Transition Part 3 of 3: School

I spent a day on campus last week, to see my various graduate advisers, and get the remainder of my class schedule sorted out. I gotta tell ya, it felt good. Really good.

I knew I missed the student life, but I never realized just how much I missed it. Sitting in the semi-plush chairs in the Engineering Lounge, sipping coffee and plugging away on the free wi-fi while the hustle of students milled around and conducted their various school and non-school related tasks. It made me feel young, and alive. I know thats a strange thing for a 24 year old to say, but having spent some time in the "real world" has really aged me.

When I was younger, my mother would always say how our family liked school so much, most of us never left. Which is true, almost every member of my extended family is involved with one university or another in some faculty related function. I always used to scoff in my head, and think that it was just because they were dorks. But really, its pretty sweet being a dork. You have intellectually challenging activities every day, don't have to worry about bosses (in the traditional sense), get to keep your own schedule (for the most part), and never really stagnate as is common in the working world.

I feel like school will be a good thing for me. I can continue to better myself, and improve what I have to offer; while at the same time get away from the hum-drum working world and live as a student for just a little while longer. As for all the logistics of quitting my job and going back to school at a time like this, I still think it's the best thing for me.

I have been wholly un-affected by the financial crisis to date. I have no mortgage, no short term stock investments, my car is paid off, I have no kids, and the 2 years worth of retirement I have accumulated has lost a net of $73.92 since the economic meltdown started. Many companies, including mine, are going through force reductions in the next year or so. But I'll be in school during all that. I will be leaving on my own terms, before I get laid off (which may or may not have happened), and will avoid the worst year my company will see in a long time. And I may even get to come back at a higher salary into a leaner company after school finishes.

My school is funded by loans. Which is un-fortunate, but the federal loans are un-affected by the financial crisis, so I don't need to worry about getting another one next semester. My professor is extremely excited to have me on his TA staff next semester because I have come through his program, and he and I were good friends while I was an undergraduate. The best part is that TAships pay for school, and give you a stipend! So it is likely that I will only need to get through this first semester on loans, and even then, I will supplement my loan with an hourly job to bring in a little spending cash. There is also a remote possibility that in a year or so, I could work with the lab I was employed with as an undergraduate as a designer for their new Mars program . Thats a long shot, but it would be a dream come true.

I feel that this decision is the right one. I avoid all the ugliness of a force reduction at my job, get a higher-education degree, and will come back in a better position to get the work I want, and an even better salary than the one that I have grown accustomed to.

So it is with a clenched fist and head held high, that I begin the transition back to student.
Now if only they'd post the text-book list...
-Ty

pic via CU