I got class

Alternate title: The other half of the big announcement that should have been in yesterday’s announcement but I got distracted.

So, anyway, if you read yesterday’s post, you’ll know that we’re beginning negotiations for the working contract in the near future. I hope to get on as the employee representative of the negotiating team so I can keep up with how the talks are going. Union folks tend to be very tight-lipped to those who aren’t in the room during these sessions, and I don’t want to be in the dark.

More below the fold (again).

One of the items I’ll be losing when I leave my non-union non-salaried position is the ability use the company’s college tuition reimbursement program. While this does sucketh hard, it is not the end of the world. In fact, it is probably one of the better things to come out of this so far.

Because I’m taking part in the program, I have to take the classes they want me to take if I want to be reimbursed. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I no longer want to study Geography. From here on out, it either goes down a path heavily laden with technology, which I cannot afford and they won’t reimburse me for (classes only), or it goes deep into the “social sciences” where you get brainwashed into a particular mindset or fail.

During my attempt to complete my two year degree I have gravitated towards a particular set of classes which I have found will set me up nicely for what I believe would be an interesting and fun ride. Especially now that I’ve become addicted, for lack of a better term, to taking college courses. As well as now that my employer isn’t paying for it.

I want to get a Master’s Degree in Economics.

For the hell of it.

In other words

It’ll probably only be one or two classes per quarter, which is what I’ve been doing, so it will take a longer than usual amount of time. But that doesn’t bother me.

Currently, my list of options are not all that lengthy. They are Pacific Lutheran University, University of Puget Sound, or University of Washington-Tacoma.

PLU and UPS are father away and rather on the pricy side of the scale, so I’m currently focusing on the prereqs for admission to UW-T.

This is the Bachelor’s Degree course of study I’ll have to walk through, and when that is completed, I could transfer to the Seattle campus for the next few years worth of coursework. Luckily, the Seattle campus has “Adult Learning” classes which focus on people are already working and are coming back to college to upgrade their degrees. If that goes well, I might just stick around and go for the gold (both figuratively and bank account wise) with getting a doctorate.

You’re all welcome to come along for the ride.