evidently different then the way I did mine. Mine was mostly correct but different enough to where I do not think he will think that I copied him.

In all honesty I really do not like school. I am not going because I do not have anything else to do with my evenings. I work a regular job and have a family and that takes enough time as it is. But at the same time that is why I am going to school. I want my family to be well taken care of and this will help me to do that.

The struggle that I am going to face in school is not going to be the actual work that is assigned to me. It is going to be motivating myself to do the work. Isn’t that the way of life though?

Technorati Tags: DeVry, School, University, Education, Family, Homework

I can totally tell that I am rusty in the study department. I tried reading during my lunch today while listening to my MP3 player but found it a little hard to concentrate. It doesn’t help that I am only in the second class and am already behind. Oh well I guess that is par for the course.

I talked with my mom last night who was very happy that I decided to go back to school. I am sure it is every parents desire to see their kids graduate from college even if it is 15 years late. I know that I want to see my kids go (in fact they are really not going to have a choice).

Anyway, this is my second week of school and I am still going strong .

Technorati Tags: School, College, Parents, Studying, DeVry