I really messed up my academic career. (Caution: Long)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I really messed up my academic career.

I have been a part-time college student for four years. At first, going to college was challenging and I saw it as the only way I could advance my career in Biological Research. Over time, my eagerness was replaced with frustration and ennui.

I already worked in research and knew from experience that some of the classes I was taking were made more difficult than they should be. For example: organic chemistry. A grasp of the basics is good for research and medicine. Unless a student wants to become a pharmacist or a chemist, the level of detail taught in this course only serves to “weed-out” students. Also, as a non-traditional student, I had trouble getting to professors’ office hours. (I had to work when they were usually in and I was lucky my boss let me leave early twice a week for classes.) I was both jealous and annoyed with most of my classmates. They were young and had their whole lives ahead of them, while I was rapidly aging. They were young and didn’t appreciate the opportunities they had that I really wished I had a chance at.

I tried to find help through the university. I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and thought maybe the Office of Auxiliary Aids for Handicapped Students could help me. The paper work to qualify for their help required all my mental health records. Since those records have a lot of sensitive and painful information in them and the office has no guarantee of privacy, I did not apply. (This was very frustrating since my OCD and the side effects of the medications hinder my academic performance. I’m basically smarter than I appear on paper, but it hard to prove when you’re judged by written test results.)

This semester, I had a bad depressive episode, a very close friend fall ill and a wedding to plan. I stopped going to class. I looked into dropping my courses, but I needed a signature from the Dean and things were so crazy I never got around to it.

There are other things I don’t like about the university I attend: I work for them but I have to pay full tuition, I pay to park for work and then again for class, I could get credit for the work I do in the lab but I need an undergraduate professor to sponsor me and none of them are interested in the research I’m involved with, the list goes on.

12 credit hours, about 4 classes, and I could get my BS. Is it worth all the frustration? Why does the school make it so hard for non-traditional students? (The irony is that being friendly to non-traditional students is one of their selling points . If I majored in business instead of biology I would not have a lot of these problems.)

Thanks for letting me vent.

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Have you tried CLEP Tests?

They can rack up college hours without classes.

I finiished my degree with them.

What you need most of all, right now, is Stress Relief.

Jog, exercise, go out & talk with friends.

This kind of depression is common in college.
I’ve been there, & I beat it. You can too!

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Thank you very much Bosda :smiley: . I’m hoping that once the wedding is over and I have found a new medication (my old faithful med stopped working :frowning: ) things will look up.

Right now I feel old (ok I’m only 29 but try being in a room full of 19 year olds and see how old you feel).
Young Student: Wow, you work in research! What do you do?
Mouse: I’m a professional research assistant. I do many things: take care of research animals, help gather and organize data, manage grant money.
YS: Oh, I’ve heard of that. I think I may do it for a year if I don’t get into med school right after college. Anyway, working with animals is gross/wrong.

Sigh My career is a youngster’s backup plan.

4

Oh geez! I pressed post to soon.

I have never heard of the CLEP tests. Thanks for the tip, I’ll look into it! :smiley:

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Have you tried asking your professors for alternate office hours, or are they available by phone or email at other times? I’ve often found that even when it wasn’t their official hours, many profs will take the time to see you, especially if you explain that you have to work at their normal hours.

As for organic chem… well, this is university. In most classes I ever took, a lot more detail than “what was needed to get by in X career” was presented. But that’s the point of these classes, really. To learn a subject, not a career (that’s what technical college classes are for, IME). I’m sorry if that sounds a little rude, but I don’t really know how else to type that!

I’m sorry your university doesn’t have a good confidential/private centre for students with disabilties. I suppose getting involved with that group and trying to change things isn’t an option for you at this point, but perhaps you could bring it up to them? Maybe no one’s said anything, really, so they never thought to change it? Also sucks about the parking/tuition deal - isn’t there one price you can pay for “anytime parking” at least? Most schools here have permits per school year or semester.

