It’s Done!
That’s it… it’s over… history… another closed chapter… done like dinner. I have completed the last of my courses to qualify for graduation from the Computer Engineering Technology program at Niagara College. I am so glad to be finished, four years is a long time. It has been a fantastic experience to say the least. Going back to school at 32 years old was not an easy decision to make, but I had the most amazing help and support from my family. Without them I would never have been able to do this and I don’t think I will ever be able to repay their kindness and generosity.
It was really interesting going back to school as an adult. Your perspective is much different (obviously) than when you attended as a teenager. What really struck me was in fact how bad some of the professors are at teaching, and I mean bad. For example I had one professor who essentially sat in his office and waited for you to come and ask how to do something rather than teaching the class how to do it as a group. Others had been at it for so long that they just rambled through the material without caring if anyone understood it. Of course the faculty deal with adult students a little differently than they do with the average student right out of high school, I think because we tend to catch them and call them on their shortcomings. So by playing the game you can usually get what you need and they are most helpful. My biggest disappointment in the whole process was that a lot of the courses really seemed like work (ie. a job you had to do but didn’t actually want to) and in my opinion these professors are supposed to inspire you, drive you to want to learn and explore… I found very little of that. That said I still learned a lot, and it was all very new to me, although I had been inside a computer before I had never been inside the microchips that run them. My biggest triumph was overcoming my poor math skills and learning enough to actually do calculus. I had 3 really great teachers in the math department that were really able to get through to me. I also made some really great friends.
So why did I go back to school? There are a number of reasons but mainly I went to work angry for about 2 years and I really didn’t like who I had become. It cost me relationships, I don’t speak with many of my former colleagues or friends, I tried keeping up with them after I left but the damage had been done. I had also been in the industry for 10 years, and since my 5 year plan had not materialized, I figured it was a good time to move on. I wonder sometimes where I would be now if I had stayed but I don’t think it would have been a good place. I also love technology, I had always been the unofficial computer tech in the office so computer engineering seemed like the right direction to go.
What’s next? Employment! Which given the current economic crisis may prove to be more of a challenge than going back to school was. The trick for me will be to find something that uses my broad skill set and keeps me close to the Niagara Peninsula and my family. I don’t function well in large corporate environments, I need small driven groups of people to keep me energized and motivated, that I can play off of and play with. In truth, until going back to school, I had only ever had one job interview. That interview was for the first job I got after graduating from the Film studies program at Niagara College in 1995. After that all of the work I did came from recommendations and a solid track record. As a result I kind of suck at the interview process, I get nervous and tongue-tied and I am not good a selling myself since I have always had my work to speak for me. I have been very selective about the places I have applied to in the last few months, trying hard to look at the employers’ needs and what I have to offer and how well I thought I would fit in their environment. Hopefully the new year will bring with it the job opportunity I have been waiting for, I am very anxious to get back into the workforce and become a productive member of society once again.
What do you do to prepare for interviews? Share your tips in the comment section.
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