Am I crazy - comments appreciated

popcorn2010

Hi never posted before but Not sure if I am 100% doing the right thing and just wanted some comments from the outside ! - brief background - did evening degree in college started 6 years ago completed 4 but could not sit final exams due to medical issue - College then disbanded the Arts evening degree that year - no options offered to me except to register by day - I do not really have an option to give up work which is why I choose an evening degree - 2 years ago I registered by day dropped out as it was never going to work unable to attend classes etc etc .. approached them again last year they came back and gave me an option to divide subjects over 2 years and register again by day - gave it a shot but again unable to attend classes by day due to work/family responsibilities very disappointed. Finally I have braved it today and requested 5 months from work unpaid to finish it out (will miss the first 3 months of col year) as I have really committed to both financially & mentally. Due to my subject choice I am stuck between a rock & a hard place option wise this is the only thing I can do to finish this out and I do not think I can do it without attending my classes it was what got me through the evenings for the 4 years. Work cannot promise I will go back to my old job etc if I take a leave of absence etc etc. Also financially it puts pressure as mortgage childcare fees still have to be paid. Am I crazy !!!!:eek:

looksee

I'm not clear what you were saying about subject choice, but I gather the question is, do you spend five months finishing your courses in order to get your degree.

Is the degree essential to your job at the moment? If it were I think your current bosses would let you have the unpaid leave. Is it just that you want to do it? That's understandable, and you should do it, at some stage.

You have already missed 5 years, are you sure you would still be up to speed if you went back and hoped to just pick up where you left off? 5 years is a long time, are you even sure that what you have done would be relevant to the current exams?

At the moment there are thousands of college leavers with good degrees, on the dole. You have a job, but it is not guaranteed if you take time off, and there is certainly no guarantee you will get a job, even with a degree, when you have finished.

My suggestion would be, wait a couple of years, until your children are out of childcare and the job situation/economy picks up (or we all emigrate). I know it feels like a waste of 4 years study, but I think you would have great difficulty getting your degree under the kind of pressure you are proposing to put on yourself.

Don't lose sight of your goal of getting a degree, and do it as soon as your situation has stabilised a bit, but I wouldn't advise trying to do it at the moment.

popcorn2010

Thanks Looksee for your comments - its actually 2 years since they disbanded the degree which I had spent 4 years by night attending. Subjects are Econ/Geo. Very difficulty to find somewhere else to complete it. I know that is what is playing on my mind the recession and I do have a pretty good job - am doing it for myself more than for job prospects. Another sleepless night - decisions decisions !

December

popcorn2010 wrote: »

Work cannot promise I will go back to my old job etc if I take a leave of absence etc etc.

I'm all for you going for it - if your heart is set and you are extremely determined! But I would definitly look into your entitlements with regards to work (saying they may not be able to give you the same job back) - because I'm pretty sure that they can't do that. Maybe talk to citizens advice, or a lawyer specialising in employment law just to make sure.

After all it's in the company's best interest for you to have an extra qualification... actually is there no way they'd be interested in sponsoring or helping you finance the last part of it? If they don't have any kind of internal training programme to help you up the ladder and you're doing it off your own back you could make them aware of this "gap" in their training and show them how this degree will help you with your current job (research skills, working to deadlines etc).

Good luck to you!

Feu

I admire you doing classes at night, i've always thought i wouldn't be able for it. Can i clarify that you would be working until christmas say, and then attending the final 5 months of course? Is there no attendance obligation?

I think it's great that you want to finish your course, and you should! but are you taking too much on by trying to do finals off the back of not having been in college the past 2 years, and then missing 3 months of final classes? In addition to the obvious financial/childcare worries you would have over the time you would be studying?

You definitely should finish your degree, and doing it for you, as you said, is the best reason. But is it the best timing? You tried to do it the previous 2 years and obviously the timing wasn't right, is there some urgency to commpleting it?