Here we go!

Here we go!  It’s just about 2 hours before my first class begins.  We finally have all the class assignments figured out, and I should be getting the last of my a&p books by the middle of the week.  I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.  I started getting a bit nervous over the weekend thinking about starting my classes, but I feel pretty good now.  I’m sure I’ll do just fine.  Wish me luck.

 

Books Pt. 2

I ordered my books last Friday and the package arrived on Saturday while we were out of town.  I tore into the package and was kind of bummed to see that I got the wrong stuff.  I had expected to see my anatomy workbook and flash cards, but I was staring at a crummy history book.

I called today to see what I needed to do to get the error fixed.  A few short minutes on hold and I was told I’d get an email with instructions to print out a FedEx label.  A short bit later and I got the email and printed the label.  Away the package went.  Now, hopefully I get the correct books in the mail soon.

I noticed that the lab kit also shipped today, so I should be getting that soon as well.  How awesome would it be if this was the only snag this semester.  It would be…but I’m not counting on it.

 

Books

I took a trip over to financial aid this morning to ask some questions.  I wanted to find out the status of my financial aid, and to see if I could start ordering books soon.  After a brief wait in the financial aid office, I was given the information I was looking for.  Turns out, everything was on track with my financial aid, and there was nothing further for me to do…other than wait.  I just wanted to be sure that my bill was going to be paid directly by the aid, and sure enough it would be once all the mysterious workings of the system took place.  I was worried that there was some button on a web page that I didn’t click yet that was keeping things in limbo.

Now that that was handled, I asked about buying books.  Sure enough, everything was on track there too.  I was on the “list” at the book store, so I went over and started to purchase my books.  I  had memories of when I went to the community college back in New Jersey…only that book store was huge!  I took my course list and found all the books I needed for most of my classes.  Since the A&P 101 course is in Ft. Wayne, the kit I needed was a bit different and I had to get it online.

I took my small mountain of books up to the counter and checked out.  Four classes of books totaled $471.  Wow.  I was a bit shocked, but hey, I knew the books were going to be expensive.  It was kind of strange (and for some reason I felt a bit guilty) about walking out with a stack of books that were paid for by financial aid.

I brought the books home and decided to place my order online for the A&P 101 books & lab kit.  It was pretty quick and easy.   The only problem was that all of the main stuff is now on back order.  I’m getting the coloring book (yep..I said coloring book) and flash cards, but the lab kit and lecture notes are nowhere to be found yet.

That kind of stinks.  I was really looking forward to browsing through all that stuff the most.  If you haven’t figured it out by now, that’s the class I’m really looking forward to most.

Well, there are two weeks until school starts.  Three from today until my first A&P 101 class, so hopefully everything works out.

 

It’s Starting to Feel Real

So I got my bill for the fall term in the mail last week.  It’s all starting to feel so real now.  I’m actually going to be a 40 year old freshman.  I’m going to have to touch base with the Financial Aid office soon, I’m sure.  It looks like I should have the whole bill (and books) covered by the Pell Grant and the Frank O’Bannon Grant.  I’m certainly happy with that.

I’m starting to gather contact info on my instructors…a few haven’t been assigned yet, so I’ll just have to be patient.  I’m also trying to figure out where my classes will be.  Apparently Ivy Tech Anderson is going to make use of the Ebbert Education Center starting this year, so some of the classes may be over there.

In either case (main bldg or Ebbert) – the classes won’t be too far from home.  15 minutes away max.  Oh, wait.  I forgot about the Anatomy & Physiology course up in Ft. Wayne.  That”ll be more than 15 minutes away.

I’m just getting tired of waiting for everything to get rolling here.  I’m ready to go!

 

Bummer!

Well, the deadline came and went and I wasn’t able to get an evening course here in Anderson.  It’s Ft. Wayne for me every Friday evening from August to December.  The absolute worst part is that my classes run right when Matthew will be performing band at the football games.  I’m going to miss out on all that!  Gotta think long term.  I’m sure he’ll understand.  Maybe there will be one or two weeks without a class tha I can still catch him doing his thing.

So, the schedule is set.  Next step is billing and completing financial aid for the term.  After that, books, then school starts.  I’m ready to get this thing going.

 

Deadline Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the big deadline for dropping or adding a class.  Hopefully I can get an evening course here in Anderson, but I’m not holding my breath.  Hopefully I can at least get in to one of the Friday evening classes up in Ft Wayne.  But, like I said, I’d really like to get a spot here in Anderson.  Come on…somebody please drop the evening course in Anderson!

 

Admission Workshop

I had to attend the Admission Workshop yesterday at noon.  Not a very informative 30 minutes, but at least it’s out of the way.  Basically, I had already done everything that they went over.  I guess when I went in to the admissions office, it would have been nice of them to tell me to take the Admissions Workshop to start with.  Really, they should just put it up as a presentation online.  That would be helpful.  Not after I’ve already done everything.

