Well, halfway thru the quarter and I'm not doing too badly. I'm actually learning a few things!
Much of the math I had taken years ago, is coming back to me slowly. Sometimes I even enjoy getting an answer...lol.
English is another matter. No wonder its one of the hardest, if not THE hardest, language to learn. One can become fairly confused with all the punctuation rules, let alone spelling. There's got to be a better way.
The testing on reading is moving along. I have increased my speed a little and I'm now up to 127 words a minute. Found out my left eye doesn't receive information too well. Don't know if that means I'm right eye dominant or what, but thru all the exercises I seem to be doing poorly in remembering what my left eye has seen.
Psychology is one tough course. When the instructor said there would be a lot of reading....he meant it! I follow all the suggestions they give for studying, but I still cannot seem to retain what I read that well. Especially names and dates. When questions are poised, I can remember reading something about that, but can't exactly what I read, or where I saw it in the book. That's keeping my grade down to average. I really want to do better and I'm struggling with that. Guess my expectations of myself were set a little high; time to reevaluate.
More later
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Ok..so it's been almost two weeks since I began my "Educational Experience" and I need to update this thing...
Classes were almost what I expected them to be. Psychology is indeed a lot of reading and retention, which I have a small problem with, but I am working on that using various different techniques. I like the course and the instructor and so far I'm doing pretty well
English is fairly easy. After all...it's what I speak, right? A few pointers I have picked up from the instructor. Finding prepositions, subjects, verbs and adverbs are fairly new to me. I have all my points so far this quarter so I must be learning something.
Math...now here's a problem. First of all, I think that "Placement Test" is a bunch of crap. I knew going in that I had no concept of Algebra, yet the test put me into Introduction to Algebra. The instructor, while being very good, seemed to go over the material too fast for me. Even if I understood it, I didn't know what to do with all them xs' and ys' and got fairly lost after the first two classes. I paid a visit to my advisor and told him I thought I was in a class that was a little advanced for me at this time. He agreed with my position and helped me find the math class preceding the Intro to Algebra. I had to petition the class, but there wasn't a problem since it wasn't close to being full. We use a program called Alecks. Its a computer based program that first gives you an assessment test and then computes what you are lacking. The program then assembles learning modules in those sections you don't do well in. Its a gradual increase in learning as you go through the program all the way up to the higher levels of math. As I have been going through it there are times when I can remember some of it and some of it is like brand new to me. It's working.
The kids I go to school with (and I only call them kids as they are so much younger than me) have all been very friendly. I have made friends in every class and it's nice to have someone know your name in such a big crowd and be able to find someone to talk with during breaks. There are a few "older" people going to OC as well. We usually always say hi, whether you know them or not. They are the easiest ones to talk to...lol
More to come later..........
Classes were almost what I expected them to be. Psychology is indeed a lot of reading and retention, which I have a small problem with, but I am working on that using various different techniques. I like the course and the instructor and so far I'm doing pretty well
English is fairly easy. After all...it's what I speak, right? A few pointers I have picked up from the instructor. Finding prepositions, subjects, verbs and adverbs are fairly new to me. I have all my points so far this quarter so I must be learning something.
Math...now here's a problem. First of all, I think that "Placement Test" is a bunch of crap. I knew going in that I had no concept of Algebra, yet the test put me into Introduction to Algebra. The instructor, while being very good, seemed to go over the material too fast for me. Even if I understood it, I didn't know what to do with all them xs' and ys' and got fairly lost after the first two classes. I paid a visit to my advisor and told him I thought I was in a class that was a little advanced for me at this time. He agreed with my position and helped me find the math class preceding the Intro to Algebra. I had to petition the class, but there wasn't a problem since it wasn't close to being full. We use a program called Alecks. Its a computer based program that first gives you an assessment test and then computes what you are lacking. The program then assembles learning modules in those sections you don't do well in. Its a gradual increase in learning as you go through the program all the way up to the higher levels of math. As I have been going through it there are times when I can remember some of it and some of it is like brand new to me. It's working.
The kids I go to school with (and I only call them kids as they are so much younger than me) have all been very friendly. I have made friends in every class and it's nice to have someone know your name in such a big crowd and be able to find someone to talk with during breaks. There are a few "older" people going to OC as well. We usually always say hi, whether you know them or not. They are the easiest ones to talk to...lol
More to come later..........
Saturday, September 14, 2013
First things first
This is the first blog I have ever created. Thought it might be fun to track my experiences and encounters in going back to school "late in life".
The first thing I found out is not everyone is supportive. Some of my closest friends have had a good laugh at me for this, some just say "whatever", but most of my friends, in personal life as well as Face Book, are extremely supportive. I just set the naysayers to the side and listen to the latter.