Stick with it, though. It’s just 4 more classes, and frankly, if you don’t do it, you’re just going to regret it. Don’t let your disease get the best of you. Don’t let your age matter. Don’t let the rest of your life stop THIS part of your life. You can do this, and you will be better off for it.

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Thank you for the advise and support. :slight_smile:

Unfortunatly, there is no technical school for biomed research in my area. I’m part of a very small community of self-taught or mentored researchers. The BS is to open my options since experience doesn’t get you very far. So, you have been listed as an author on a peer-reviewed journal but you don’t have a degree. That is very interesting but the position you applied for requires at least a BS.

The parking and tuition situation is really getting to me. Can’t get the links right now, but we recently had a financile scandal. University big wigs were getting limo rides to fund raising parties while I’m paying $50 a month to park at work and another $50 to park at school. (I work at the research/med school/grad school campus and attend the undergraduate campus that’s across town. One employee parking permit, one student permit, no overlapping pass. If I was a full time student, my work would pay for my parking. sigh It really sucks.)

Right now I’m really stressed. The medication change-up hasn’t helped one jott. I was once told “This is all in your head.” I replied “Well, diabetes is all in your pancreas. What’s your point?”

The Dopers are the greatest! Thanks for putting up with my constant complaining.

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Can I ask why you are worried about your acedemic performance? Sounds like you want a BA (or a BS). No one is going to give a damn what your GPA was, unless you are applying for Grad School. Not since you are already employed in the field.

Stick it out, get the B.A. - don’t worry about the grades.

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Priceless! Thanks for sharing.

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My own remedy for when I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs “why am I burning my eyeballs studying this shit when so many other people my age are out partying!”:

1 serving of painted-on jeans
1 serving of can’t-be-tighter ultra-red T-shirt
season to taste with construction workers and truckers

Do they hoot in Colorado?

Some of my friends:
Dress up.
Leave all money and credit cards in dorm.
Go to posh store with dumb saleschick who won’t give you the time of day if you aren’t all dolled up.
Make her take out one of this and two of that and don’t-you-have-it-in-another-color, and generally be a bitch but in a sweet, sweet voice and looking at her like she’s the greatest source of style and fashion in the whoooooole wide world.
Once you’ve had your fill, leave. Without buying anything, of course, since you didn’t bring anything to pay with.

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Do you remember a few years back when they had a talking barbie doll who said, “Math class is tough.”? Mattel got a rash of shit from feminists for propagating stereotypes.

Quick question: did you invent that?

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My financile aid is dependent on my GPA, I have to keep a 2.0. Since this semester has messed that up and I was trying to get my GPA up from a semester where I failed a class, I may be denied aid. I can appeal it (I’ve done it before) but its frustrating because full-time students are not held to the same standard. A full-time student can fail classes and still qualify for loans, grants and scholarships. A part-time student only qualifies for loans and the student has to keep their GPA up to keep them. (Also, part-time students pay as much for tuition as a full-time student. With a full course load you get a “discount” on tuition. Less than a full load, you have to pay the “full” tuition.)

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Invent what, the anti-math Barbie? No, I’m a Chemical Engineer and the only Barbie I like is Aqua’s song.

I’m from Spain - yelling “long live your mother!” to a woman that goes by is not considered offensive. Going down on your knees, raising your eyes to the heavens and saying “oh God, with all these beautiful girls out there, why did I have to marry!” (response from another bricklayer: “cos your wife is the only woman in this world who’d give your ugly mug the time of day”) is not considered offensive. Wiggling your tongue at a woman or leering, like quite a few men have done to me in the US, is considered grounds for cutting off his balls and using them as a souvenir (if you can find the pea-sized things, that is).

My shopping friends studied, lessee… Law, Business, Nursing, Teaching and Electromechanical Engineering.

Want another stereotype? When I only felt like shouting mildly, chocolate worked.

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Sadly, I’m not hoot-worthy. My guy friends say its because I look like I’d kill them.

