Finals are DONE!!!!

[JohnRushing]

Yesterday was my last test and my brain is jello now! So far I have gotten my final grade in three classes and I'm as happy as a pit bull in a meat processing plant!

Anatomy & Physiology I B
Psychology A
Micro Biology B

Still haven't gotten my Algebra grade yet but I'm sure it's not going to be an A, heck if I get a C in it I will jump for joy.

Just proves the old say isn't true, You can teach an old dog new tricks!

[NoLight]

Congrats!!! What ya going for? Nursing, Respiratory, Rad Tech?

[JohnRushing]

Thanks! I'm walking on clouds tright now. I haven't been in school for almost 20 years and back then I spent more time skipping and getting in trouble than I did studying. I dropped out in the 12 grade and joined the Army and all these years I have regreted only having a GED. I did pretty good and still made more than a lot of folks with four year degrees, heck I made more than I probably will with my degree but at least I'll enjoy my work for a change. The degree is kinda up in the air right now. I was going for X-ray tech but theres a couple of other fields I'm concidering (and spelling ain't one of em!). An Ocupational Therapist sound interesting, along with Respitory Therapist. I enjoyed Psychology so much a career in counseling might be fun. What ever I go into I will still need A&P II and another semester of math so I'm going to get thise two out of the way and should have my mind set on one by then.

[Clint_Smith]

I quit college my senior in college....I have no idea why.....at any rate when I finished my degree it entitled me to a 15K a year pay cut and an entry level position. So I started my own business and teach just to make sure I get a steady paycheck.

congrats John. I know the feeling about algebra. If it were not for Math for Liberal Arts, I would not have a degree.

[Daniel Bates]

Congrats John! I know the feeling about a jello brain...

[ShutteredEye]

Congrats!

Hang in there!

[Terrancelee]

Grats! I've been contemplating a career change similar to that. Been thinking xray, mri, ultrasound stuff. Those machines always interested me. Just not sure I can school and make a living both.

[JohnRushing]

Thanks eveyone. Terry I lucked out and have a wonderful wife who backed me all the way with the school. She does medical transcription at home ans her pay is pretty good so she was our only source of income for almost a year. I made a little here and there off Ebay but that was mainly to pay for my gas, snacks and such. I'm going to be taking a couple of classes this summer but I will be going back to work for about a year to finance the rest of the school cost. I figure I can keep studying my A&P book and study guide so when I go back either in the fall or the spring of next year I will be way ahead of the class.
Changing careers is scairy at first. It wasn't easy to leave a job that i had been at for 16 years and was making close to $25 an hour with very good benifits. I wasn't happy at the job and it showed in everything i did, especially at home around my family. None of the carreers I named will pay as well as the electrician job did around here but I'll be happy and enjoy my job again. When you think about it if your not happy with your job your going to be unhappy with everything. On average I spent about 10hrs a day at work, sometimes more, 8hrs sleeping, or at least the average person does but fo me it's more like 3 to 4hrs. That only leave 6 hrs of having fun to offset the bad day I had at work and thats not enough when the job really sucks.
As much as I hate to I will be going back to work in Oil field electronics for a few months to help pay for the rest of the school but at least I know it's only for a few months.

[Terrancelee]

Oh, I don't hate my job. I'm an electrician, too, and can get my Arkansas Master's now if I test, and can get my TX Master's in Nov of this year. I'm just not getting any younger, and crawling around in attics is getting hard on my knees and back. :) Plus, a med tech job would come with (I figure) benefits that's harder to get as an employee or self employed person in another field. Medical benefits are worth quite a lot.

[JohnRushing]

I worked for a major gas processing company and did electrical and instrumentation work in a plant. It started out good back in the late 80's and earley 90's but the more the government and enviromental depts got involved the worse it got. The more crap the upper managment got the more they passed down onto us. I just got tired of being on call every other week and getting call outs in the middle of the night for problems someone in the plant could have taken care of, like flipping a breaker back on. It always seemded the call outs were while it was either raining or freezing cold, or both! Plus like you I'm not getting any younger and crawling around on hot greesy engines and climbing 20 ft vessels in the middle of the night just isn't fun anymore. I'm going to do it for a few months just to build up a little in the savings to cover the rest of my classes and in the fall i will probably be full time again so I can get this knocked out and get started in the new career. I hear what your saying and understand where your coming from.