Send Ken To College

Everyday I find myself sitting in a classroom wondering why the hell I even bothered spending $10,000 a semester on my undergrad education.  At the very best I may have gotten $5,000 worth of education and the majority of that was NOT in Computer Science.  The value came from the gen-eds that I had to take and maybe some of the math courses.  I suspect that I learned more at the community college than I did at Mt. Mercy in regards to computer science.

The really sad part of it is that even with new faculty, it is not know whether the department is anymore worthwhile.  They may need a few years to get on track however they can get a start by hiring adjuncts that have the remotest clue about what they are doing.

My stepdaughter recently took a Visual Basic class where she learned almost nothing.  She spent a few hours with me and learned as much as she had in the 10 weeks of class.  Did they pay me for doing their job?  Hell no!  She filed a complaint with the provost and the department head.  Her complaint was pretty much dismissed because she got an A- in the class.

Quite honestly an a good grade does not mean much if you don’t learn anything.  I have a transcript full of good grades to prove it.  Everyday I sit in a graduate level class and find out just how much I never learned.  This is not stuff that was above and beyond my classroom learning, things I could have pursued on my own.  This is stuff that I presumably paid to learn when I signed up for the class.

The sad part of it is that of the $40,000 or so that I spent on getting the degree, I could have spent a few thousand on books and some more on another computer and I could probably have come out with at least as good of an education.  I suspect it would actually have been better.  With a decent printer I could have even managed to churn me out a piece of paper attesting to my smartness and not had to spend all of that money.

If I could figure out how to sue and get back some of the money that I wasted, I most certainly would be doing that.

Ok, so it has been 5 months since my last post.  Just for the record, I did indeed graduate (magne cum laude even).  This did not rip a hole in the fabric of the universe as some may think.  I didn’t fall through to another dimension or anything like that.

Where have I been?  Fair question!  I have been lazy. 

During my off time I worked an internship for a cereal manufacturer.  I programmed in Visual Basic and along the way I learned a lot of lessons.  The most important of those lessons was planning.  Planning a software project is very important.  I also learned that contrary to what development methodology you use, it is not a good thing to add features willy nilly contrary to what certain upper level management seemed to think.  I don’t like computers very much anymore.

I also did manage to make it to UNI for grad school so my dream of being my family’s first grad school drop out is still alive.  I am not certain what is going on however I really can not get my head in the game.  I am 4 weeks into the semester and I am already plotting and planning which classes I will be retaking. 

Stay tuned for more woefully tales!

I have one final piece of school work left.  I have to write up a document on my independent study and submit it, otherwise it is all over but the crying.  Since I am graduation, grades have to be in by Wednesday or so.  The question is whether I will stay above 3.67 or not.  Right now I am at 3.6709.

I am also gunning for dean’s list for the third time in four semesters.  Yes, I know, I did bad one semester and missed the list because I could only manage 3.45.  If that semester had been a bit better, then I would not be on the edge right now.

Remaining on my plate -

1. Use document for software project – 80% COMPLETE
2. 10-15 page research paper on Iowa in the Civil War – 80% COMPLETE

I am THAT close to being done.  Class work should be done by the end of the week and then it is relaxation until the actual ceremony.