They went over how to fill out the online application, when to do the financial aid, the COMPASS test and meeting with the student success people. Oh well, like I said, it’s behind me now.  Next up is to schedule a time for one of the new student orientations.  They take place later in August.

I’ll also be checking in on the availability of the A&P 101 classes.  I really need to find one that’s not going to take up a whole day.  I’m hoping someone will drop soon from the evening course.  That would be ideal.

 

Appointment With My Advisor

My 4pm appointment with my advisor went well yesterday afternoon.  I met with Julia and we started going over the classes I needed to schedule for the fall semester.  She also gave me an outline of the courses I would need to take for the next few semesters, as well as some advice on when to take the TEAS test for admission to the nursing program.

It was a bit funny.  She had me run out to the admissions office right away once she found one open spot in the A&P 101 course I needed to take.  Fortunately, I made it in on time and I’m now a registered student at Ivy Tech.  We talked about a few other things, but overall it was a pretty short meeting.  Mostly just getting my schedule together.  I have 3 of my 4 pre-reqs scheduled for fall.  My schedule includes Anatomy & Physiology 101, Psychology 101, Math 118, English 101, and a 1 credit course that is mandatory for all students…some kind of study skills course, I  guess.  So I have 13 credit hours this fall.

Next up is a student orientation next Tuesday afternoon.  I’ll also be getting into the Campus Connect system to figure out my email and get a feel for the kinds of things available to me online.  I’ll also send for my high school transcript.  I have to send a letter to Dover High with a money order for $5.00 so they can send me an official transcript.

I’m slowly getting stuff checked off the list.  I’m anxious to get started.

 

COMPASS Test

I spent some time last weekend trying to prepare myself for the COMPASS test I planned on taking on Monday the 29th.  I took a few practice tests I found online, but I really wasn’t sure what to study, so I just went over some math, algebra, and such.  I wasn’t too concerned with the reading and writing portions, so I didn’t bother studying for them.  Before I knew it, it was Monday and I must admit, I started getting nervous.  I haven’t taken a test like this for ages.

The testing center opened up at noon on Monday, so I headed out shortly before then to get a spot for the test.  I was certainly surprised when I got there and there were no seats left.  I mean, it was just a couple minutes past noon.  I guess you have to get there early to get your spot.  I told them I’d be back in an hour or so to see if anyone was done yet, so I headed back home and got some lunch.  I was back at the testing center by about 1:15 and I got a seat right away.

The first part of the test was a timed typing test.  There was a 3 minute warm up, then a 5 minute test.  I wound up coming out of that with a 65 word per minute score.  Not bad, I thought.  After that, the real tests began.  It started off with the writing and reading sections.  As I expected, it wasn’t very difficult.  I felt pretty confident about my answers to those sections.  I moved on to the math, and I wasn’t feeling so sure about myself.  There was some stuff I had never seen before, but a bunch of it was pretty straight forward.  A bunch of questions, I just had to guess, because I had no idea how to solve the problems.  The math portion of the test seemed to last forever and I used up all my scratch paper!

The test was scored right away after I was finished.  I got 94 in writing and 94 in reading.  Not too shabby.  I scored a 90 in pre-algebra, 85 in algebra, and just 46 in college algebra.  Not bad, considering I’ve never taken college algebra.  I still wasn’t sure what the scores meant as far as placement, so I went to see the advisor in the Student Success Center.  The woman there quickly put my mind at ease.  I had scored well enough in all areas to qualify for college level courses.  Hooray!  I could go ahead and meet with my advisor on Tuesday as scheduled and start picking my classes.

 

First Steps

I took the first steps to getting into the nursing program last week when I submitted my online application to Ivy Tech, and by attending a mandatory Nursing information session.  Based on the info gathered at the info session, I took the next steps yesterday morning.  I drove over to Ivy Tech to get the ball rolling.

I went to the admissions office first.  I talked to them a bit about enrolling in the pre-reqs for nursing, but I had to go see the folks in the nursing program first.  I stepped across the hall and scheduled a meeting for Tuesday June 30 to meet with a nursing student advisor.  Turns out I have to take my COMPASS test before I can meet with them.  I guess they need to know what classes I can be placed in first.

Even though I have an Associate of Applied Science degree already, and some course work from another community college in NJ, the credits are all 20+ years old, and there was really no way they would transfer, so I’m just going to go ahead and get the COMPASS test out of the way on Monday.  I figure I’ll have Matthew help me study some math, the reading & writing portion should be no problem…after all, I already know that the word “alot” isn’t a word!

I also spent some time completing my FAFSA application for financial aid.  I should know for sure within two weeks what I qualify for, but at the end of the application it looked like I should qualify for enough money to cover the whole 09-10 school year.  That would be wonderful!

So, I guess I’ll spend the weekend doing some studying for the test and take it on Monday.  I’ll have my meeting on Tuesday, and see where we go from there.

On an unrelated note, two celebrities passed away yesterday.  Farrah Fawcett lost a long battle with cancer, and Michael Jackson died after suffering cardiac arrest while at home.  His death was very unexpected and shocking.