Back to School

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Background;
50 yrs on this earth.
completed grade 12 and have transcripts.
took night school courses to upgrade math and sciences to university. entrance levels soon after graduation - do NOT have transcripts.
did not finish a pre-apprentice course for diesel mech. - ran out of money. started siding for money.
25 yrs in house renovations.
started having knee problems 15 years ago.
presently need knee replacement surgery but am considered too young.
can't work in my trade anymore or any job with lots of standing involved and can't sit for extended periods either.

So I have decided to go back to school and then try to make a living with my brain....I'm a little leery. I'm taking Automation and Mechanical Engineering Technology - AMET. It's a new course developed by the school and business. It seems to be geared to big companies and process control and efficiency control [terminology?], and would involve both office and field work.
I've worked for myself for the last 20 years and wonder if I can work under/for someone else?
I've been reviewing my math skills and have made good progress but both the teacher and I wonder if I have enough of the basic math skills necessary to keep up with the course load. Both he and I think that with more time for review there wouldn't be any problem for me in this course. The course starts in 11 days. The next start date isn't for another year. I have one week from start before I lose my tuition fees if I decide to drop the course.
Because I don't have transcripts from 30 years ago and can't seem to find them, the college needed the teacher to talk to me and ......
He has decided to accept me into the course provisionally I will have to decide whether to drop a few, or all courses Sept. 12th.
I was worried because I needed to give notice at my job if I was accepted at school and he was on holidays until yesterday. So with that settled I needed to talk to my boss.
I'm working for a geo-technical engineering firm as a "seasonal" technician. I'm doing field work testing concrete, taking asphalt samples and compaction readings for roadwork, and while its an OK job with OK wages, it's seasonal - following the construction season. It gets COLD up here in the winter. Dave, my boss, was quite good about my plans, saying I could keep using the company truck and would schedule work around my schooling! I was surprised and quite happy, that will save me some gas money as well as keep some income happening while going to school. I wasn't so smart while younger and didn't save money, so it will be tight while going to school.
I'm excited about going back to school, there are a lot of courses in this program that I have always been interested in, and it seems to follow my interests pretty closely.
Anybody involved in the field?
Any thoughts, advice, etc. would be welcome.

Thanks for reading,

Richard

 

[a31ford]

Richard... And here I thought you already knew about belts and chain drives.

J/K
Greg

 

[doorgunner]

I took some courses when I was 50(not in your field though)......at first I was surprised by the amount of chapters that had to be read/studying that had to be done....

I got "back in the groove" and things went good!


You can do it! (and there's lots of other fields if you decide to make a switch)

 

[det107]

So you don't have the transcripts ?? It's time to Razzle & Dazzle them with what you know......If that don't work, just baffle w/ B.S.

In all honesty, if you can do basic math......Then you can study to move up to trigonometry. It will take lots of practice on your part, but a degree in engineering is totally worth it.

The only drawback is that courses are computerized & textbooks are outdated. It was hard for me to read paragraphs upright on the screen rather than w/ head down to read books (guess I'm still old school).
Good luck on learning a trade & trying out for different employment opportunities-

 

[Ranger SVO]

In the end its worth it. And there will be times when you are pushed to your limit, but its worth it.

I know, I went back to school when I was 34. Worked full time, took care of family stuff, studied alot. I got my Bachelors in Mathematics and teach High School, summers off

I have been accepted to Graduate School, so I will be working toward my Masters Degree. I'm 52-years old.

So go for it, it will be worth it. We are never to old to learn.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Thanks for the reply's. I'm hoping I can keep up too. If not, I'll keep studying and go next year.

Richard