full time student + active military = no life

Hey all. Just enrolled at a technical college around here, taking 13 credit hours at night (6pm-10pm M-Thurs), in addition to working 6am-5pm each day. It is gonna be pretty rough, but I'm excited because the school is *very* cisco oriented, and even do some novell/linux stuff, which I've barely messed with. I was smiling ear to ear standing near their racks they practice on...now I can go to school while working on my CCNP..and it'll actually help.

Just felt like BS'ing. Everyone thinks I'm crazy or something but I'm looking forward to it. This will keep me out of trouble and productive..and make time go by quickly. The 16 hr days are gonna drag but I think once I get to class it'll go quickly, I love I.T. Now I just have to test out of "keyboarding", and "intro to computer applications" to get to the good stuff...

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Darthn3ss

heh, i know the feeling. i work full time and take 18 credits (6 classes) a semester.

Netstudent

Welcome to the club. I'm at school right now, on a Friday night, SQL dev. YAY!.

It will pay off man. Good things happen to those who work hard.

brad-

Thats a tough schedule. Hope you dont have homework :P

I worked full time 8-5 while taking 2-3 classes for about a year and a half for my BS and it sucked. Now that we have a kid I have ALOT more respect for the non-traditional students I went to school with who had kids. I would hate to have to sacrifice family time for some horse hockey program to write and document the crap out of.

msteinhilber

I've been living in a similar mindset for some time now. I'm just thankful that I left my previous job where I managed a local branch of a computer chain in Wisconsin. It was a great job in terms of pay since it was operated like a franchise. They gave each store manager a cut, in my store in Madison they gave the manager 70% of the profit. From that 70% though, I would have to cover all of the expenses (rent, utils, payroll, corp overhead, etc) and what was left I got to keep. The pay was great but the hours were insane - at minimum I typically put in 60 hours a week, often more. Then I switched job's and went to work as a network tech for one of my best customers and finally got out of retail.

Now the bulk of my stress comes from working full-time, finishing up my bachelors full-time (8 classes a semester), and being a full-time dad as well. It's been a struggle lately because my wife and I got accustomed to the style of living where I was bringing in just about six figures a year to making half that (but having a life outside of work!). Sometimes it's rough trying to find extra side jobs to make ends meet if unexpected expenses come up. At least my wife has gotten better about not nagging about the lack of money as much as she used to. Nothing is worse than knowing things are tight and will be tight for a bit longer while we get out of some of the debt we built up when we could afford it, than going through that and having your wife nag (not exactly at you, but venting more or less) about the money problem.

You are absolutely correct though. It might be a bit of an adjustment to find time to fit everything into your schedule, it took me a good couple of weeks to get into a groove when I first started going back to school. Then it took me another few weeks to adjust again when my son was born. Not it seems like there is no free time whatsoever but I manage to fit everything that I need to in and still have some fun. And yes, it does go by so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was driving my wife and newborn son home from the hospital - but it's been close to 6 months and it's been a blink literally.

-Mike

Plantwiz

You can do it! I did and it doesn't matter what others say/think....so long as it keeps you on your game plan that is all that matters.

Best wishes

Mrock4

Wow. It's good to know there's others in my shoes..I didn't know there were that many people who work full time and are a student full time. I figure that it won't be nearly as difficult as a traditional schedule, because I am actually interested in the subject matter. It'll be more of a learning experience, as opposed to a required class.

My fiance and I get married may 09'..if I stay at this schedule or close to it, then I should have my associates right when we are getting married..perfect. I just don't want to be a newly married couple and have no life, and not give her the time she she's earned by hanging in there with me!

How do most of you feel during the week when you have classes? Overwhelmed? Or do you just kind of feel like "just another week", and take it all in stride? I'm just wondering. I adapt pretty fast to things, but the last time I was in school it didn't treat me too well. Of course, that was once again, subjects I hated.

