Words On Wednesday

I am finished with my Master of Science degree in Information Technology from Southern New Hampshire University as of December 1, 2023. Thank goodness. This has been a very roundabout journey. I first started seriously entertaining the idea of a master’s degree back in 2017. I was becoming eligible for my employer’s tuition reimbursement policy and I wanted to take advantage of it as quickly as possible. The longer you wait to start, the longer until you’re able to finish. I didn’t want to wait another year, two, or even longer before I got started. My uncle has a philosophy that it never gets easier, so you may as well do it now. Figured I had better get the ball rolling. As of October 2017, I was finishing my first term . I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and much less weathered than I am now. Things looked positive, and I was pretty confident about my ability to finish on schedule and with little difficulty. Things got rocky with that employer and I went on an indefinite...

  Information Technology and the Capstone My experience with the capstone class and Information Technology program as a whole has been enlightening and reflects observable personal and professional growth. When I began working toward this degree in 2017, I was far less confident in my ability to engineer software solutions and I lacked the experience to properly market myself. After pausing my education temporarily and enduring a job layoff with several subsequent career changes, I found a position that I like with an ambitious company and resumed classes to completion. Although it took me six years to finish a program that was intended to take two years, the experiences along the way have helped me grow and develop, and encouraged me to take on challenges that I would never have considered before. I have gained enormous confidence in my skill as an IT professional, and I now know how to market myself with my storied background and natural talent. The Information Technology pro...

You might remember that I started a master’s degree at SNHU a few years back. I never actually finished that. For all intents and purposes, I am a college dropout right now. I didn’t really mean to  stop taking classes , at least not for an extended period of time. I was taking advantage of tuition reimbursement from QS/1 to cover half the cost of classes. Things started looking a little rocky for the company, and I was afraid I would get caught mid-class and the company suddenly stop the tuition reimbursement policy. After taking 5 classes, I stopped until the future of the policy was a little more certain. Unfortunately, that future never came. I was terminated from QS/1 before I started classes again. I planned on starting again during my time at System Logistics, but the HR department never actually gave me any information about the tuition reimbursement program despite multiple requests. I left System Logistics and started at Michelin, but only as a contract employee. The con...

Textbooks are unreasonably expensive, everyone is aware of that. But to couple an access code for course material with the purchase of a textbook? That just seems greedy to an unprecedented level. The Theory My opinion on textbooks is that they should serve as auxiliary material only. Tuition is expensive enough as is, and if I’m paying you to teach me, you should be able to teach me without banking on a book as well. Give me all of the course material, the assignments, the exams, and any other required material, all for the cost of the course itself. If I want extra help, the textbook should be there as an option. If you do need a book, bake it into the cost of the course. If both the class and the book are necessary, but only one of those is part of “tuition,” it’s like you’re selling me half of a product. You’re selling me a car, but it won’t run without the engine that I must purchase separately. I bought a house, but it doesn’t have any doors or windows to actually get in un...

I really wanted to write up some big post about Christmas, but… I’ll be honest. It’s not going to happen. This whole “Year of the Dates” initiative I took with Words On Wednesday was almost geared specifically toward Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday, and obviously the one that I would speak the most about. Unfortunately, I am just so spent, I can’t even be bothered to write up a discussion of why I like Christmas so much, or talk about our family traditions. So far, this term of school has been just the worst. I realize that it’s only my second term at SNHU, but the stark contrast between my first class and this one is just baffling. At this point, I’m just hanging on until the end of the term. As the adage goes, “C’s get degrees.” If I can pass, whatever. I’ll get my reimbursement check from work and continue onto the next class. Shopping is awful anyway, but the fact that we’ve had to do every bit of shopping for basically entire family for our kids is so frustrating. I don’...

As I come up on the end of my first term at Southern New Hampshire University, I figured it's as good a time as any to give an update on my progress so far. First and foremost, I'm doing remarkably well in class. For IT-510 Advanced Information Technology, I have 386.9 of the 395 possible points so far, resulting in a 98%. For the first few weeks, I read the textbook like a good student should. Lately... I've just Googled things as I needed them. Concepts that I didn't understand, I look over the first few Google results and wing it. Clearly, it's worked well for me so far. The only points that I have lost through the entire term have been based on formatting, since I didn't adhere strictly to APA style. Did I mention that I hate formatting? On the other hand, I feel like the people that I'm in class with are surprisingly ignorant for a master's program. The spelling and grammar errors in discussion posts are prolific. I figured people that would pur...