Category: School

I hate to be the one to spoil your fun, but honey, fun don’t pay the bills

I have the need to do a kind of… “State of the Union address” type of post. Maybe I will later. But this post – is all about school. Again. Haha.

My last big post was all about the insanity that was attempting to get into school. A few refreshers from that post (that’ll be relevant here) — I mentioned that they wanted me to go to Arlington for classes, since they didn’t have enough people to start them up here. They also hoped that I’d be able to give rides to the other girl who would’ve been in my classes, and they were offering me gas money for myself and for her. I decided against it, though, because it would be too much time spent in traffic and I did not want to deal with that.

A couple of hours after I made that post about school, someone else from the school called. I don’t know who the chick was – but she wasn’t the same person I’ve been dealing with. This lady (I think her name was Annette, so that’s what I’ll call her) said that she’d talked with the owner of the schools, and they were prepared to bump up the gas money offer to $50 a week, plus the $30 that they’d be giving the other girl to give me. She asked why I had said no, what my reasons were for not wanting to go to Arlington, so that she could see what they could do. From the things she said, and the way she phrased them, it seemed like she thought my reasons were entirely monetary, which isn’t the case. She started in on a whole long schpiel about how “lucky” I was to get into the WIA program, and have other people paying for my education, and about what a good deal I was getting, since they were going to be paying for my classes and books and how all the money they were giving me for gas would help pay for wear and tear on my car as well as the fuel, and etc, etc, etc. I know full well exactly how nice it is that someone else will be paying for my education, and I didn’t appreciate the tone to her voice as she was going through her whole speech.

I explained to Annette that yes, I was highly appreciative of getting into the program and everything, but that Arlington was just too far for me to go for school. I also informed her that I was also in DARS, and that my counselor had told me that if WIA didn’t pay for my school, that DARS would, and that DARS would allow me to go to Richland, which is incredibly closer to me. (Only 2 miles from my house!!) I also told her I sorry that I couldn’t attend their school because they weren’t able to get enough people approved by WIA to start a class, but (again), Arlington was just too far.

At that point, she started telling me about the other girl who would’ve been in my class. (I have no idea what her name is, so I’m going to call her … umm… “Mary” so I can stop saying “the other girl who would’ve been in my class”. Ha.) Annette said that Mary had all her hopes and dreams pinned on this class, that she had gone through the whole process of getting into WIA, and surely I knew how hard that was (um, actually, no. I was approved pretty much the second I walked in the door, since they needed to get things wrapped up for the fiscal year end, but… sure. :x) and that Mary desperately needed these classes to get work, etc. Then, Annette started laying the guilt-trip on thick — saying how Mary was pinning all her hopes and dreams on me, hoping I changed my mind about going to Arlington just so that she could get a ride with me. That if I didn’t go, Mary wouldn’t get this education that she couldn’t survive without, and that if I said no I’d just completely shatter her dreams

(Let me stop here for a second, so that I may make a point about me & my personality. Do not ever attempt to guilt-trip me into something. EVER. It will backfire on you faster than you can blink. I absolutely DETEST when people try to force me into something, especially when by means of guilt. If you want me to do something or like something, or whatever? Do not force it down my throat as means of getting me to do/try it. I will rebel and do the exact opposite of what you want.)

So, back to the phone call with Annette. By the time she’s attempting to guilt trip me into going, I’ve already stated multiple times that I cannot and will not go out to Arlington. That my issue with that arrangement has absolutely nothing to do with money, and everything to do with the time I’d be stuck in my car in rush hour traffic each way. Time is a valuable resource and something they can’t give back to me. And not only is her guilt trip backfiring because I can’t stand people attempting to manipulate me, but I’m also getting incredibly pissed off that the Annette has apparently told Mary that I WILL drive her to and from school, before they even cleared it with me first. Do I feel bad for Mary? Sure, I do. But you know what? It’s not MY responsibility to get her to school. If class had started, and we met and became friendly, then sure. Maybe I’d offer her a ride to help her out. And, if she needs a ride from me so desperately, what’s she going to do for transportation when I’m on vacation? What if I got incredibly sick and couldn’t make a class? Is she going to expect me to still take her to school, even if I’m not going? But at this point, she’s still a complete stranger to me, and a stranger who lives in the opposite direction from the school (both Dallas and Arlington campuses) from where I live. I don’t appreciate Annette volunteering my services as a taxi to someone I don’t know, before asking me if it’s okay. (Just because my car is yellow does NOT mean it’s a cab.)

