In case you are wondering ...

why I quit my job to go to school fulltime, instead of having a fulltime job, take one class per semester, and also let the company pay for it! Here are my reasons in no particular order:

1. My school's classes are during the day. The school is about half an hour driving from work. The parking is not that easy around school. So to make sure I could find a parking space and make it to class on time, I had to leave work at least 45 minutes before my classes. So I estimated overall, I could have been away from work, in the middle of a day, almost four hours, two days a week! My boss would have never gone for that. My previous to last boss would have, I think, but not my last boss!
2. It is stated on the department's website that most of the graduate students there are fulltime and that it is encouraged that students attend fulltime! When I read that my impression was that they did not want to say part-time students do not have much chance of getting in and finishing successfully! Just my impression, I could be wrong! Anyhow, I reasoned that most probably the professors' expectations are based on the fact that the main responsibility of students is their course work, and so the assignments, the exams, and basically the work expected, shall be based on that assumption. I thought if I wanted to do well in my classes, I needed to allocate enough time for school. Again, my boss was not very good at scheduling and staying true to his scheduled task; he reprioritized on a whim, and expected everyone to adjust accordingly! I knew myself that work always came first. I thought if something unexpected came up at work, I would put school second, and thus my school work would suffer; I did not want that.
3. In the past few years I had seen coworkers and friends taking classes while working fulltime and being miserable! They had mentioned on numerous occasions that they are not getting as much as they want out their classes. That they are not paying as much attention as it was required of them to their classes. That they are just getting by, and hoping for a B. My goal to go to school was learning. I wanted to take on the projects that needed new knowledge, the knowledge that I was not able to acquire on my own. So I needed to go to school and be taught. I wanted to take advantage of being taught. Just passing the courses was not acceptable to me.
4. Going to school part-time would have taken me at least three years to complete my degree. Three years that I had to put up with my then current boss. He was a micromanager, and for someone who was not micromanaged, not even during her first years after college, was not an easy thing to handle! Plus if he knew what he was doing, I would have respected it, but he did not! He made mistakes left and right, and instead of trying to fix them and move on, he would point fingers at anyone that the pointing would have sticked! The only reason he became a boss and not a more qualified person, with many more years of experience in our industry, was that he was hired there first, and the more qualified people where brought in during the merger. So I suppose it was like the difference between one's biological child and one's adopted child to people that distinguish them apart! I thought since he was not very kin in me going to school, I could become an easy target to point at if he needed to point at someone! And probably I had to fix the problem, and fast, and of course again school would have suffered while I was paying extra attention to work.

I could have handled being a fulltime student and work part-time. I actually preferred that arrangement. But my boss did not go for it. I believe my previous to last boss would have! So it all came down to my last boss did not support me being both an employee and a student!

I am starting to feel that I belong!

When I first started school, I had this pre-conceived notion that I didn't belong, since I was older than everyone else! I guess I felt embarrassed to a large extend for going to school this late in life.  My former colleagues, who had attempted school after working for a while, and part-time of course, were in their early 30s when they had first started school, and by the time they were about my current age, they were all done. Also the negative comments I heard from some of my colleagues when I quit my job, could have attributed to making me even more conscious that maybe it was too late for me to go back to school after all. In any case when I first started school, I felt very strongly, that I could never belong there, and I thought I better finish up as soon as I can and leave.

There was a department welcome party the first Friday after the school started. I forced myself to go. I am not a joiner! I don't do well in a social gathering if I don't go with someone that I have known for a long time! I suppose I never learned that social skill! I don't have any difficulty going to a conference or a training, by my lonesome! I can easily introduce myself to the person sitting next to me, and usually by the end of the day, we have exchanged cards, and would stay in touch by email! I don't have any problem entering the meeting room full of strangers, and introducing myself, or standing up to introduce myself to the new person when he/she walks in, but social meetings is another story all together!

It could be that I never had to be a joiner as I was growing up! Yeah, let me blame it on that! lol. I met my three best friends, for life, in kindergarten! Seriously! And we were inseparable all through school. We never went anywhere without each other. Yes, there were times when one was mad at another, but the other two usually fixed that situation, and we were back to our usual inseparable selves soon. In high school we even made a pact to attempt to attend the same college together! So when the time came to apply to schools, we all applied to the same schools. Thankfully, we got accepted to most of the schools we applied to, and had choices. One of my best friends and I ended up attending the same college, and our other two best friends went to another school together, only three-hour drive away from us. So even in college we were together, we majored in different disciplines, but we still hangout and studied together. We even requested, and were granted, to be roommates! My best friend and I got two other roommates and become good friends with them, but the bound between the four of us that were made back in the kindergarten, comes nowhere close to any friendship we have made later in life. I am still very close to all three, even thought one currently, because of her husband's work, lives on the other side of the world.

