January 14, 2009

My Financial Story : Part 3 - College Do-Over, 3 More Years

This is the next entry in my multi-part personal financial story. In the first two parts I discussed my childhood years and my college years. Today I'll talk about my second try at college and the years around that.

After I graduated from college I found myself at home with no job prospects and several thousand dollars in debt. I bummed around for a month or two and felt sorry for myself. I eventually got a temporary job that lasted about a month, just to keep busy and make some sort of income. Eventually my Mom suggested that I might consider going back to college for further study and she generously offered to pay the tuition bill at the local state school. At the time tuition at the state school was around $2500 a year. I decided to get a second B.S. degree and this time I would study computer science.

This time around in school I applied myself to my studies. I got near perfect grades the entire time. I did all my homework and studied a good amount. I didn't goof off or party much if at all. I went to all my classes even if they were the early classes at 8:00 A.M. I applied myself and it showed in my grades.

I also worked part time during school. I worked on campus in computer labs the whole time I was in school. For a couple quarters I worked a second job at UPS. For those quarters I was taking a full time class load, working two jobs for around 30 hours a week and commuting around 45 minutes each way from school and back. I worked and saved money and I didn't gain debt and even managed to whittle down some of my credit card debt a little bit.

While I was in school I started checking the on campus career office to find work. I frequently checked for internship jobs related to my field. I also attended career fairs and actively applied for both summer and full time positions. I finally found a good internship job in the next state which I applied for and got. The job was nine months and paid very well at the time. I was making over $15 an hour and it was at a very good company. I managed to pay off all my credit card debts from that job and save a bit of money. Most of all however the internship job was very valuable work experience related to my career field.

After the internship I returned to school to finish off a few quarters of classes and get my second B.S. It took me about three years total to get my second degree. At the end of my studies I was actively applying for jobs in my career. I applied and interviewed for a couple positions at the company that I had my internship. I also applied for and got another job offer from a company in town. That internship directly resulted in me getting a full time job offer from my former internship employer.

In contrast to my first four year degree in college I applied myself and it paid off. In my second college degree I worked hard in school and got good grades. I actively sought and got an internship job directly related to my field. Ultimately I got a good job offer in my field and graduated with a job waiting for me.

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