I'm running into one of my phases where I get discouraged with school. I feel sometimes that the world has passed me by, especially when it comes to computer technology. I try to avoid classes that are computer heavy. My wife insists that I take a computer class, but I think I'm kind of a Luddite: I want a real newspaper; I do not want to sit in front of a computer screen to get my news. I want a real book where I can turn the pages; where I can write in the margins; and that I can later revisit like an old friend.
I care nothing for links and pictures. Those are more of a distraction for me. I may learn how to do this, in spite of myself , but it will be nothing I place any value on. I want to hold on to a simpler way of life; I don't want to join this revolution.
I'm in a curmudgeon mood. My job is now working 12 hours; the shift doesn't end until 3:00 A.M., and I'm not getting much sleep. I got home thinking that I'm over loaded and I need to drop this early morning class. I'm hoping I feel different tomorrow after a good nights sleep.
And while I'm in my curmudgeon role, I have to ask this question: do any of you have a hard time asserting yourself in group discussion? I do. When I did finally manage to edge in a comment, I got cut off .This is a group with a lot to say. In any case I'm feeling old and irritable tonight: forgive me.
P.S. my latest attempt at providing a link is below. I am getting closer.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
midlife and student debt
As we get older, we begin to see retirement as more than some abstract goal that we can never reach. We try to get our finances in order, refuse to take on any more bills, payoff the credit cards, and contemplate selling the big house that is no longer needed. In my own case, following this script, the plan was that I would retire from GM, and substitute teach. And to complete this dream, we would find a little place on a lake, surrounded by trees. This was the plan until June of 2009.
It was at that time when GM filed bankruptcy and I lost my school funding. I was looking at 30,000 dollars in student loans to complete my education. My wife felt that my education was secondary to our long term plans, and she made it clear that she would not agree to any student loans. She said: "you have had your career. You could have gone to school any time in the last 30 years and had it paid for but you didn't. You waited too long!"She was right. I did wait too long, and my second career, teaching, was probably nothing more than a pipe dream. The problem with her view was this: I could not give up school.
After weeks of talking and arguing, she began to understand how important it was for me to complete this midlife journey. College was the great unrealized dream of my life; I couldn't let it just slip through my fingers. In the end, she endorsed the idea of finishing my education with student loans, knowing that her own dreams might be in jeopardy.
On August first, General Motors reinstated their 5000 dollar a year tuition program. I had borrowed 8000 dollars to pay for 14 months of college here at U of M-Flint. I know I am fortunate to have a job that helps defray college costs. Most students get very little financial assistance( including my own children), and graduate with gargantuan student loan debt. Although we live in great country, it is unfortunate that so many young people are saddled with this burden. I'm thankful, however, that one middle aged student will not be.
See: http://www.oprah.com/money/college-is-it-worth-the-debt
It was at that time when GM filed bankruptcy and I lost my school funding. I was looking at 30,000 dollars in student loans to complete my education. My wife felt that my education was secondary to our long term plans, and she made it clear that she would not agree to any student loans. She said: "you have had your career. You could have gone to school any time in the last 30 years and had it paid for but you didn't. You waited too long!"She was right. I did wait too long, and my second career, teaching, was probably nothing more than a pipe dream. The problem with her view was this: I could not give up school.
After weeks of talking and arguing, she began to understand how important it was for me to complete this midlife journey. College was the great unrealized dream of my life; I couldn't let it just slip through my fingers. In the end, she endorsed the idea of finishing my education with student loans, knowing that her own dreams might be in jeopardy.
On August first, General Motors reinstated their 5000 dollar a year tuition program. I had borrowed 8000 dollars to pay for 14 months of college here at U of M-Flint. I know I am fortunate to have a job that helps defray college costs. Most students get very little financial assistance( including my own children), and graduate with gargantuan student loan debt. Although we live in great country, it is unfortunate that so many young people are saddled with this burden. I'm thankful, however, that one middle aged student will not be.
See: http://www.oprah.com/money/college-is-it-worth-the-debt
Children and College
One of the advantages of attending college at an advanced age, is the possibility of having your children as classmates. My two youngest children, Lori and Kevin, are students here at U of M-Flint. Furthermore, my son Eric was a student here when I started. Since my first semester, in winter of 2008, I have had at least one of my children as a fellow U of M-Flint student. It has always given me a warm feeling here on campus, knowing that they are near.
