How long did it take you?

[LaterBloomer]

Well, my fellow-junior high classmates were NOT prescient. I was voted Most Likely to Succeed. Both my educational and career progression have been more like the balls in a pinball machine in that I bounced around, rather than directed by my "supposed" intellect. I took a community college course in the late 1970s, and enrolled in a brick in mortar school in the late 70s. After one year, I stopped and left school. Periodically, I would take courses over the next five or so years. When I left the Army in the late 1980s on terminal leave, I wandered into a local military post. In a day or two, I took (and passed) all of the Gen. Ed. CLEPs without studying. Woo-hoo, right? Well, not so much. Although I'd read Bear's/Beare's book on distance learning, I didn't grasp the concept. After taking and stopping courses over the next decades, I found this site. (I don't know if it was through bain4weeks or free clep prep.)

The Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz (the movie) always wanted a brain. As soon as he was given a diploma, he became smart. I didn't have a degree, and I wasn't the type of person who could spin (and I mean that in a non-pejorative sense) my experiences to be anything special. After all, I was just doing my job. If I could do it, anyone could. Right? I found this site, and started taking tests and courses. Many have moved more quickly than I. One year ago, however, I received my college degree from TESU (TESC). Did it bring about a big change in my life? No. Same job. I've applied for other jobs, and I think that the degree has helped me get through the screening process, but I've not done well in the interviews.

Above my seat at work is a label from a Coke bottle from last year. (Coke has been putting on labels about sharing your drink.) My label, which I've cut off of the bottle, has Share a Coke with the Class of 2015 on it. It was about 34 years after I would have gotten a degree had I followed a more traditional path. Do I wish I'd followed the more traditional path? Sure do. Am I sorry that I got the degree? Heck no. Even if it never helps me advance, I got it. It's MINE.

I could retire tomorrow with a pension, but I want to have a job. Thoughts about what I should do next are banging around in my head. What other degree or certs would help? I don't know, but I've still got the degree in my back pocket. And a reminder on my cube wall.