School or Work: Full Time vs. Part Time

Like a lot of people my age, I chose to continue my education through college. I started out taking general education classes at a community college and eventually moved to Ohio to attend Ohio State. The problem here was, unlike most higher institutions throughout the US, Ohio State is not on the semester system--they are on the quarter. So there went problem number one. If you've been pampered by only being familiar with one of those systems then I suggest you stick with it--it is very difficult to switch.

In transferring from a small and unimportant Community College to a Big Real College, I was slightly prepared for a larger workload, but nothing could have prepared me for the onslaught of outside work I would be doing.

When you're going to a major university such as The Ohio University, you have a choice between attending part time, 3/4 time, or full time. However, the severity of each choice is not fully explained in its two-word description. Part time ends up becoming full time with the outside work involved. 3/4 time ends up being more than that, and full time turns into "all I do is study." I discovered this the hard way: I have failed a total of 3 of my classes at Ohio State since beginning last Autumn. I have barely passed at least 1 of those classes and I have had to petition to withdraw another class. It's hard work.

In this day and age you have parents who are willing to support their children (financially) through their college careers/endeavors, and then there are parents who quite simply can't afford to. It's another case of the have and have-nots. For those students (regardless of age) who must work while attending classes, attending a major university can pose a real problem. With most federal funding you must be attending at least 6 credit hours to be considered part time (which is almost always more than one class). If you have children or other daily responsibilities it becomes even more of a hassle. With going to school, sleeping, taking care of your responsibilities it can become very difficult to calculate in when you would work. (In these instances it is best to not live in a major college town such as Columbus, Ohio--the job market is not very great because it is virtually over-populated by college kids willing to work for minimum wage.) On another note, this would be my reason for moving.

My point, although not very well grasped (I don't think), is that if you are one of those have-nots, going to college becomes really difficult at a major institution. You have to really set aside the time, or be willing to go on virtually no sleep in order to get through it.

My first realizations

In my first apartment, away from the concept of being taken care of by others, I discovered there were quite a few things that I didn't know. I also discovered there were quite a few subjects I was quite ignorant on. I've lived on my own for about a year now, and there are still weekly phone calls to my grandma beginning with the phrase "I have a question." She says I should record it to save breath.

The first thing I discovered was that I didn't know what a pilot light looked like, so when my water heater's pilot light went out I didn't have a clue as to what I was supposed to do about it. I read the directions on the side of the water heater, but I still couldn't get anything lit. I tried and I tried and ended up going without hot water for an entire weekend until the Emergency Maintenance guy deigned to come over and fix it. I watched him closely and the next time it went out it only took me 2 hours to get it lit. After that I became a little pro.

I also discovered that I had no clue how to trigger a mouse trap. I bought some cheap-o mouse traps from the Family Dollar and discovered that every time I would set it the trigger wouldn't go off, or that when I set it the trigger would automatically go off before being touched. I had to wait until my grandparents came for a visit so they could show me how it was done (it took my grandma at least 5 minutes to figure the cheap ones out). I come from the country where there's just as much garbage outside as inside (so the mice stay in their element instead).

I think it's amusing that I think these are key skills in living on your own, but really I think they're all amusing in some way or another.

I've got a lot more where this came from, but I won't give it all away just yet. Have a good day!