Thursday, July 20, 2006

Back to school

Huh…well, that was a bit of a surprise in the ol' in-box this morning. On a lark I applied to the University of Victoria to do a Certificate in Public Relations a week or so ago. The courses start in September so I was doing this a bit late, but I figured "what they hell". Besides, it was only $40 to register and I didn't even have to hunt down previous university transcripts or anything.

Yes, I know how it sounds…that it might be one of those degrees you can get off the Internet. But UVic has a good reputation and several people I've spoken with have had positive things to say about this particular program. Plus I can do the courses over the Internet, so my actual presence in Victoria is not required. Which is nice. I think I've been permanently scarred about Victoria after some of Mireille's rants while she lived there.

(Her best, for the record, was on the boom trade in stolen motorized carts that the elderly or disabled use to get around. Ask her about it)

So for the first time in eight years, I'm doing an academic course. That was a single course necessary to finish my journalism degree (long story short - I got very sick my last semester in school and couldn't finish the full course load. It took three years of begging before King's would let me do a course long-distance to finish the degree). So really, it's been about 11 years since I did any kind of serious post-secondary work.

This is only 10 courses, so by doing a one or two a semester I should be able to complete this in a couple of years. If I'm feeling cocky, perhaps less. I guess we shall see how long it takes to knock the rust off my mind.

I always said I wanted another degree. I called it Masters Envy because most of my friends have at least two degrees and many of them have Masters. I think Corey holds the record with four (BA, BSc, Masters, and a law degree). God help me, he's talking about getting his Masters in Law, which would mean five degrees. And I have several doctors as well. Whereas I only have my piddling Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Journalism. A certificate is actually a step down, but I neither have the time, money or inclination to do a Masters in public relations or a MBA. It would take years and cost probably about $20,000 or more. I really like not owing money to Student Aid.

I suspect I will do a Masters in a few years time. I'm debating doing one in creative writing. It might be the only way I'll ever manage to figure out how to write a book…

2 comments:

tanker belle said...

Guess that means I have to write about the motorized scooter-wheelchair thingies...both funny and traumatic at the same time - like your moped phobia.

I'm spending waaayyyyy too much time on the computer today. This is what happens when I'm not painting, but trying to re-write my cv & slide list. Naming paintings is not a strong point of mine.

towniebastard said...

I nearly died because of those goddamn mopeds. I don't know what should be on my death certificate, but "Killed while walking down the sidewalk by a demented Korean on a moped" really ought not to be it.