You know, my social skills are pretty much useless! It is really embarrassing to admit this, but I am almost 40 years old, and I was never a purser in a relationship! There have been guys that I liked a lot, but since I did not pursue them, nothing ever came out of it! That is how pathetic I feel my social skills are! Almost all my boyfriends were introduced to me and they all showed interest in me first, before I got the nerve to show them how much I liked them too! My ex-husband and I started our first job, on the same day, and a bound was formed then! I am sure that if one of us had started a week earlier, or a week later, we would have never gotten together, even though the company was small, there were only 40+ of us at the beginning, but he was very outgoing and I was not, so somehow I believe that we would have stayed just good colleagues!

Anyhow, as pathetic as I feel to admit this, I don't know any women in real life that can say, they never asked a man out, in this day and age! Even my mom asked my dad out! Seriously. My dad had some business in the place that my mom used to work. It was close to lunch time and not many were at their desks. My dad had been waiting for someone to answer his questions and help him out for a while, and he was getting very impatient! My mom saw that my dad was getting frustrated, went up to him, told him that there were many good restaurants in the area, asked him if he wanted to go grab something to eat, told him hopefully by the time they get back everyone had gotten back from lunch too, and would be able to take care of his requests promptly! So that was their first date, sort of. lol! My mom says that she only asked my dad out to lunch, just because he was so damn good looking, lol! And that was back in the mid 60s! 

Wow, what a tangent I went on! What was I saying? Yes, so I went to the department's beginning of the school year party early to feel comfortable before the majority of the students and professors were to arrive. I started talking to the few students that were there, but I never felt comfortable with anyone. Well, almost everyone I talked to were foreigners who had just come to the states, and I guess they were very conscious of their English, so they did not talk much, other than saying yes, or no. I talked to the organizers a bit, but they were still running around getting ready. So I was not able to make a connection and feel comfortable. Of course, there was my state of mind, I had just dropped one of my classes and I was very mad that I had to stay in school longer. Anyhow, more students started to arrive and I was still standing at the corner by myself. I couldn't even take one step to maybe join the group standing not too far from me, and no one made an effort to come talk to me either, so when I couldn't take it anymore, I left feeling even more out of place as when I got there!

So the first 5 weeks of the semester, I have gone to my classes without talking much to anyone. After my classes I promptly left for the library and have spend most of my days at the library, sort of isolated. My only contact had been that one time homework partner that did not end up pretty! I even communicated with my professors through email mostly. Then something wonderful happened Wednesday night!

I have been looking carefully at the personal pages of the professors in the department, checking their publications to see whose research interest comes close to the area I like to pursue. I have even pulled out a few publications and attempted to read them, but of course I haven't gotten too far! This past week, as I was looking at the menu bar to click on the faculty link, suddenly I noticed that under the faculty link there was the link to the visiting faculty page, and that under that, there were links to the staff and post-docs pages, and under them, the link to the graduate students page! I don't remember ever seeing these links before, but I am sure they were there all along! Funny thing is that I have been to that page, looking at that menu bar, at least 3 times that I can remember! lol.

So I clicked on the link to go to the graduate student's page, and to my surprise, I saw that I was listed there, with my picture; it was the ugly picture of my id! I noticed some of the other pictures were not id pictures, so hopefully I can have my picture changed too and soon! Anyhow, I clicked on my picture and it took me to my page! On my personal page, there was my info, including the undergrad school I attended, my undergraduate major, and the year I graduated. Also listed was my campus email, a room number and a phone number! I was about to panic, thinking they had published my cell number, when I saw that the phone number was not familiar! I had no idea what the room and phone number listed there were all about! So I made a mental note of the room number to check out later.

On Thursdays I have a class in the building that "my room" is supposedly located in, two floors above the floor of my class. So before going to class I made a detour to that floor, found the room, and beside it, to my surprise, I read the sign, "Graduate Student Lounge"! I had no idea that we had our own lounge! That is how isolated I had made myself!

