1 year down, 2 to go

So,

Another semester draws to a close. Hard to believe that it’s only been a year since I decided to go back to school part time and get a certificate in Public Relations. A lot has changed in that time. Since I made that call I got engaged to get married this summer and I landed a PR job well in advance of completing my certificate.

I have to take nine classes to get a certificate in PR. For me, that works out to one class per semester for the next three years. No time off for good behaviour. Because I’m working full time I opted to take the bulk of my courses online, which automatically doubles your work load.

A regular class is much easier. Beyond the usual assignments, just showing up to class and raising your hand every now and again is enough to prove to the prof that you’ve read the texts and understand the work. With an online class you have to turn in three assignments every week, one initial post and two response posts, in order to prove conclusively to the prof that you’re getting your work done. That means you’ve lost three nights a week to school.

1 night for reading.
1 night for writing your initial post.
1 night for writing your two response posts.

So, for one class, the work load can be a little oppressive.

Which is why I’ve decided that my next course will be in-class.

I’ve been lucky that most of my online profs have been on the ball. Any questions I’ve asked are usually answered within the next couple of days. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case with the last prof. Questions would go unanswered for weeks, grades would take months to be returned (for a four month class, that’s saying something) and very quickly problems began to fester as it was obvious the prof had checked out. Essentially students got pissed with the lackadaisical attitude of the school and started writing letters and making angry phone calls.

So I when I signed up for my summer course I made sure to keep an eye out for in class options. But I sort of pooched myself. The best option I found for me was a two month intensive course which doubles the weekly work load but finishes up in two months as opposed to four. The upside to all this that I’ll be done class on June 23rd, which gives me a month before the wedding to help out, without any other obligations on my time, as well rescuing a little bit of my summer. It’s not the ideal choice, but a little short turn pain may turn into some long term gain.