I've been in college since I graduated from high school in 2001, and have been struggling for most of that time. I was getting burned out at UC because I was having a hard time keeping up with the co-op requirements - you had to fill out a "plan" basically laying out your planned schedule for the entire 5 years you were in college (5-year program including co-op), so if you messed up one quarter or didn't co-op when you'd planned, you had to re-do the entire thing; you had to be in school the quarter before you co-oped... As I got burned out, my grades dropped and at one point I went to school seven quarters straight (fall through summer one year and fall through spring the next) before taking a break for the summer, then going back in the fall. Because my grades were bad, they put me on Academic Probation, but somehow I managed to get them to let me stay even though my grades were bad for more than two straight quarters. Part of the problem was the curriculum though - in the program I started out in, I was required to take 2 quarters of calculus, 3 different programming languages (1 quarter of C, 2 of C++, 2 of Visual Basic) and 3 quarters of physics - for a Computer Science Technology degree (same as Computer Science except it's not engineering and it's less theory-based and more hands-on). Eventually they merged this and several other computer programs into a new IT program and I transferred over to Web Programming with a minor focus on Software Development. That was fall of last year. After that term, I was put on academic suspension again and was given a choice of either taking non-degree classes to pull my grades up, or transfer to Cincinnati State (local community college) and get an Associate's Degree.
I was getting tired of taking courses that didn't have anything to do with my degree, so I transferred to the Web Design program at Cincinnati State. I started in February and this is now my third term at Cincinnati State. While it's convenient (5 minutes from my house), I'm now starting to feel that I don't want to do web design and would rather focus solely on programming/development (more options in that field). I have only been taking 9 to 12 credit hours per term because I've been having trouble keeping up with the work among other things. The college is now predicting that I won't be done until March 2008, which would make it at least 2009 before I got out of UC (I plan to transfer back to UC once I've got my Associate's degree). I don't want to do design as I stated, and can't see myself sitting through classes such as Drawing 1 and Adobe Illustrator (Illustrator itself isn't bad, but when you have to create 2 to 3 "layout" sketches and 1 rough drawing for each of three different designs of a personal logo in 5 days, then refine a rough and mount it on matte board AND do more layout sketches and roughs for designs of business cards and letterhead within another week, all before creating stuff on the computer, it's not much fun...).
I have been doing some praying and looking at my options. Unfortunately, Cincinnati State doesn't have any sort of web development program. However, another community college, Sinclair Community College in Dayton, does. The courses I'd be taking there would be more useful towards a degree in Web Programming than web design courses would be, and I've already taken enough courses between UC and Cincinnati State to knock out a lot of courses at Sinclair. I also know a lot about web development - PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, etc. - so that would help. Sinclair seems to be a great college and is one of the biggest community colleges in the country with 24,000 students (by comparison, Cincinnati State has about 8500 students and UC has 33,000). Being that it's only an hour away, this seems like my best option.
However, there is one minor issue - I don't have my own car and don't have a job, so I'd end up having to pay my parents the extra gas money (50 miles each way), and I'd be tying up one of the family cars a lot (since it's an hour away). Plus, if I ever found myself without the ability to use one of the family cars, I'd have no easy way of getting there short of taking a taxi (which is not cheap at all, nor is it the best way to travel). Since I don't have any money, I can't get a car, and wouldn't be able to take public transportation because nothing goes that far - Cincinnati's mostly stops at the northern county line, and Butler County (directly north of Cincinnati) and Warren County (east of Butler) don't have their own systems - Warren County (for the most part) is pretty rural so there's no real need for it. Butler County, while more populated, has shown that they don't know how to manage a public transportation system (they provide poor service, people stop riding, they run out of money and ask for more, and taxpayers don't want to give them any, so the system shuts down... this has happened two or three times over the past couple of years). The nearest "off campus site" is far enough out that there's no real point in going there (38 miles northeast of Cincinnati in Lebanon, about 45 minutes driving).
Still, I've been doing some research and Sinclair offers lots of online courses. In fact, a quiz on their website meant to see how well you could handle "Distance Learning" (online courses) said that "Distance learning may be a real possibility for you". If I could schedule mostly online courses, combined with one or two courses on the main campus, I could arrange things so I'd only have to travel to Dayton once or twice a week. The more I look at this, the better it seems. They give you a great education with courses such as Principles of Management, Principles of Accounting I and Business Law I, all of which are useful in the business world.
I haven't mentioned this to my parents yet because I want to make sure I pick the best option and figure out exactly how this would work out before I do. If they see that I went to a lot of trouble to research all of this, they'll probably realize that I'm not just saying this because I don't want to go to Cincinnati State anymore and don't want to put forth the effort needed to succeed in this program, but that I really can benefit from this move (I'd probably have a better chance of getting done sooner). I am going to contact Sinclair and get some more information, and also talk to someone about Distance Learning to see what my options are there.
Please pray that the decision I make is the best possible one. The more I look at Sinclair, the more it seems like this is the best option, but it's a big decision and I want to be absolutely sure that it's best before I pursue it...
Oh, wow. This is a tough time for you. Sort of "the best of times and the worst of times", eh?
Father, I do pray that you will give your son all the wisdom he needs in making his decision. And Father, you guide his footsteps and lead him to go through doors you've opened, and not to enter doors that you have not opened. We trust you, our Father, our Counselor, our Wisdom. Thank you for hearing and answering as we come in Jesus' name. amen
Let us know how it goes. ok? (I forget your first name. Sorry. I know Pat has told me, and I'll have an aha moment when I hear it. again) Let the peace of God go before you and you can't go wrong. :)
Praying for you here in California.
Thanks :)
Nita - my name is Michael
One quick update - I did some more investigating and found that the majority of the courses I'd have to take are offered online (excluding things I should already get credit for). This includes many coursres that I could take as electives and even the capstone course (which actually surprised me a bit considering the nature of such courses...). This is making Sinclair an even bigger possibility, because it would minimize the number of trips I'd have to make to Dayton, so my parents wouldn't be as concerned with paying for the gas and I'd probably be able to afford the gas, especially since it's mostly freeway drving. I'm going to contact Sinclair shortly and get some more info.
Oldiesmann,
I too am praying for you to find the answer that will best suit you ,School is so very important in these days, you can't get a great paying job without education..
I can tell you that I have taken online classes for 1 1/2 years now and find them to be the best way for me to get to school right now..
I am a terminal nurse who lives at my job 24 hours a day 7 days a week.. So there was no chance for me to go to school plus we live over 2 hours aways from a college.
I have not had any problems with on line college courses and you get the same degree.
God Bless you as you make your decision and I will keep you in my prayers..Any questionsfeel free to ask.
Alma
I offer my most heartfelt "amen" to Nita's prayer.
Michael, I, too, will be praying for you. As I was reading the post, I started thinking that maybe you could dig around and see what offered online classes (then saw that you were considering that). I pray that God makes it abundantly clear to you what you need to do, and that the doors open for you.
Michael, I concur with what the others are saying and will be praying for you as you make this decision. Just don't give up on your dream. Education can never be taken away from you.
Thanks everyone. I'll keep you all updated on the situation.
I thought I had posted in here Michael but it's not here now.
I just want to let you know that I'm praying for you daily that you'll be conscious of the Lord's leading in your life.
I have been praying for you for a very long time now my dear friend. You are a very, very special fellow to the folks here on CP. We don't know what we'd do without you.
So, now we'll keep praying for you as you make these important decisions regarding your education.
Love
Pat