Anyhow, I went in, it is a big room, with 7 computers, 2 laser printers, a copy machine, a couple of couches, a few tables and chairs around them, a refrigerator, a coffee machine, and two microwaves! Three students were behind the computers. One of them, when he saw me standing there, said hi and asked if he could help me! I introduced myself, and continued that I had no idea about this room! He looked at me with surprise, and asked if I was from that department, and so I said yes. Then he asked, didn't I attend the beginning of the year party? I said I did, but I had to leave early! He said it was announced there that this room was for the first year students, and that the second year students and beyond have their own offices, shared of course, 3 to 4 student to an office.

As I was about to leave, he asked me if I knew about the Friday pizza! I said no! He said that the department orders pizza on Fridays and it gets here between 11:30 and 11:45! He told me that I should come! He also told me to check my mailbox! Mailbox? I asked very surprised and said that was so 90s! lol. So, yes, we have a mailbox in the department office, which I have never been to, and we get notices, on paper, put in our boxes! I have no idea why! That is what email is for, right?

Anyhow, I went to my class and afterword I promptly returned to "my office"! Library has gotten very busy lately, especially in the early afternoons, between 1 and 5; some are very inconsiderate of the others and talk very loudly. It is very distracting. So I have been annoyed there lately. In my office, lol, it was very quiet and nice. When someone comes in, they say hi, socialize a bit, and then go to work on one of the computers, or sit to do their work. It had been a very pleasant few days. I have made a few acquaintances; we have discussed professors, our classes, our plans and so forth.

Another pleasant event happened Friday afternoon! As I was talking to one of the students telling her about my background, that my BS is from another department, and telling her that I am hoping that one of the professors would be willing to supervise me on a project that would hopefully be between our current department and my previous one, she said that I should to talk to Prof. T! Checking professors' backgrounds, I had not gotten that far down yet! Apparently this professor has completed his education in our department, but somehow his research has taken him to my undergrad department, and now he is part of both departments. I promptly checked his personal page to study his publications. Now I am very excited to go talk to him, and am very hopeful and excited at the possibilities of researching with him.

Yes, I have started to feel that I do belong at school and I shall be very successful too!

Beating the odds.

What an amazing feeling the Chilean miners must be experiencing tonight? What a sense of relief their families and friends are undergoing tonight? How satisfied their rescuers sentiments are tonight? Everyone who did not give up on the Chilean miners, who did not believe in the statistics, who kept going and had faith on the outcome, must be padding themselves on the back, for a amazing job done. CONGRATULATIONS. WAY TO GO.

Unfortunately I can't count myself among the hopefuls! I did hear the news about the miner accident back in the early August, and I did follow the story, hoping that it would have a happy ending, but around the 10th day I think, I gave up! I gave up looking for, and expecting to hear, any good news from them. I accepted the statistics that stated there could no way be any survives after all this time! However, they survived. They survived 7 times that length of time and beat the odds. CONGRATULATIONS. WAY TO GO.

I couldn't sleep last night, even though I was very tried; I had the TV on all through the night (good thing my parents are on vacation, lol), slept on the sofa, and saw the rescue in progress. I kept falling asleep, but every time I woke up and saw a larger number, I was overjoyed. The commentators kept repeating that they are worried that the miners might get dizzy while in the capsule and faint. They might get claustrophobia during the ride up. They might get nauseous and vomit, and since there was not enough room in the capsule to bend, the vomit might block their airwaves. They speculated that as soon as the minors breath the fresh air, their lung might collapse. More speculation followed that the minors might have lost muscle, and might not be able to stand on their feet. It was said that their kidneys were destroyed for sure, since they did not drink much liquid in the first 17 days of being trapped.

But one by one they came up, full of good spirit, even if they were in pain, even if they were uncomfortable, they did not show it. They are all out now and they have set precedence for the future disasters to happen NOT anytime soon. Their survivals are going to push the statistics in favor of positive thinking, happy ending, and beating the odds. CONGRATULATIONS. WAY TO GO.

I so want to beat the odds myself. I want to pass my courses one by one successfully, learn as much as I can, finish school triumphantly, find a job quickly, a satisfying-challenging-exciting job, and in the process I am hoping that I don't lose my house, and don't empty my savings account completely.

Right Decision!

There have been many occasions, in the past few weeks, when I questioned my decision of quitting a semi-secured job, and embarking on a journey into an unknown future. I just came across the following story, and I thought I should compile stories like this here, so that when I feel conflicted, I can come here, read them again, and realize for the millionth time that I made the right decision.

Bob Brown, 49, of Dayton, Ohio, has felt the demand for broader skills firsthand. After working for 30 years in manufacturing, including 20 as a plant supervisor, Brown was laid off in July 2009.

