Corj, Mads and I are back from a great weekend visiting Grandma and Grandpa (and Grandpa Rob and Roberta too! AND uncles and Aunts! and COUSINS! so many cousins and even a one Mr. David Eleanor Sawchuk! and a Tim, twice on the ferry!) and feeding our one-year-old way too much chocolate. Good times.
On the boat ride home, Mads just wanted to walk and walk and walk. So that means that I must walk and walk and walk. I am kinda hunched over while I do the walking like the hunchback fella from lore. On the outside deck, Madelyn took a spill and didn’t catch herself grinding her little face along the cheese grater deck of the ship. That was a blood nose and a lesson learned. I am sure she’ll be quicker next time!
***
My quest to become a doctor continues to grind forward. The “doctor” part is just a bold hyperbolic manifestation of the greater goal of continuing my education and then earning more money. As my Mom says, there are lots of different kinds of doctors and medical is just one (and maybe one that I am not too suited too, though, I think I’d make one hell of a GP).
This week I should have the money to apply to a couple schools here in Victoria to weigh some options.
School is built for kids that have unlimited credit, time and an insatiable ability to “do what they’re told.” I have little of the above.
To have a family, a career and a limited budget means that I can’t do exactly what many of the schools require. Should have got at it when I was 19 I guess. I come from the school of thought, that’s its never too late to start your life. I’ll just have to make a way.
The problem I face up front is funding. I can’t get a student loan if I take the Royal Roads courses online and continue to work. Royal Roads says that its for working people, but then they require you to do a 3 week full time on campus thing and I can’t afford to take a month to “play school” for three weeks then get married. I *could* afford it if I got a student loan, but because its part-time according to the government, no loan.
I could quit the Zone and go to school full time at Royal Roads and get my degree in one year. That is attractive except the student loan wouldn’t be enough to keep Coral and Mads fed and roofed and I like my job and don’t see the value in leaving the workforce to go to school to… get.. a… job? weird.
That leaves UVic, and taking three years (at least) to hammer out a degree, but taking my classes in the AM and then rocking the Zone in the afternoon. Might wear me done, but as I said, where there is a will, there is a way.
Then I think I could get the student loans to pay for class, work to pay the bills and keep working and one day end up with a degree.
yeesh, so stressful to think about.
Couple all this with the fact that in all honestly, some of the skills I want, none of the school teach and I wonder.
I do want to improve my graphic design and internet skills and I don’t think the courses I’ll take for my degree will cover that. I will hopefully get lots of research skills which I want, but I need more balance. No business will want a researcher that can’t present the facts, and no business will hire a kid that makes pretty graphs with no facts to graph. In a previous blog post I talked about creating a Bachelor of Jeremy Studies which hits everything I want to learn (and some medieval history to boot) and still get me accredited but thus far, no honourable school offers it. For shame.
The short term, I’ll apply this week to school(s) and see what my options are.
I’ll continue to work on my podcasting and make some killer documentaries. My podcast on farming will begin production in May so that is exciting.
I’ll need to self teach myself graphic design and I have a project to give myself to achieve it. I’ll be using these resources to get there and maybe spend a little money in books and/or programs which I’ll earn programming music for restaurants or voicing TV commercials.
The project: A Press Kit Promoting Me
Resources: Seth is the man
Now, all I need is a time machine to create some more hours in the day and a winning lottery ticket and I’m good to go.
***
New Capital Rock City tonight, I better go change the baby’s bum, she stinks.
Go with yourself.
The Morning After 
ah yes.
the age old problem… when you’re finally old enough to realize what you want to learn in school… you’re too old to have the freedom to spend the time learning it.
post secondary education is such a tough road of sacrifice… your time, money and having to live like a pauper to accomplish a final goal… it’s so unappealing as you inch closer to 30.
but think of how much better you would be able to provide for your family as dr jeremy
🙂
it might just be worth a few tough years… and since maddy is small still, IMO, this is the time to do it. before she notices that she doesn’t have whatever new toy/clothes etc the “cool kids” have.
she won’t complain about kraft dinner and mr noodles if she doesn’t know better, lol.
Good stuff, I like the way you think. Not just a talker, but a do’er. Cool.
she loves kraft dinner! so she’ll like it.
but I hear ya… school is not designed for actual working people with lives… its designed for kids to drink out of beer bongs and learn about oral sex.
I’ve been thinking about going back to school for awhile now. I have an honours degree in english – which has led me exactly nowhere. I just don’t have anything that really fills me with desire, i just get a lot of “you should be a teacher!”
Just what i need – MORE time with kids.
ha, yeah MORE time!
maybe teach adults who are also passionate on writing and reading.?? maybe????