06-17-2011, 06:11 PM
Hey All,
Please forgive this very long post but it has been in my head for almost three years and I need to get it out.
This is my belated âdoneâ post which I should have written in June 2009.
I started attending St. Edwardâs University in Austin, Texas in 2005. I had no college credits when I enrolled but my wife found Instantcert just a month before my classes started so I decided to take a couple of CLEP exams just to have a few credits to my name.
I started with Government I & II and was so inspired with my success I took a few more. Within about 6 weeks I had 12 credits. I started evening classes at the university and continued to take about one CLEP per semester. I eventually took and passed twelve CLEPS and 2 DANTES. I failed one exam and that was the DANTES Statistics exam but it turned out to be OK.
I remember when I first started classes at the beginning of every course the professor would have us introduce ourselves and tell everyone how far we had to go before we graduate. Invariably at least one student would say âthis is my last course before I get my degree.â
Of course everyone would applaud and congratulate that person and we would ask them about their academic experience and how they managed to get through it all. There was a lot of friendly envy in my early courses.
Iâll have to admit it was difficult the first couple of years of going to class two nights a week and seeing all those people finish up while I had so far to go. At times it really felt like I would never get there.
I write this for two reasons. One is the sincere hope it will inspire you to keep going no matter how tough things get. I knew going in I was eventually going to finish because I had way too many false starts at college when I was younger and felt the time was right to get serious about getting my degree. I also told myself once I started I would not stop until I had my degree.
Second, I canât begin to tell you how valuable Instantcert turned out to be to my academic career. Taking those exams was not only inspiring to me but the encouragement I received from the Instantcert community was invaluable as well. It really helped keep me focused. I also saved a lot of money as St. Edward's is quite expensive.
No, it was not easy, and I encountered a lot of personal set backs over the course of my academic career that I will not bore you with that could have easily derailed my plans and at other times I really could not stand to be sitting in some of those classes or studying the flash cards. I missed a lot of happy hours with my friends and really missed just coming home and relaxing for the evening.
At times it took a lot just to write a paper or read a couple of chapters but I kept telling myself âwhat else would you be doing right nowâ and the honest answer was âwatching televisionâ or âhanging out with my friendsâ just wasting time. I figure I did enough of that when I was younger and television and my friends would still be there when I was finished school.
Had I passed that DANTES Statistics exam I could have graduated in the fall of 2008 but things turned out much better than I thought they would. I eventually took that (required) Statistics course at the university and it turned out to be one of my favorite courses and the best part was I got to be one of those students who said, âThis is my last course before I graduate.â That was really fun.
Well, I walked across the stage in August 2009 but something has not felt quite right since then and I finally figured it out. I never wrote this post that has been in my head for almost three years now.
So in conclusion I want to say a very big thank you to Instantcert and to all those who helped me out along the way and to encourage each and every one of you to keep going! Though learning is a life long process having a degree to show for some of that learning is worth every minute!
Best Regards and the Best of luck, Jay
Please forgive this very long post but it has been in my head for almost three years and I need to get it out.
This is my belated âdoneâ post which I should have written in June 2009.
I started attending St. Edwardâs University in Austin, Texas in 2005. I had no college credits when I enrolled but my wife found Instantcert just a month before my classes started so I decided to take a couple of CLEP exams just to have a few credits to my name.
I started with Government I & II and was so inspired with my success I took a few more. Within about 6 weeks I had 12 credits. I started evening classes at the university and continued to take about one CLEP per semester. I eventually took and passed twelve CLEPS and 2 DANTES. I failed one exam and that was the DANTES Statistics exam but it turned out to be OK.
I remember when I first started classes at the beginning of every course the professor would have us introduce ourselves and tell everyone how far we had to go before we graduate. Invariably at least one student would say âthis is my last course before I get my degree.â
Of course everyone would applaud and congratulate that person and we would ask them about their academic experience and how they managed to get through it all. There was a lot of friendly envy in my early courses.
Iâll have to admit it was difficult the first couple of years of going to class two nights a week and seeing all those people finish up while I had so far to go. At times it really felt like I would never get there.
I write this for two reasons. One is the sincere hope it will inspire you to keep going no matter how tough things get. I knew going in I was eventually going to finish because I had way too many false starts at college when I was younger and felt the time was right to get serious about getting my degree. I also told myself once I started I would not stop until I had my degree.
Second, I canât begin to tell you how valuable Instantcert turned out to be to my academic career. Taking those exams was not only inspiring to me but the encouragement I received from the Instantcert community was invaluable as well. It really helped keep me focused. I also saved a lot of money as St. Edward's is quite expensive.
No, it was not easy, and I encountered a lot of personal set backs over the course of my academic career that I will not bore you with that could have easily derailed my plans and at other times I really could not stand to be sitting in some of those classes or studying the flash cards. I missed a lot of happy hours with my friends and really missed just coming home and relaxing for the evening.
At times it took a lot just to write a paper or read a couple of chapters but I kept telling myself âwhat else would you be doing right nowâ and the honest answer was âwatching televisionâ or âhanging out with my friendsâ just wasting time. I figure I did enough of that when I was younger and television and my friends would still be there when I was finished school.
Had I passed that DANTES Statistics exam I could have graduated in the fall of 2008 but things turned out much better than I thought they would. I eventually took that (required) Statistics course at the university and it turned out to be one of my favorite courses and the best part was I got to be one of those students who said, âThis is my last course before I graduate.â That was really fun.
Well, I walked across the stage in August 2009 but something has not felt quite right since then and I finally figured it out. I never wrote this post that has been in my head for almost three years now.
So in conclusion I want to say a very big thank you to Instantcert and to all those who helped me out along the way and to encourage each and every one of you to keep going! Though learning is a life long process having a degree to show for some of that learning is worth every minute!
Best Regards and the Best of luck, Jay
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