He spent a year looking for a new job. His efforts yielded only three calls from employers in the first four months.

But once things began to pick up, Brown noticed something else: The plant management jobs he used to have, and that he was aiming for again, all required certifications in productivity-boosting management practices.

So Brown paid for courses at a community college to learn a management strategy known as "six sigma." It's an approach to cutting waste and raising efficiency popularized by General Electric. The courses allowed him to obtain his certification. In August, he was hired by an electrical product assembly plant near Williamsport, Penn.

"That's the way the industry's going," Brown said. "Everybody wanted certifications."

Source:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Unemployed-find-old-jobs-now-apf-3115608895.html?x=0&.v=7

I think I have been proactive; before getting to the point that my skills would have become outdated, I am updating them. I think in a few years, hopefully I am going to look back at this year, and say it with confidence, that I made the right and smart decision. I hope so!

I am staying at school until I reach my goal!

Weight loss goal that is! lol.

I saw my two best friends after about a month, couple of weeks ago, and they told me that they can see that I have lost major weight! We are very intone with each other and since they both told me, and separately, I knew that it must be true. I don't own a scale, for one I was driving myself insane by weighing several times a day while at home, and for another it became a motivation for me to go to gym on the weekends to weigh, so I throw my scale out when it broke and never replaced it.

For some reason there was no drama to go to gym after work on the week days, but I just didn't want to leave home on the weekends. After I became scale less the temptation of wanting to know if I had lost weight that week was enough to get me out of the door, without any drama, to the gym, first thing in the morning, on a weekend, to weigh myself.

Anyhow, when my best friends told me that they think I had lost weight, it was Sunday and I was staying at my parents that night. So promptly the next morning I weight myself on my mom's scale and was surprised beyond belief with the number I was seeing! I truly had lost a lot of weight! Of course right away my mom told me that her scale was not very accurate and there was a few pound difference between hers and the one at her doctor's office; hers give a couple of pounds lighter number. So I was very tempted to just go to my old gym one early morning and weigh myself! lol.

Thankfully, last week I got an email from them inviting me to go back, and they sent me a courtesy pass to be used in the month of October, for three consecutive days. I took advantage of that this weekend and made it to gym from Saturday to today. I do miss my gym, but I don't miss their membership fee. Anyhow, when I weigh myself first thing Saturday morning, I saw that I had lost 6.5 pounds since August 31. I am very pleased with this loss and very hopeful that I might be able to get back to my comfortable weight.

Something happened after I turned 30; I started gaining weight annually, at the rate of 5-7 pounds. I was never an athletic person, yes, I run, biked, swim, played volleyball and tennis, but only occasionally, and for recreation only, not as a sport, or to keep fit. And I was able to comfortably keep my weight at 107 pounds, plus and minus 2. I am 5"4' and small boned, so that was a very good number for me.

Anyhow, today was my last day at the gym and I am up about 2 pounds since Saturday. I am not sure if it is because of multiple exercise days and I have retained some water, or it is because I have been raiding my parents' fridge, while house sitting for them. My parents are on vacation, my mom did her weekly grocery shopping before they left, and she told me not to let anything go bad! lol. Needless to say, I have been eating a lot!

I have been thinking if I continue my new eating routine until the end of the spring semester, I might hopefully be able to lose all my weight gains since I turned 30! What I have been doing differently since I became a student is that I gave up 2-3 times a day coffee, or coffee drinks with cream and splenda, instead I have been drinking water. I don't eat out anymore, I used to, at least twice a week. Now since I am spending most of my day at the library, I have been living on 2-3 Atkins bar during the day. I eat one with my morning coffee, and take 3 with me to school, but I try to eat only 2. At night, I am so tired that I don't feel like eating, but since I have readymade food, I try to eat it. I have been cooking every couple of weeks. When I cook I make a few dishes and then I divide them into servings before freezing them. Every morning I put what I want to eat in the fridge and it is almost unfrozen by the time I get home at night.

Anyhow, I am very excited at this consequence of being a student!

1988-2008

I love listening to audio books, makes my commute on public transportation bearable; dare I say pleasant! I so miss my car! Anyhow, the one luxury I did not give up when I became a student, is my membership to audible.com. I know it was the right decision.

My current listen is One Day by David Nicholls. It is the story of Emma and Dexter from the year they graduated from college in 1988, and follows them for twenty years. The book is written in 20 chapters and each chapter tells the story of the same day, July 15, of each year. As I have been listening to the story, I have been trying to remember what I was doing that particular year.

