Upside Down
There have always been two facets to this place. One is to keep friends, family, and other interested parties informed on my life in general. The other facet is to be a outlet for my thoughts on more serious things such as school, systems, and the world.
Anyway, here is what has happened since I last wrote.
I did not have enough money to pay for another semester at
CUW,
thieving pirates…
As soon as I realized this, I started looking for a job.
A most
encouraging professor asked me to work on building a
K12LTSP system during this time. This project culminated in attending a
school board meeting in
the town where I used to live. The owner of a local ISP was at the meeting. Somehow this lead to a interview and form there, a job.
Starting a full-time job, along with a lack of funds, necessitated attending school only part-time. CUW does not let part-time students live in resident housing (unless they are working full time for Residence Life.) A friend had space available and is tolerating my presence for a low dollar amount per month.
I am currently taking two courses at CUW. Both are in the
Computer Science department. One of a handful departments not overrun with the trappings of liberalism…
My education plan for the foreseeable future is to minimize my exposure to the traditional education system while completing the courses for my major. Fun courses like Software Engineering. Hopefully I can convince Concordia's Registrar office to accept
CLEP and other such credit for examination programs in place of the irrelevant required courses.
What is up with most places not distinguishing between adult education (for people past the age of easy learning) and distance learning?
Anyway, back to news about my job.
Working for a small and growing company is exciting. It is very different from CUW. Concordia University Wisconsin acts like a Fortune 500 company where bureaucracy and politics are concerned.
The place where I am working employs quite a few college students. They are not treated as anything other than what they are—employees.
Concordia is quite different. They hire students to work in areas as diverse as maintenance, the library, information technology, and a call center. These students provide the backbone in all of the Concordia departments that actually do something, yet campus policy requires departments to pay students nearly minimum wage, with pay increases officially based on years on campus, not skill. This is topped by a attitude among some staffers that these students are something less than coworkers.