You are probably wondering what an old man, like me, might be interested in taking. First off, I thought about being a doctor. That's out only for the length of study....hell...I would be dead by the time I graduate.
Ok...second choice....Teacher. Nope...no patience left with little kids. The teachers I know are probably the most patient people in the world. They have to be in order to be friends and understand me.
What am I interested in? That was what I asked myself...what could I actually do?...would I help someone?...would I gain satisfaction from it?...Could I afford it?????
Years ago, I worked in a Trauma Clinic, located in a industrial area in Southern California. I loved the work I performed in that clinic. This was before they had PAs and such. Most of your training came on the job. I worked in the back office at that clinic for 5 years. There wasn't much I couldn't do, suturing, prep, casting, pre-employment physicals, limited x-ray and physical therapy.
Of all the jobs I had, I found I enjoyed the giving of physical therapy the most. You could see your patients mend. Sometimes it was difficult to get patients to do what the doctor ordered, but I found that gentle persuasion was usually the best course to take with the difficult ones. Ultrasound, whirlpools, massage, heat therapy, muscle extensions and weights were my usual tools back then. All pretty basic. (you did not need a license back in the early 80's to perform ultra sound)
Well, much to my surprise, there in the catalog from Olympic College, was an offering of a course in Physical Therapy Assistant! Right up my alley. It showed as a two year course. Fit right into my time frame. I applied!
Now, I have never applied for any kind of student loan before and was completely ignorant of the steps you needed to take. So I called my, college educated, ever so smart (according to him), son for advice.
"You need to go to the FAFSA site and apply for a Pell Grant first" were the instructions I received from him. Being a good father, I followed his direction and bared my soul to the FAFSA people. I thought that was it.......sadly.
Next I receive a letter from Olympic stating I have been accepted into their school and my grant is being processed. Wow...that was fast....HOWEVER...there were other papers they needed and I was to go the financial site and follow the directions there. OK
Five pages later, I was told I needed to see an advisor...OK
The advisor was a nice young man and explained to me that I needed to fill out the rest of my FAFSA application for assistance. How long was I planning on attending? How were my High School grades? Had I taken the Placement test yet? If not, when did I want to take it?
Long story short, I satisfied all the pre-requirements and was now ready for the requirements. First of all...the placement test.
Simple test. Algebra and English. Flunked the algebra and passed the English. I had already figured out that was going to be the outcome so there was no big surprise there. If it wasn't for my lady's niece, tutoring me a little in math, I would have done even worse.
I was looking at my first year of getting up to speed in the aforementioned subjects, which really didn't bother me as I knew I needed to understand them to just get to the next set of prerequisites for the courses I wanted to take. Looks like I'm going to be smarter than I thought by the time this is over. Biology, Physics, Psychology are all required. Each have a certain expectation of you and I could not really meet those expectations without going backwards a bit, before going forward...oh well...I have nothing but time and it should be interesting. The time frame of my education has now grown to 3 years.
New student introduction....kind of a waste for me since I had already met with an advisor and that was what the class was mostly about. But...needed and I got 1 whole credit for showing up!
The following day I showed up for my appointment with my advisor. I had previously, the night before, set out my schedule. I had set myself up with 20 credits for this quarter. Would be going to school for short periods of time each day, Monday thru Saturday with one night course. He changed that immediately...lol. The advisor cut me down to 15 credits explaining I was setting myself up for failure with this kind of schedule. I ended up with Math, English and Psychology. Monday thru Friday with early hours for each.
Now I was understanding that my tuition would be paid out of my Pell Grant. That is correct...IF you have received your Pell Grant. I had not and registration and payment was due in 5 days. I had read somewhere about a Bridge Loan until your grants or loans were approved. Wrong, but the lady at the registration window was very nice in explaining it to me several times till I understood how it worked. I was nervous...what if my grant and loans were turned down. All I saw on my financial page was loans are submitted.
I ended up taking the payment option they offered. Tuition split into three payments. One payment kind of hurt the budget, but I made it just so I could breathe easily. A week after that...all loans were approved, That figures.
On to book buying. Bring lotsa money with you!
Just because its a lower undergrad book, has no bearing on its price! English book and Internet portal information 175....Intro to Psychology plus Internet portal info., 185....Intro to Algebra...217. I can hardly wait to see what the costs are for advanced courses.
I have all my books now, broke, but have all my books and have started to read over them. I hope the instructor explains things a little differently as the books tend to assume you know something already.
Classes start September 23rd. I'm actually kind of excited and looking forward to starting this adventure. I have made up my mind that I will complete this endeavor no matter what. I'm looking forward to the end result.
I'll post more when school starts.
The first thing I found out is not everyone is supportive. Some of my closest friends have had a good laugh at me for this, some just say "whatever", but most of my friends, in personal life as well as Face Book, are extremely supportive. I just set the naysayers to the side and listen to the latter.
