College Update

Well, after a week of phone calls and emailing I finally have some sort of idea of what is going on. The school doesn’t want me to take a full course load my first semester because they think an online full-time schedule is harder than an in-class schedule. So, I’ve agreed to do the 6 credits they want me to do instead of the 15 credits I wanted. Well, I’m actually taking 7 credits. The English class I want to take requires an Information Literacy prior completion or concurrent enrollment, so I have to take that class, too. That’s my 1 credit class. The other class I wanted didn’t have a textbook listed online and once I called to find out what the textbook was, discovered that it isn’t available as an ebook. Several classes were that way. Took a bit of research, but I was able to find another class (not having anything to do with my major) that has an etextbook. It’s a business class, so I figure it won’t hurt anything to take it. My other option is an art class, which I would view more as a waste of time than helpful for any future career.

So, right now I am just waiting for either a call back from the admissions guy or an email telling me whether or not the business class has any open slots.

Okay, lol, just got off the phone with him. It’s funny because I decided to try calling him again and I guess he was calling me at the same time. So, as of right now, I am registered for:

• ENGL 1010   Intro to Writing
• LIB 1010       Information Literacy
• BUS 1010     Intro to Business

The next step is to get a hold of financial aid and get those papers emailed to me, sign them and email them back to the guy.

The thing that frustrated me about getting registered is that the guy kept saying I needed to go on Canvas to do my classes. It sounded like he was saying ‘campus’ and I was so confused. I kept having to tell him I was in Malaysia and he never explained what on earth he was talking about. I had to google how to do online classes at Dixie College before I knew what on earth was going on. I had a similar frustration my first semester at Dixie because when I went in to sign up for classes, nobody told me that a pre-semester walk-through was required for the Freshman Orientation class, so when I started the class and the guy said that the walk-through accounted for a large percentage of our grade, I was already getting a C in the class. I was pretty upset. There were several other students with the same issue, so I was (ashamedly) pretty glad I wasn’t the only one. Of course, none of us got a break, though, and either had to drop the class or choose to take the hit to our grades. It was stupid, but oh well.  Life happens. I guess I should have learned at that point that the college people aren’t very forthcoming with pertinent information. One of the requirements for doing the classes online is that I have to periodically check in with the admissions guy and let him know how I’m doing and if I’m having any issues. I asked him how I would do that and he again just said I would do it on Canvas, but it sounded like campus. I asked him if there was a way we could do it over email and he said it was super easy, that I just need to submit a paper to him. He sounded a little annoyed, so I decided to just do my own research and find out what on earth I was missing. That’s when I found the Canvas web page. I really wish the admissions people at Dixie were a little more forthcoming with pertinent information. Last time I did online classes at college the teachers emailed out a syllabus and it had a link to where the the assignment information was. Now, I guess they have it all on one system. I guess that makes sense, considering it has been 9 years since I last took an online class.

Ugh. 9 years. It’s been so loooooooooooong! I feel old. lol. I guess it’s a good thing they are limiting how many credits I can take. I haven’t been to school in forever and need to get back into the habit of studying and doing homework. Though, I AM used to working 60+ hours a week and doing physical therapy, the gym and a church calling all at the same time. So I know how to work hard. But school is a little different. And I’m in Malaysia. I’m going to be travelling and exploring, so a limited schedule is probably a good idea for the first semester. I can do a small course load for summer semester, as well, and then again for fall semester. I’ll be back in the US around October-November next year and can either transfer to another college or start taking classroom classes at Dixie next spring. It’ll take me a little longer than originally planned for me to graduate, but oh well. This is the way it goes. Everything worth doing takes some effort.

I guess now I just wait for tomorrow. I can call the financial aid guy in the morning and get all that done. By the end of the week, I will be fully enrolled for college. Yay!