Why am i here? Why am i in this class? And why am i even in college? these are all questions to which i am still trying to figure out. i believe that this all started when i returned from Afghanistan. i came home to a job that i hated when i left and really was not going to return to, in all honesty. i started to do things that knew i was going to regret, nut i didn't care because i felt as though i was going nowhere. i had to keep this job to support my family and barely scrape by doing it so going to a new job paying significantly less wasn't an option i started to see someone to figure things out. he had suggested to me something i always wanted to do since i had passed up right after high school. go to college.
At first i was very reluctant, "i don't have time for that." i said this to him and myself for several months and every time i met with him he always brought it up. finally he leveled with me and told me that his experiences with college had cost him his first marriage. that really told me it took a ton of dedication to do. he said that even though things hadn't worked out he was still in a better place today because he MADE time to do it.
Long story short i spoke with my boss at work and he was very understanding, one reason was he knew i was about to quit and didn't want that, he said that they would work around school and it would help me get a better job at the company. Then i had several conversations with my wife about how it would be hard and take up a lot of time and she surprised me the most. She supported me 100% and wanted me to do it.
The first semester was the hardest, never being in a college class i took 2 classes thinking it wont be that hard was very naive of me. It was extremely testing to jump into 2 classes and work 50+ hrs a week and still spend time with my kids. so last semester i took 1 class and it helped immensely on my time management. it didnt help that i waited to sign up for my fall classes until the last week of registration. so i took the summer off and saw that fall was approaching fast. i decided to take this class because my adviser told me it would cover 2 classes i need for my degree and it sounded interesting.
Since signing up for these classes they have already proven to enhance my moral and my position at work. This past June my supervisor approached me and complimented me on my turn around of performance and my dedication to the company. he stated that it had been noticed by several people and a few of the managers of the facility. at that time i was still trying to leave the department but stay within the company. at that time he lowered his voice and said "Lance i fought with a couple of people to be the one to offer you this. If you would like we would like to offer you a Team Leader position on third shift." this meant a significant pay raise and extra responsibility. I told him i would like the position and was very appreciative for the offer. hes said that he was pleased to give me the job and it was effective immediately.
To sum things up i decided to take this course for several reasons to enhace my career at my company, to continue on with my degree program, and to gain skills that will help me both as a civilian and as i try to further my position in the VTARNG.
And an added bonus college credits help with promotion points in the military!
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