The experience, unfortunately, has not been without complications and disappointments: On Kevin's first day here on campus, I caught up with him, I was beside myself with excitement, and insisted that I walk him to his first class. On the second day, however, I couldn't find him, and he wouldn't answer his phone. I got the message, and I understood: It was awkward hanging with Dad before class. My daughter, who is a sophomore , also let me know the same thing, but in a more subtle way. She told me that a classmate had asked her:"who is that old guy I see you hanging with?"
On the other hand, My son Eric, welcomed my company, and was instrumental in getting me started here. He encouraged me to apply, even though I thought I would never be accepted. He answered all my many questions about the college experience, even going as far as to recommend professors. And, most importantly, he would guide me back to familiar surroundings when I got lost on campus.
It can be isolating being a older student, but there are few social distractions. In any case, I still plan to have lunch in the pavilion with my children--at least sometimes--in the hope they will enjoy my company as much as I enjoy theirs.
see: http//www.washingtonpost.com>education
The experience, unfortunately, has not been without complications and disappointments: On Kevin's first day here on campus, I caught up with him, I was beside myself with excitement, and insisted that I walk him to his first class. On the second day, however, I couldn't find him, and he wouldn't answer his phone. I got the message, and I understood: It was awkward hanging with Dad before class. My daughter, who is a sophomore , also let me know the same thing, but in a more subtle way. She told me that a classmate had asked her:"who is that old guy I see you hanging with?"
On the other hand, My son Eric, welcomed my company, and was instrumental in getting me started here. He encouraged me to apply, even though I thought I would never be accepted. He answered all my many questions about the college experience, even going as far as to recommend professors. And, most importantly, he would guide me back to familiar surroundings when I got lost on campus.
It can be isolating being a older student, but there are few social distractions. In any case, I still plan to have lunch in the pavilion with my children--at least sometimes--in the hope they will enjoy my company as much as I enjoy theirs.
see: http//www.washingtonpost.com>education
Saturday, September 18, 2010
computers and the older student
One of the things which disadvantage for some older students, is our educational systems reliance on computers. Sometimes I throw up my hands in frustration over these cranky devices. Furthermore, their companion, the internet, is like a big undiscovered country for me. I've been learning this technology piecemeal, but it hasn't been pretty. Listening to me complain, my wife, in frustration, said "I'm tired of you listening to you rant about the computer. Why don't you take a basic computer course?" I replied, " I don't think I can learn it that way: it has to be one step at a time."
Even now, I have e-mailed Dr Blumner for further instructions on how to set up this" blogging and comment assignment." After first sending him the wrong information, I was finally able to give him what he needed to access my blogs, but as for the rest--I'm still lost. For example, Dr Blumner said I would be able to access my classmates blogs through his blog; I have failed miserably at this. I've clicked on links, comments, and just about everything else with no success( I later figured this part out, which should have been obvious).
I have called my two oldest sons, both U of M-Flint alumni, for help with this assignment. When I asked my son Dan, who lives in Georgia, to help me with entering links to websites he told me," just enter the websites manually: it is too hard to explain over the phone." My other son Eric said," I'm busy this weekend; we'll have to make it another time."
I do have a lame excuse, besides being nearly illiterate with computers, for my lack of retention to Tuesdays lesson: I spent too much time in class with a computer that wouldn't log on; I was too embarrassed to ask for help, and I didn't take the kind of notes I should have. When I finally changed tables to a computer that did work, the basic lecture was over. To add insult to this whole experience, after I did log on, the blogger.com home page looked strange: it was about family history. I asked for Dr Blumner's help; he kindly pointed out that I was on the wrong website: I spelled blogger with one g.
See: http://topcolleges.com/.../community-college-offer-plus-50-program-for-older-students
Even now, I have e-mailed Dr Blumner for further instructions on how to set up this" blogging and comment assignment." After first sending him the wrong information, I was finally able to give him what he needed to access my blogs, but as for the rest--I'm still lost. For example, Dr Blumner said I would be able to access my classmates blogs through his blog; I have failed miserably at this. I've clicked on links, comments, and just about everything else with no success( I later figured this part out, which should have been obvious).