I’d been on the phone with Annette for a bit over 20 minutes at this point. I say to her yet again that I’m sorry, and I feel bad for Mary but Arlington is Too. Far. To. Drive. on a daily basis. She starts to launch off on yet another guilt-trip to convince me to go. I stopped her mid-sentence and asked her if she remembered me saying at the beginning of our conversation that I was also in DARS. I told her that one of my issues is a dislocated arthritic tailbone (granted, it’s not one of the reasons I was accepted by DARS, but I was trying to make a point to her. ;)) and that there was absolutely no way that I could physically sit in a car for that amount of time on a daily basis, and that there was nothing she could say or that they could offer that would change that fact. Technically, I probably could do the drive, but I would end up in pain and need more meds and steroid injections after having to do it 4 times a week for 3 months straight. I absolutely hated having to do that and pull out the injured card, but there was no other way of getting through to her. I’d said “no” multiple times already, and Annette just wasn’t giving up. After I said that, though, she finally let me off the phone. I was absolutely livid after that, and I couldn’t believe how rude and unprofessional she’d been.

The next week, I got an email from Amy (the nice girl in admissions that I normally deal with), and she said that they were working with WIA to attempt to get approval for a class that started at the end of July, even though that would mean the class ended after the close of WIA’s fiscal year. While waiting to hear the final yes or no on that class, I’ve been debating whether or not I even wanted to attend school at this place, after my interactions with Annette left a very sour taste in my mouth. I finally decided that I’d still go, because I’m not going to let one person’s unprofessional behavior stop me from getting a free education. Especially since it’s unlikely I’ll have to deal with her again. 😉

I got another email from Amy on Tuesday — they finally got the approval. So, I start school on Monday. Instead of classes on Monday through Thursday, this is going to be a Mon, Wed, Fri class schedule. I actually like that better — it gives me time to do my homework on the off-days, instead of trying to cram it into the evenings. They’re also still going to work with me in regards to my vacation in 8 days. Luckily, with class not starting until next week, I’ll only be missing part of the “computer fundamentals” class. That part is just to make sure everyone in class has rudimentary PC skills, and I can ace it no problem. At least I won’t be missing something important. Hee.

Number 5 is alive!

For the last few weeks, I’ve had an intense urge to rent Short Circuit, thanks to all those WALL-E commercials. Ha.

But, on a more serious note, I’ve had a post that I needed to write, and for whatever reason, I kept dragging my feet and putting it off. Seems like I might’ve finally found out the reason today. I’ll get to that later, though. First, let me jump back in time a little bit, roughly 1-2 weeks or so.

I’ve made mention a few times of me going to school, to get some formal education in Accounting. I got accepted into the WIA program, and was supposed to be starting school last Thursday. Classes were going to be Monday through Thursday, 8am to 5pm, for 3 months. The school wasn’t exactly my first choice, but the program paying for me to go needed me to start ASAP, because their fiscal year ends Sept 30th, and they need everyone graduated by then, to account for all the money w/the government. Also, I was a little nervous and worried at first, since I have a vacation planned in August (and one that I am NOT missing). I talked with the school a few times, though, and they assured me that my vacation would be no problem. Since they were working with the WIA by adjusting their class schedule to fit with the required graduation deadline, and rushing to get the students in, they’d be more lenient on some of the attendance requirements, and let me make up hours/missed quizzes/whatever from the 4 days of class I’d miss. So, my worries regarding the trip were soothed, and I was excited (but still nervous) about starting.

They called on Wednesday to let me know that they were having a bit of an issue getting a couple of the other students approved, so they were pushing the start of classes to Monday (today). Okay, no problem. That gave me a little more time to shop for “school clothes” and everything. 😉 Friday comes, and they call again. Class isn’t going to start until Tuesday, because they’re still working with WIA on those other students, and they’d call me again today to keep me in the loop, in case anything changed.

And now, it’s today. They called about 2 hours ago, to give me the latest update. WIA administration apparently kept kicking back the other students they were trying to get approved, and so they weren’t going to be able to get them enrolled in the classes. So instead of a class of 4 people, that left it as a class of 2 people. They can’t start school with just 2 people (I’m not sure if that’s just economic reasons, or if there’s restrictions from the Board of Education coming into play as well), so they had come up with a possible alternate plan. They wanted me to go to school at the Arlington location.