You are probably wondering what an old man, like me, might be interested in taking. First off, I thought about being a doctor. That's out only for the length of study....hell...I would be dead by the time I graduate.
Ok...second choice....Teacher. Nope...no patience left with little kids. The teachers I know are probably the most patient people in the world. They have to be in order to be friends and understand me.
What am I interested in? That was what I asked myself...what could I actually do?...would I help someone?...would I gain satisfaction from it?...Could I afford it?????
Years ago, I worked in a Trauma Clinic, located in a industrial area in Southern California. I loved the work I performed in that clinic. This was before they had PAs and such. Most of your training came on the job. I worked in the back office at that clinic for 5 years. There wasn't much I couldn't do, suturing, prep, casting, pre-employment physicals, limited x-ray and physical therapy.
Of all the jobs I had, I found I enjoyed the giving of physical therapy the most. You could see your patients mend. Sometimes it was difficult to get patients to do what the doctor ordered, but I found that gentle persuasion was usually the best course to take with the difficult ones. Ultrasound, whirlpools, massage, heat therapy, muscle extensions and weights were my usual tools back then. All pretty basic. (you did not need a license back in the early 80's to perform ultra sound)
Well, much to my surprise, there in the catalog from Olympic College, was an offering of a course in Physical Therapy Assistant! Right up my alley. It showed as a two year course. Fit right into my time frame. I applied!
Now, I have never applied for any kind of student loan before and was completely ignorant of the steps you needed to take. So I called my, college educated, ever so smart (according to him), son for advice.
"You need to go to the FAFSA site and apply for a Pell Grant first" were the instructions I received from him. Being a good father, I followed his direction and bared my soul to the FAFSA people. I thought that was it.......sadly.
Next I receive a letter from Olympic stating I have been accepted into their school and my grant is being processed. Wow...that was fast....HOWEVER...there were other papers they needed and I was to go the financial site and follow the directions there. OK
Five pages later, I was told I needed to see an advisor...OK
The advisor was a nice young man and explained to me that I needed to fill out the rest of my FAFSA application for assistance. How long was I planning on attending? How were my High School grades? Had I taken the Placement test yet? If not, when did I want to take it?
Long story short, I satisfied all the pre-requirements and was now ready for the requirements. First of all...the placement test.
Simple test. Algebra and English. Flunked the algebra and passed the English. I had already figured out that was going to be the outcome so there was no big surprise there. If it wasn't for my lady's niece, tutoring me a little in math, I would have done even worse.
I was looking at my first year of getting up to speed in the aforementioned subjects, which really didn't bother me as I knew I needed to understand them to just get to the next set of prerequisites for the courses I wanted to take. Looks like I'm going to be smarter than I thought by the time this is over. Biology, Physics, Psychology are all required. Each have a certain expectation of you and I could not really meet those expectations without going backwards a bit, before going forward...oh well...I have nothing but time and it should be interesting. The time frame of my education has now grown to 3 years.
New student introduction....kind of a waste for me since I had already met with an advisor and that was what the class was mostly about. But...needed and I got 1 whole credit for showing up!
The following day I showed up for my appointment with my advisor. I had previously, the night before, set out my schedule. I had set myself up with 20 credits for this quarter. Would be going to school for short periods of time each day, Monday thru Saturday with one night course. He changed that immediately...lol. The advisor cut me down to 15 credits explaining I was setting myself up for failure with this kind of schedule. I ended up with Math, English and Psychology. Monday thru Friday with early hours for each.
Now I was understanding that my tuition would be paid out of my Pell Grant. That is correct...IF you have received your Pell Grant. I had not and registration and payment was due in 5 days. I had read somewhere about a Bridge Loan until your grants or loans were approved. Wrong, but the lady at the registration window was very nice in explaining it to me several times till I understood how it worked. I was nervous...what if my grant and loans were turned down. All I saw on my financial page was loans are submitted.
I ended up taking the payment option they offered. Tuition split into three payments. One payment kind of hurt the budget, but I made it just so I could breathe easily. A week after that...all loans were approved, That figures.
On to book buying. Bring lotsa money with you!
Just because its a lower undergrad book, has no bearing on its price! English book and Internet portal information 175....Intro to Psychology plus Internet portal info., 185....Intro to Algebra...217. I can hardly wait to see what the costs are for advanced courses.
I have all my books now, broke, but have all my books and have started to read over them. I hope the instructor explains things a little differently as the books tend to assume you know something already.
Classes start September 23rd. I'm actually kind of excited and looking forward to starting this adventure. I have made up my mind that I will complete this endeavor no matter what. I'm looking forward to the end result.
I'll post more when school starts.
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