Going Back to School

I have recently decide to go back to school and finish what I started around ten years ago. Once upon a time I dreamed of becoming a teacher and making my money by helping others. Truth be told it is the only job I have ever truly enjoyed. However, after getting a teacher's aid job I pretty much dropped out of college and forgot about my dream and settled for something that was close enough. Now, however I find myself feeling like I am capable of doing so much more for students. Also, students who I have now seen grow up from preschool to junior high are asking me why I'm not teaching yet (talk about pressure). So this year I finally gathered enough courage to go back to School.

I decided I didn't want to go back to a traditional university, I just don't have the time or energy after work to drive to a campus and spend my evenings writing notes. So I decided I needed to look for a completely online school, which luckily for me there is an abundance online. Since I work in the education field I wanted to make sure that my online school would be legitimate. I checked around and looked only at schools that were WASC Accredited as well as the CCTC Accredited and Brandman was one these schools that was. Next, I compared the tuition of Brandman to other schools and found that Brandman offered a much more economic tuition not to mention they worked with FAFSA as well as private loans. I decided this was my school and quickly contacted someone via email.

I quickly got a response from a very nice lady named Angela who scheduled a phone interview to figure out what program was best for me. The phone interview was great! I did not feel pressured to immediately register to the school and make any commitments, Angela was just there to answer any questions and see if they were the right fit for me. After the phone interview Angela referred me to the nearest counselor available from my home. The next interview would be to discuss with a counselor things like what the program can offer me, how long the plan would be for, how the classes worked and most importantly how much my school would be. My counselor turned out to be an incredibly nice and patient lady who answered all my questions and took the time to explain to me step by step how Brandman works. I left her office feeling empowered and ready to finally finish what I started so long ago. I would finally accomplish my dreams and become a teacher!

Once I actually started my classes I was a bit nervous since they are only two months long and I feared that they might be too fast paced and I would not be able to follow along. But once again the professors at Brandman were there to answer any questions I had, I could email them whenever I wanted to day or night. I also was able to contact my counselor for any problems. I did have one problem registering to one class that said I was missing a pre-requisite but my counselor straightened that out in less than 24 hours. My first semester was incredible not only did I finish the quarter without any stress, I also finished with A's. Now I am starting my second quarter and will finish in one year if i follow the plan given to me by the counselor. I couldn't be happier. While I love my current job as a teacher's aid I do feel that it is time for me to pass that job to someone who is younger and I need to push myself to realize my dream and take another higher step. Hope this was helpful to any of you that feel the need to make a change and follow your dreams.