As mentioned elsewhere, I currently attending ITT Technical Institute, graduating at the end of 2008. I am attempting to finish all of my classes in one fell swoop, so rather than two or three classes this 11-week quarter, I am taking four classes - something others would balk at. In addition to trying to find a part time (or possibly full time) job and preparing to move, I have a busy quarter ahead of me.

So, I have four classes that go from 6:00 in the evening to 10:30 in the evening (one of them goes only to 9:30). In total, that amounts to roughly 14 contact hours of academic time.

The majority of my classes during my degree program at ITT Technical Institute have been in the evening; occasionally, they have also been on the weekend. This presents significant problems with scheduling, and it has been somewhat difficult to find work that lets me sleep at night and has enough time so that I can actually make it to class with my work finished. I can’t work night shifts or graveyard shifts (graveyard shifts start at 9:00 or 10:00 in the evening); they must start in the morning. Hopefully they don’t start too early though; getting home at 10:45, cooking dinner, eating dinner, and then going to sleep as soon as possible is somewhat harrowing. Also, the schedule excludes me from any job with rotating shifts or on-call positions; there is simply a conflict of interest.

I will be quite honest to say that I will be glad when I am done with school in December; I will be able to take whatever job, come what may. I would hope that I have a good enough portfolio and resume by then to stand out on top of the many other entry-level professionals who are trying to gun for the same spot. Perhaps it sounds desperate when I say that I will take whatever hours a company decides to give me; I won’t be shy in saying that I would like to begin paying off my loans and settling all financial debts as soon as possible. “Reverse the flow”, as one of my teachers says.

I do have a problem with one of the new rules that has been passed in the school which restricts leaving early, giving an unavoidable 5% off of your course grade; in addition, you need to obtain written permission from your instructor, and that has to be signed off by the program chair. It all seems somewhat ludicrous, to me; if you have to leave early, it is a good sign there is an emergency that requires your immediate attention. I hear that there was also a proposal to restrict students from leaving the campus during breaks. I’ll just let that lay where it is.

Graduation, I’m coming for you.