July 4th is my favorite holiday, how could it not be? I mean there is  music and fireworks, and great weather, well most of the years any way, the days are long, and warm, and the sun shines, well most of the years any way, there is BBQ and ice cream, and there is Frisbee and volleyball and the beach!  What other holiday has all these combined, you tell me? So I thought since I remember where I was and what I was doing at July 4th, most of the years any way, why not try to remember what was occupying my mind that particular July 4th, and here is what I have come up with!

July 4th 1988: excited and happy that in September I shall be a senior in high school

July 4th 1989: excited and happy that in September I shall be a freshman in college

July 4th 1990: working with my dad for the summer, very interesting to see another side of my dad, at the office persona

July 4th 1991: in a serious relationship, my very first real relationship, introduced my boyfriend to my parents today, and they liked him a lot

July 4th 1992: going to have my own apartment in August, with 3 roommates and my parents are paying portion of the rent, but my very first apartment nonetheless

July 4th 1993: a college graduate, with a great new job and a possible new romance

July 4th 1994: I think I found the man I want to marry and grow old with, had been dating for a few months

July 4th 1995: thinking of moving in with my boyfriend of over one year

July 4th 1996: newlywed, while on vacation celebrating our two year anniversary of being together, in a whim he proposed, I accepted, and so unlike me, we got married the next day

July 4th 1997: quarter of century old and couldn't be happier

July 4th 1998: very happy, started a new job with lots of challenging and exciting projects in the horizon

July 4th 1999: 10 year high school reunion coming up, I love my life

July 4th 2000: I want to buy a home, but we are spending everything we earn and then some, we have to start saving somehow

July 4th 2001: working too much, tired all the time

July 4th 2002: divorced, everyone is trying to set me up with someone they know who is unattached

July 4th 2003: didn't go to my 10 year college reunion, not a very pleasant person at the moment

July 4th 2004: finally paid off all my credit cards, I am debt free for the first time in a very long time

July 4th 2005: I want to buy a home, seen my dream house, but haven't had the nerve to make an offer, talked to my dad about it

July 4th 2006: now that I am a homeowner, I want to have a family, I want to get married again, and have kids before I am too old

July 4th 2007: have updated my resume and looking for a new job, our company is being sold, and there is no guarantee that everyone is going to be retained by the new company

July 4th 2008: everyone was retained by the company that bought us, but I don't like my new projects and I don't see much advancement in my future at this place

I have to add that this past July, I was thinking the same thing I was thinking back in 2006 and the latter part in 2008. This was of course after I had applied, but prior to being accepted to school.

Blackjack!

Let me give you a hypothetical!

Imagine that you are moving to a new state and that you don't know anyone there. A good-considerate-friend offers to introduce you to someone he knows from while back. You are grateful. You move to the new town and are lonely, so one day you call your friend's friend to see if you could get together. You find your friend's friend a bit unfriendly! She tells you that she has plans that afternoon, but you could tagalong if you want to. You graciously accept and tagalong.

She goes to a casino in the neighboring state! Let's assume that you have never heard of the casino! lol! Well I said it was hypothetical! So bare with me a bit! lol. Let's say that the card game had been popular a while back, but it went out of style very soon. Now there are new video games, and hardly anyone plays with actual cards! So you enter the casino, and sit at a table to play a game. Your new-not-so-friendly-buddy starts to play. You see that she is good at it. The game seems very exciting to you. Let's say it is blackjack, and so you ask your "buddy" what are the rules. She tells you to watch her, and challenges you to figure it on your own! So you watch the game for a little while, and you see that whenever someone gets both an Ace and a Jack that person is very happy and excited and some money is transferred to his/her hands. You promptly convey your new found knowledge to your afternoon-buddy. She is surprised that you figure it out so soon, but tells you good, that was the easy part, now see if you can figure out the rest. You are very excited and continue to watch the game. However, very soon, she gets up, leaves the table, and exits the casino. But the bug of the game has gone into your head and you want the opportunity to learn and play that game.

A few days later you contact your casino-buddy hopeful to see if you can accompany her to the casino again soon. She is not friendly, and informs you that she is not going there any time soon! You ask the name of the game and she tells you the general name of "the card game"! You try to remember where the casino was, but it was in the neighboring state, and you are not familiar with the area. You get some books on card games to see if you can find the game you watched played in the casino, but to no avail. You call your friend from the old state and ask him if he could find either more information about the card game, or put a good word for you so his acquaintance would take you to the casino again. But nothing pans out! So you give up and move on, even though that game is still in the back of your mind.