I have called my two oldest sons, both U of M-Flint alumni, for help with this assignment. When I asked my son Dan, who lives in Georgia, to help me with entering links to websites he told me," just enter the websites manually: it is too hard to explain over the phone." My other son Eric said," I'm busy this weekend; we'll have to make it another time."
I do have a lame excuse, besides being nearly illiterate with computers, for my lack of retention to Tuesdays lesson: I spent too much time in class with a computer that wouldn't log on; I was too embarrassed to ask for help, and I didn't take the kind of notes I should have. When I finally changed tables to a computer that did work, the basic lecture was over. To add insult to this whole experience, after I did log on, the blogger.com home page looked strange: it was about family history. I asked for Dr Blumner's help; he kindly pointed out that I was on the wrong website: I spelled blogger with one g.
See: http://topcolleges.com/.../community-college-offer-plus-50-program-for-older-students
Friday, September 17, 2010
James: An Academic History
When I started college in January 2008, I was fifty years old, and had never been a academic success. Why, given my history, did I even want to go to college? I had a good job( and I still work there) working the the line at General Motors. Why knock myself out for something that would never pay off financially. The answer lies in getting an education for its own sake. I want an education as much as some people dream of being rich and famous.
Unfortunately this desire was not evident in high school. I was an indifferent student. I daydreamed through the lectures, and never studied outside of class. Fortunately, I was a voracious reader, but seldom were my text books included. When I graduated, I was so unprepared academically that even my own mother told me " you are not college material."
She was proved to be right: In the winter of 1983 I enrolled in Mott college. I took a full load ( a big mistake) during an extended layoff from General Motors. I struggled, and soon realized that I wasn't ready for school work on this level. I gave up; I was even too embarrassed to formally drop my classes.
At the age of thirty, in 1987, I joined the Book of the Month Club" and the "History Book Club," and began the odyssey that eventually brought me here. I began reading about four books a month in a quest to know things. I kept up this rigorous schedule until my enrollment here, in November of 2007.
Being accepted at U of M-Flint was a big surprise; I thought they must have made a mistake; however, there were strings attached: I was put on academic probation do to my poor high school grades, and my failures at Mott. I had to prove myself, or I would be let go as a student here. For some reason, it finally came together for me. I have 54 credit hours with a 3.63 grade point average. I'm not sure if I'm just a late bloomer, or my years of voracious reading prepared me for college. Maybe I just want it more.
I would like to teach history or social studies, but I know my job prospects are dim; On the other hand, I love the college experience; an education is a worthy goal in itself.
See http://www.ehow.com/how_2071041_succeed-as-older-college-student.html James Johnston
Unfortunately this desire was not evident in high school. I was an indifferent student. I daydreamed through the lectures, and never studied outside of class. Fortunately, I was a voracious reader, but seldom were my text books included. When I graduated, I was so unprepared academically that even my own mother told me " you are not college material."
She was proved to be right: In the winter of 1983 I enrolled in Mott college. I took a full load ( a big mistake) during an extended layoff from General Motors. I struggled, and soon realized that I wasn't ready for school work on this level. I gave up; I was even too embarrassed to formally drop my classes.
At the age of thirty, in 1987, I joined the Book of the Month Club" and the "History Book Club," and began the odyssey that eventually brought me here. I began reading about four books a month in a quest to know things. I kept up this rigorous schedule until my enrollment here, in November of 2007.
Being accepted at U of M-Flint was a big surprise; I thought they must have made a mistake; however, there were strings attached: I was put on academic probation do to my poor high school grades, and my failures at Mott. I had to prove myself, or I would be let go as a student here. For some reason, it finally came together for me. I have 54 credit hours with a 3.63 grade point average. I'm not sure if I'm just a late bloomer, or my years of voracious reading prepared me for college. Maybe I just want it more.
I would like to teach history or social studies, but I know my job prospects are dim; On the other hand, I love the college experience; an education is a worthy goal in itself.
See http://www.ehow.com/how_2071041_succeed-as-older-college-student.html James Johnston
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