Comments on: Education http://damiandaily.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/education/ Weblog of Lisa Damian, Writer and Literary Critic Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:16:54 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Liz http://damiandaily.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/education/#comment-93 Liz Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:35:51 +0000 http://damiandaily.wordpress.com/?p=47#comment-93 An English teacher told me during my Senior year of High School that I had to either go to Columbia College for screenwriting or The University of Iowa for their writing programs. Until then I had NO direction, money or support from my parents who never graduated from college (other than, you better start thinking about college! Look for scholarships!). I don't blame them, though, the college process has changed a bit since 1972 - not to mention they were younger children in families of 5 and 6 kids, so they did everything on their own, they figured why couldn't I? I looked to my left - no scholarships there. I looked to my right - no scholarships there, either. So I decided on Columbia because I could take the train & still live at home, broke. It all went really well, until we ran out of money. I had to drop out of Columbia and go to the local Community College (College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn) in the guise of "getting my requireds out of the way cheaply before I go back to film school." Yeah, then I met real life, who made me get a job and move out and resent my lack of degrees (boo-hoo). My relationship with real life had its highs & lows, but ultimately led me to a family who I wouldn't trade for the world. But on the flipside, I am degreeless on top of being out of the workforce for so long, so I better get creative! I can't wait until the kids are in school, so I can go back myself. I have no idea what for yet, but I am sure that my buddy Real Life will let me know what direction to take by then. An English teacher told me during my Senior year of High School that I had to either go to Columbia College for screenwriting or The University of Iowa for their writing programs. Until then I had NO direction, money or support from my parents who never graduated from college (other than, you better start thinking about college! Look for scholarships!). I don’t blame them, though, the college process has changed a bit since 1972 – not to mention they were younger children in families of 5 and 6 kids, so they did everything on their own, they figured why couldn’t I?

I looked to my left – no scholarships there. I looked to my right – no scholarships there, either. So I decided on Columbia because I could take the train & still live at home, broke. It all went really well, until we ran out of money. I had to drop out of Columbia and go to the local Community College (College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn) in the guise of “getting my requireds out of the way cheaply before I go back to film school.”

Yeah, then I met real life, who made me get a job and move out and resent my lack of degrees (boo-hoo). My relationship with real life had its highs & lows, but ultimately led me to a family who I wouldn’t trade for the world. But on the flipside, I am degreeless on top of being out of the workforce for so long, so I better get creative!

I can’t wait until the kids are in school, so I can go back myself. I have no idea what for yet, but I am sure that my buddy Real Life will let me know what direction to take by then.

]]> By: Sean Jasperson http://damiandaily.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/education/#comment-90 Sean Jasperson Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:06:20 +0000 http://damiandaily.wordpress.com/?p=47#comment-90 Hi Lisa, I sure miss having you here in the OC…I can’t believe I am still here. I can’t imagine why you would want to leave the high desert though. ;o). Like you I was pretty clueless about college in high school. So much so that I fell into junior college just so I could figure the whole thing out and stick to the structured transfer program. I also feared the SATs and wanted to avoid that nonsense. I finally got my act together and transferred to UC Santa Cruz. Go Banana Slugs!!! I’m sure you remember all the hippies at my graduation. My degree was in Environmental Studies and I am still very passionate about those issues but I sold out and now work for an evil developer. I actually took this job because my degree does not mean much in southern California. I applied to dozens of science jobs before taking this one 6 months after graduating. The straw that broke the camels back was when I was turned down for an internship that paid $250/week that I was perfectly qualified for and very excited about. Well it has all turned out to be a blessing. I love commercial real estate and have been getting involved and researching green building technologies. It is the future for sure! I have decided to go back to school for an MBA and will be taking some prep courses for the GMAT very soon. The schools that are at the top of my list are UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Irvine. I am also considering schools in Oregon and Washington since my wife and I would love to live up there. The idea of taking on more debt does not scare me much; it will definitely pay for itself in just a few years. I hope to have more than a financial analyst role in real estate and I am finding it hard to get over that hump. With an Environmental Studies degree and an MBA I think I should be perfectly positioned to get creative in real estate while also staying true to my passions about solving our environmental problems. I will keep you updated. Aren’t we blessed to have the educational opportunities we have? By the way, I am enjoying your blog and all your pictures. -sean Hi Lisa,

I sure miss having you here in the OC…I can’t believe I am still here. I can’t imagine why you would want to leave the high desert though. ;o).

Like you I was pretty clueless about college in high school. So much so that I fell into junior college just so I could figure the whole thing out and stick to the structured transfer program. I also feared the SATs and wanted to avoid that nonsense. I finally got my act together and transferred to UC Santa Cruz. Go Banana Slugs!!! I’m sure you remember all the hippies at my graduation.

My degree was in Environmental Studies and I am still very passionate about those issues but I sold out and now work for an evil developer. I actually took this job because my degree does not mean much in southern California. I applied to dozens of science jobs before taking this one 6 months after graduating. The straw that broke the camels back was when I was turned down for an internship that paid $250/week that I was perfectly qualified for and very excited about. Well it has all turned out to be a blessing. I love commercial real estate and have been getting involved and researching green building technologies. It is the future for sure!

I have decided to go back to school for an MBA and will be taking some prep courses for the GMAT very soon. The schools that are at the top of my list are UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Irvine. I am also considering schools in Oregon and Washington since my wife and I would love to live up there. The idea of taking on more debt does not scare me much; it will definitely pay for itself in just a few years. I hope to have more than a financial analyst role in real estate and I am finding it hard to get over that hump. With an Environmental Studies degree and an MBA I think I should be perfectly positioned to get creative in real estate while also staying true to my passions about solving our environmental problems. I will keep you updated.

Aren’t we blessed to have the educational opportunities we have? By the way, I am enjoying your blog and all your pictures.

-sean

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