One day, by chance, you see an ad for a nearby club's open house. You consider checking it out thinking maybe it would be a good place to meet new friends. You go there and as you are walking by, you see some people playing cards in the next rooms! You get closer and to your surprise, you realize that it is the same game you have been trying to find more information about for the past couple of weeks. Casually you ask what the name of the game is, and you are told. Next you ask what the rules are, and in couple of sentences you are told promptly. You watch the game some more, and you can see and understand it clearly. You are amazed at how easy it was to be told/figure out the rules of the game and yet you were never told nor could figure it out on your own before that day!

OK, enough of hypothetical! If you think this situation could not happen in real life, think again, since apprently I have been in a similar suitation! lol.

I was working at a small startup company, when the higher-ups were approached for a possible merger! They accepted and the huge-older company bought us! At first there were some concern that some of us were being let go. Never happened! All of us were retained by the huge-old company. Next we thought the exciting projects that we were working on, and were responsible for, were going to be taken away from us after the merger. Never happened! We all continued to be responsible for our projects from the small-young company. Some of us also were concern that our group was going to be broken down, and each of us were being send to a different department, with new bosses. Never happened! We were all kept together with our boss from the small-young company. Of course the boss left a year later for a better opportunity, and we got another boss, but that is another story. Anyhow, all the horror stories that I had heard about the merger and acquisition thankfully never happened to us, and we all only have great things to say about the huge-old company.

The higher-ups from both small-new company and huge-old company tried to make our merger as seamless as possible. So that there would be no "us" vs. "them" thing, once everyone was situated in the same building, they assigned the people from the small-new company minor responsibilities to the ongoing projects of the huge-old company, and vice versa. I am so grateful that they did that. For one I was assigned to a project that I don't think I would have ever considered being part of. It was an old technology. But it was an old technology that new technology could be built on it.

The person in charge of the project I was assigned to was an older person, who was not very forthcoming with her knowledge. She told me as little as she could and before I knew it the project was finished. But I was hooked, and I tried to continue collaborating with her on her future projects, but she wouldn't have it. When my yearly review came up I asked that I'll be given minor responsibilities on those kinds of projects, but when my boss tried to arrange that she protested strongly and so it never happened. I never wanted to take her projects away from her. I just wanted to learn new things; new to me. I didn't want to be doing the same old things, old to me, over and over again. So I bought some general books on the subject, and tried to learn the technology on my own, but I never got anywhere! I applied for jobs that would require knowledge of that old technology, and tried to interest hiring managers to give me opportunity to become expert in that area as we go, while being productive in the area of my expertise, but hiring managers never went for it!

Anyhow, in that process I also learned that I never want to become like my older colleague once I got to her age; to be good at one thing, and only one thing, and be afraid everyday, that a younger coworker is going to learn my skill, and take my job away. I learned that I want to learn new skills as they are discovered, and I want to be a good mentor to my younger colleagues, to teach them all they want to learn from me, since there is always something new for me to learn, and I am sure, at some later point, they want to learn that too, so I would teach them while learning something even newer! That is why I am back at school after all this time.

So now I am at school, and I have mentioned before that prior to the beginning of the semester I had taken three classes. But when school started my academic advisor, "advised" me to drop one of my classes, which I did, and I am regretting it every day, but that is another story! Anyhow, at least I continued to attend the class I dropped. The first couple of weeks I just went to class, but once I got comfortable with my other two classes that I am taking for credit, I decided to keep up with the reading and homework of the dropped class, and to get myself into shape of being ready for the next semester, when I am considering maybe taking four classes! lol.

Anyhow, something interesting happened this week in that class! In less than 4 hours I was thought everything I always wanted/needed to know to work on the kind of projects I worked with my not-so-friendly-coworker. Seriously, it only took 4 hours and lots of my questions were answered! Now, do I want to work in that small area exclusively? Of course not, that is just part of much larger area that I am trying to learn, and become expert in, so that I would be able to work on those types of projects once finished with school.

So at the end, maybe I am grateful for my uncooperative-ex-coworker not being forthcoming. Maybe if she had let me work with her, I would have learned the little that she knew and would have stopped there. But she refusing to work with me, made me want to learn. Now I am learning the old stuff only to be able to build on top of it the knowledge of the new technology. I want to learn the new materials to get the kind of jobs that I want to get and to be able to comfortably be employed for a few more decades to come!