Thursday, September 13, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Dear old golden rule days... I have officially gone through my first week of classes. College is not the same as it was when I went to Michigan State.
For one thing, all the students are younger than I.
Anyway... I'm taking two classes this semester: Marketing I, and Speech. They're both required for the certificate program in event planning & meeting management (or EPMM). Yes, I've finally taken the plunge after successfully getting through the EPMM course I took last spring. It helps when (1) you're unemployed, which gives you (2) too much time on your hands, and makes you think (3) maybe it's time for a career change.
At 55. Whoopee.
The Marketing class is being taught by a woman who has had years of experience in marketing, working for Best Foods/Unilever, Kellogg's, and Alpo (though not in that order). It runs until December 13 -- yes, my birthday! -- and meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 to 11:50 a.m. Parking during the week is impossible (unless you get there early -- like, say, when the first class starts in the morning), so Bill-the-Honeybear takes me there, then parks and does some work in the library. I meet him after class, we go have lunch, and then home.
The Speech class runs for only seven weeks, so it's a very intense class. It meets Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., now through October 13. In that time, I have to give four speeches -- one demonstrative, one informational, one persuasive, and the final which can be any type at all -- each 3 to 5 minutes in length, with the final having to be 8 to 10 minutes. Plus self-critiques of the speeches. And being videotaped in class giving the speeches. Plus handing in outlines and biblographies for the last 3 speeches. And reading the book (although it has mercifully short chapters). I don't think anyone will begrudge me saying I'll be glad when it's over.
The best news of all has to do with the required classes. I told you in a prior post about meeting with the Acting Dean of Admissions, a man named Thomas Valasek, who had been chairman of the Communications department and the man who created the EPMM course. There are ten requirements for the certification -- nine classes and an internship -- and I went to ask him if I could waive any of them. Based on my Michigan State transcript and life experience, he believed five of the courses could be waived (English, business law, business administration, business computing systems, and interpersonal relationships), but that the Records Office had the final say about it. Well, I met with an advisor at the Records Office last Tuesday, and they agreed with Dean Valasek about everything! So that was five courses waived; course six was completed last spring; I'm taking courses seven and eight; and with luck I can complete course nine and the internship next spring.
At which point I go back to square one, starting a new career as the "new kid on the block".
It's gonna be a hell of a ride.
For one thing, all the students are younger than I.
Anyway... I'm taking two classes this semester: Marketing I, and Speech. They're both required for the certificate program in event planning & meeting management (or EPMM). Yes, I've finally taken the plunge after successfully getting through the EPMM course I took last spring. It helps when (1) you're unemployed, which gives you (2) too much time on your hands, and makes you think (3) maybe it's time for a career change.
At 55. Whoopee.
The Marketing class is being taught by a woman who has had years of experience in marketing, working for Best Foods/Unilever, Kellogg's, and Alpo (though not in that order). It runs until December 13 -- yes, my birthday! -- and meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 to 11:50 a.m. Parking during the week is impossible (unless you get there early -- like, say, when the first class starts in the morning), so Bill-the-Honeybear takes me there, then parks and does some work in the library. I meet him after class, we go have lunch, and then home.
The Speech class runs for only seven weeks, so it's a very intense class. It meets Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., now through October 13. In that time, I have to give four speeches -- one demonstrative, one informational, one persuasive, and the final which can be any type at all -- each 3 to 5 minutes in length, with the final having to be 8 to 10 minutes. Plus self-critiques of the speeches. And being videotaped in class giving the speeches. Plus handing in outlines and biblographies for the last 3 speeches. And reading the book (although it has mercifully short chapters). I don't think anyone will begrudge me saying I'll be glad when it's over.
The best news of all has to do with the required classes. I told you in a prior post about meeting with the Acting Dean of Admissions, a man named Thomas Valasek, who had been chairman of the Communications department and the man who created the EPMM course. There are ten requirements for the certification -- nine classes and an internship -- and I went to ask him if I could waive any of them. Based on my Michigan State transcript and life experience, he believed five of the courses could be waived (English, business law, business administration, business computing systems, and interpersonal relationships), but that the Records Office had the final say about it. Well, I met with an advisor at the Records Office last Tuesday, and they agreed with Dean Valasek about everything! So that was five courses waived; course six was completed last spring; I'm taking courses seven and eight; and with luck I can complete course nine and the internship next spring.
At which point I go back to square one, starting a new career as the "new kid on the block".
It's gonna be a hell of a ride.
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