Once when out with a friend, a guy kept on asking for her phone number.
Mouse: Hey, she’s not interested. Leave her alone.
Guy: Back off bitch.
Mouse: Yeah, You have a limited vocabulary. I’d be impressed if you said tart, jezzibel, strumpet, harlot, hell-cat, floozy, wench or bawd. Fuck off!!

Alcohol was involved.

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And at that point, if you are applying for grad schools, experience will probably be much more important than GPA anyway.

Good luck! Stick it out, and make sure you can enjoy it at the same time - that’s why you’re there in the first place, right? :slight_smile:

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AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Ahem. Sorry. I have not found UCD to be friendly to non-traditional students at all, unless you are going for a grad degree. My wife is in the CSE program there (one class left! Woohoo!) and is 30. It’s been a real uphill battle for her to do things like meet with professors or advisors. And group work is probably the worst part. Blech.

Anyway, I didn’t realize that you were in Denver. I had read a few of your threads and never noticed it. So, hi! :slight_smile:

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Hello! :smiley:

Its nice to know I’m not the only one that feels this way about UCD. I assumed business students had an easier time because most of their classes where in the evening. (I took two economics courses for social science credit. Not because I love the market economy, but because the classes were after work.)

I work out at Fitz in BFE Aurora.

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Yeah, could be that business students have a grand old time (CSE is computer science and engineering, so a lot of math). My two younger brothers who graduated from UCD (polysci and business) were traditional students, so they didn’t have to deal with it. But I know that even the normal course like speech and other business coutrse, that she took were annoying. And when she had to get together with a group of 19-year-olds to do something together, she got REALLY annoyed, because they all wanted to do it at noon on a Tuesday. :slight_smile:

So, she ended up taking a lot of online courses, which are more expensive, but a heck of a lot more convenient. And no parking fees!

We really should get some sort of Dopefest together sometime, as it seems the number of CO dopers who are active is increasing…Plus, we have our own mod now! (Hi Frank!)

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I have run into the same thing. I hate group projects because of this.

I’ve only taken one online course and it was a challange for me. At the time, I was living with 3 house-mates, 16 cats, 4 dogs, 3 turtles and 3 hamsters. Now that I’m in place where its just me, three cats and my beloved, maybe I’ll give online courses a try. (The extra cost for them is less than parking.)

A Dopefest would be fun. ;j I’m very new, so meeting some of the more experienced Dopers would be a great opportunity.

19

Necros’s wife chiming in…

UCD used to be great for non-traditional students about 10 years ago. They offered classes at night in all the schools with pretty good professors. But recently there hasn’t been anything available past 4pm, and those classes are filled with individuals who don’t really care about getting an education or the opportunities available for learning in the class. One of my recent classes on project management required that everyone works on a project during the semester. They had unbelievable opportunities that would have looked amazing on anyone’s resume (including at the City of Denver for Mayor Hickenlooper) and they just complained about having to do the work. I wish I could have taken any of those opportunities, but working full time as a project manager, I couldn’t because they were all during the day (I ended up doing a project I was working on at my job for my class project). I’m happy I only have one class remaining before I graduate.

Anyways, my real reason for posting is because at least in the Engineering school, you can petition to have your grades for this semester removed from your record because of extenuating circumstances even after you’ve finished the semester. I don’t believe they publish that anywhere and I’m sure they don’t accept all petitions but it may be a good idea to at least talk to your advisor about it. :slight_smile:

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Thank you thingnumberone :slight_smile: I thought I was the only UCD student running into these problems. I will look into petitioning the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences about this semester. Another bad thing about being a non-traditional student is that I have only seen my “advisor” three times. He probably doesn’t know me from a field mouse. I feel like the professors and other staff are unsympathetic. I posted earlier that I do research for the University at Fitz (organ transplant immunology) but I can’t get college credit for my work because no UCD prof is interested in sponsoring me. :frowning:

Like you, I get feed up with the whining of the younger students. Makes me wonder how they will react to a job were you do the work or your out on your ass.