Edit: And the tricky part will come when I try to test for my BCSI..I wonder how this will affect certifications? On one hand, it could speed it up, by keeping me fresh on the subject, but on the other hand, I wonder if I'll even have time to study for the certs. Has full time school slowed you all down on your certs?

mikej412

brad- wrote:

Hope you dont have homework :P

That's what lunch time is for.... you do get a lunch time, don't you?

I was only was able to fit in 2 courses in my 4 years in the Army (Infantry), and I missed 1/2 the classes of one of them (still got an A in both).

I'm still envious that some of the Air Force guys had the time to take classes and got 4 year degrees during their 4 year enlistments -- but since I got the full 4 Year College Experience before going in, I guess I can't complain too much.

JDMurray

Mrock4 wrote:

Wow. It's good to know there's others in my shoes..I didn't know there were that many people who work full time and are a student full time.

I spent much of my 20's as a full-time student and full-time worker, including a marriage, a kid, and a divorce. You're just living-the-dream the rest of us have already experienced.

Plantwiz

JDMurray wrote:

Mrock4 wrote:

Wow. It's good to know there's others in my shoes..I didn't know there were that many people who work full time and are a student full time.

I spent much of my 20's as a full-time student and full-time worker, including a marriage, a kid, and a divorce. You're just living-the-dream the rest of us have already experienced.

I did that in college too. 18-23 credits (to finish in 3 years) plus work 30-40+ hours (based on hours available and the season). Didn't have to worry about the whole family thing...but that's how you get through school without debt. Focus and determination.

It's not hard...but it does take focus. Consider this...high school was something like 30 hours (for me...but then again I did take extra classes there too). of classwork a week, so if you are taking 20 credits...that's 10 'free' hours to do with what you need

jabb000

stick with it and it will pay off in the end.

Mrock4

mikej - Yea it's ridiculous how much time those air force (and some navy) have. I have been in 3 years, and have an additional 3 to go, and I MIGHT get my associates, possibly..some guys in the airforce could still get their bachelors with the time I have left. Not to mention now I have soldiers to take care of.

The words are definitely helpful everyone..I just keep hearing "Ah man I'm taking TWO classes and it's killing me!" etc...so it's nice to hear some people who believe I still have a chance at passing..and hopefully excelling. I'll definitely report back and let everyone know how things go my first week or so of class. Until then I have other stuff I need to study.

msteinhilber

jabb000 wrote:

stick with it and it will pay off in the end.

Best advice really.

I began my foray into college life immediately out of high school. Less than half way through the 1st semester I was offered a full-time job at a computer company local to Wisconsin with around 20 stores at the time. I blindly accepted which was a good and bad move. It was a good move, because it began the sequence of events in my life that may very well have led up to me meeting my wife, and I wouldn't at all be working at my current job as a network tech if I wasn't working for this computer company (where I sold equipment to my current boss often). It was bad though because I never did complete my degree, and I find that trying to get a job without knowing the correct people is very difficult around here without a degree. Now that I decided to go back to school after buying a house, cars, etc - it's more difficult financially than it would have been if I would have stuck with it then (not to mention tuition has gone up big time!).

Stick with it, set your goals (sounds like you already have) and don't forget to take some time away and do something enjoyable that's not related to school or work (even if you enjoy it!) regardless of how much work you have to do.

-Mike

Mrock4

Thank you everyone..really. I am going to get out of this place for a couple hours. I figure I should enjoy today, because tomorrow, I need to buckle down.

cgrimaldo

Take it day by day.

I'm in the same situation. I'm up at 6am every morning (sometimes earlier) and go to sleep around 2-3am. I took 12 hours of I/S courses this past fall while taking on a ton of new projects at work and also ran a website. I could NOT wait until it ended.

It was rough having to tell my friends that are already graduated and working their careers that I couldn't hang out or do anything because I had to study...on a SATURDAY night. But, at the end, I got the grades I wanted and I'm ready to start another semester on Monday.

It will all be worth it in the end though. I'll have by bachelor's degree, certs, and 6 year's of I/T experience which include PM experience and the like.

Keep moving forward and take it one step at a time. Good luck with everything!