Hi y’all,
Been lurking, then I joined, forgot my password and them lurked again… So here’s my sordid past: Earned my associate’s degree way, way back in 2003 (in French and Liberal Arts, with some calculus, chem and physics. Yeah, it was a struggle financially. Was going for engineering but it was tough enough to afford most of the calc, phys and chem texts, so i figured the fastest way to degree was lib arts (for some reason, the books I got was easier and cheaper to come by, than the engineering texts). Also, was juggling work and family.
Fast forward to today:I’m about to get my bachelor’s in psych at cal poly slo. GPA is 3.8. My advisor is encouraging me to go for phd clinical psych. I really thought neuropsychology was it for me. Been doing some thinking for a considerable time, since last year. It all comes doewn to this: I really don’t want to deal with behavior stuff. Too chicken to give people what they need to hear. Also, most of all, I really want to finish what I wanted to do, way, way back, when I was a struggling student at the jc. (Am still struggling, but now can afford more than ramen noodles for dinner…
I work with people with developmental disabilities and often take them to the ER for sudden emergencies. Several times, I did my homework at the ER while accompanying a resident- nobody wants to really look you in the eye and be bothered by a potential request for assistance. My mother is a nurse and I grew up with nurses. My mom used to take me for visits to her work when I was a kid. I’ve come to realize that I really do miss being around the hospital. I even love hospital food. And I don’t want to be a therapist. I realize it’s not really about alzheimer’s symptoms and behaviors that I want to learn - it’s how neurons communicate/fail to communicate with each other.
So I am going back to the jc to do pre-reqs for bio, then am going to apply for MS biological science at cal poly. I hope to integrate biochem into the program. Technically, I’ll be a conditional grad student since my BS is in Psych. It’s a long road, but better late than never. So here is my admission: I want to be a neurologist when I grow up.
By the way, was not planning on attending graduation this fall at cal poly. Technically I should be done this summer, but since my student research is rather in-depth, am taking till december of this year. My research advisor wants to see me walk. I’m thinking: NO handshake form President Armstrong is going to erase my doubts about the non-work-transferability of my major, nor eradicate the realization that I just spent $36000 and 4 years, before I realize what I really want to do. Besides, after all that money spent on tuition, why should I spent 50 bucks on a cap and gown, just so I can shake some guy’s hand?
Thanks for letting me release my thoughts. I feel so fortunate to have found you guys…and my password.
Hi Saturnine
welcome . Great GPA and background. No doubt that you things will work out. I wish you the best of luck and please keep us posted.
Welcome aboard!
I would walk. It makes no sense today but a decade from now it will. Walking looks foolish and even feels that way but it puts closure on the degree. After that walk for some reason it becomes a little more real. It’s a right of passage to sit there and wonder why in the world they got the most boring speaker or whatever. Believe me it doesn’t make any sense now but one day it will.
I didn’t walk for undergrad and it never felt like I finished. I forced myself to walk for my grad degree and it was truly a feeling of completion hearing my name called, walking across stage, shaking hands, and trying not to fall down the stairs and back to my chair. It was done, I was complete, and it was finished, then the celebratory dinners.
So pay the money and walk across that stupid stage and quite literally put a cap (& gown) on this thing and keep it moving.
Thanks Crooz and Redo-it-all…Was actually thinking I should walk and do it for my mom’s fridge. The pic, I mean. Technically, there should be a reduction if one were to walk halfway across, and not the whole length of the stage…or maybe even free if the Prez were to just throw out the rolled out paper(perhaps it’s a cal poly churro wrapped inside) to “indigents” such as myself…
Btw, what do you guys think of my plan? JC first for a re-do of math,chem and phys pre-reqs, then application to the MS bio as conditional grad student? Perhaps I have a chance since it will be my alma mater I would be going back to.
Oh- and I’m 35. Being a non-trad in cal poly slo was sometimes a challenge. I don’t go out much on the weekends so am not familiar with the night life that students like to talk about. I work at a group home and am often on call. Cal Poly SLO has a more traditional, “young” atmosphere where they post such things as “study for 35 hrs a week” everywhere you look - can be rather discouraging for older undergrad students who have jobs and families.Add to that my “dinosaur era” laptop and cell phone that looks so odd among the iphones and imacs at the library. I did purchase them myself though, and the one consolation I have is that I have no undergrad tuition debt - although it took me a very long time to finish. However, will have to think of a plan on how to pay for med school. I’ll be scouring through previous posts about financing. Till next time.