Oops – a quick aside here, because I don’t think I mentioned it before. In addition to paying all my school fees, the WIA was also giving me $30 a week in gas cards (!!!), to cover costs of getting to and from school. Plus, they would keep giving me gas cards the first 4 weeks after graduation, to help my look for work. THEN! They’d give me another 4 weeks of gas cards once I got a job, to help out with transportation costs until I got my first paycheck or two! So, that’s what … a total of @ $630 in gas cards, in addition to the $8,008 they’re paying for school!!! O.O

Okay. So. Now I’ve mentioned the gas cards — when I talked with the school today, and they told me about Arlington, they said the school would give me an additional $30 a week for gas, on top of what the WIA program was already giving me, because I would be driving further for school every day. (The Dallas location is 7.6 miles from my house. The Arlington location is 35.6 miles. In rush hour traffic, both ways.) Then they threw something else at me: the other girl who would’ve been in my class was on the bus route. They were hoping that, if I said yes, I could maybe let her carpool with me to school. They’d give her $30 a week as well, which she could give to me for gas, since she wouldn’t have to pay for bus fares. (I’m not sure what she’d have done the week I’m on vacation) So, in addition to getting a free education, I’ve got people throwing $60 a week in gas cards at me. With gas prices what they are right now… that’d be a nice, big savings to my budget for several months.

From what I’d gathered, the Arlington classes had started on time, so I’d have to start tomorrow, and maybe do a little extra work, to catch up with the class. (The first day or so is computer basics. It wouldn’t be difficult at all for me to catch up. Ha.) So, I told the lady that I’d need a little bit of time to consider this, and I’d call her back this afternoon. I took about an hour, and weighed the pros and cons, researched possible routes to the Arlington school, etc. I’m also not sure that the Arlington school would’ve been as accommodating about my vacation as the Dallas one.

So, in the end, I had to call and say no, I can’t do it. I’d be stuck in traffic forever, getting to and from class; or I’d have to leave at an ungodly hour just to be able to get there and miss morning rush hour traffic. But, I’d be stuck dealing with rush hour in the evenings – no way to avoid that. PLUS, I’d have to go out of my way to pick up this other girl and take her to class, too… Yeah. It just wouldn’t work. The lady did say she’d keep me up-to-date in case anything changed, and they were able to start classes after all (which she doubted), or if they were able to work around the WIA graduation requirements, etc. I’m not expecting anything to happen there. She’s also going to call my WIA counselor, and update her on the situation. I’m going to call her tomorrow, too, since I’m pretty sure they’re going to need me to bring back the gas cards I have now. 😉 Ha. Sigh.

I’ve also been talking with my DARS counselor today, keeping him apprised of the situation. He’d said in the past that if the WIA wasn’t able to pay for my schooling, that DARS most likely would. So, I guess that’s the next step, find out what I can do there. At least with DARS, I’d be able to go to the school I originally wanted to. The only problem there – I wouldn’t be able to start anything during the 2nd summer term, so I won’t be able to start classes until the fall term. I’m not exactly sure how that would work .. esp since my unemployment benefits will run out in the middle of October. Plus, that’s just way too long to wait to go to school before finding a job. I’ll need something sooner. At the very least, I’ll probably go sign up with a temp agency soon, to at least do a few odd jobs between now and my vacation. Then maybe see about a temp-to-hire position after that, if I haven’t landed a job from any of the resumes I’m sending out. What fun.

Long story short – I’m not going to school after all. At least, not yet. Maybe.

Yay school!

I’m currently having some nasty internet issues. Our service has been intermittent since @ 4pm yesterday. And when I say “intermittent”, I really mean “down 85% of the time”. Ugh. We have a tech coming out tomorrow, hopefully things’ll be fixed quick.

But, I wanted to make a real quick entry during this little window of time I am online. I mentioned yesterday that I had an interview to get accepted in the WIA program. I got in! So, now the gov’t is going to pay for me to go to school. I enrolled today, and I actually start classes on Thursday!! Yipes. I’m kinda nervous about it.

I’ll write a longer entry about all of this later, hopefully tomorrow.