- Joined
- Oct 17, 2015
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Before you even start reading, this it is going to be really, really long..
I didn't even start college until I was 22. I moved to Gainesville, FL from a small town that was about 30 miles away and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone under 30 here. It has a major University. A huge community college, and two vocational schools.
When in Rome...That's the reason I went to school.
I had never really thought about my future. I mean, I had a high school diploma, but it was never anything anybody considered in high school. I'm from Tampa, so I didn't exactly fit in in high school, but it was a tiny little bible-thumber town. The women graduated, got married, and made babies. The men became laborers, or joined the military. They never expected anything else from you. They never prepared you for anything else.
Graduating high school with a 2.2GPA, there wasn't a chance in hell of me going to UF, so I went to Santa Fe College as an English major. I liked reading, that was my reasoning. After already spending 3 years trying to get a 2 year degree. More focused on sewing my wild oats than attending class. Several withdrawals and F's, and not really thinking about the consequences at the time. I just kind of . . . stopped going.
My Mother, who is an RN and the sole breadwinner for my house, lost her job. It took her a year to find another one.
Who ever says it's easy to live on welfare . . . has never lived on welfare.
In the middle of all this, which was a very dark time, I decided that I wanted a concrete way to NEVER be in this situation again. At which point, I walked into a vocational school wanting to receive a quick, easy degree...for the sake of job security.
What I got was an admissions representative asking me if I liked animals. "Sure, who doesn't like animals?" They then proceeded to sell this CVT program to me as if it was the end all be all to my problems. Two years seemed like a long time to get the security that I was seeking, but it sounded wonderful, and I enrolled as a Veterinary Technology student.
It was the end of my problems. . .for awhile. But it brought new problems. Like the school was ACICS accredited, an accrediting body that isn't recognized by the U.S. Board of Education. The CVT program? Not AVMA accredited. Concerned for graduating without the privilege of being able to take our boards, we asked consistently about AVMA accreditation, and were told that a representative was coming that January...it never happened. They also kept saying that even if we didn't get accredited, we still could work for two years, and then sit for boards. What they failed to mention is that this only applies to Alaska, California, and Washington. I had to find out that little tidbit on my own from the AAVSB website.
The DVM who was the Director of the program got pregnant, and took maternity leave. A few weeks later she announced via email that she wouldn't be returning. This was conveniently right around the time that her 2-year non-compete was up from the last practice she was employed at.
Upon further research I found that these schools are a part of a for-profit financial aid scam system that is really just a ruse to take advantage of student's pell grants. "A pulse and a pell" is the motto. It certainly explained why the "College Algebra" class I attended was teaching prime numbers, by a guy who had a degree in philosophy, and didn't even require you to have a TI-83/84. These vocational schools are only 13% of students, and yet are 50% of student debt.
I finished the semester, and left.
I was mesmerized with vet medicine though. Class would go from 8:30am-5:30pm. I'd stay until the CVT kicked me out of the lab, which was usually around 7pm. Growing up in crappy public schools, it was the first time I had been in lab, played with microscopes, learned any kind of real science. Forget being a CVT, I wanted to be a DVM, and if that meant another 8 years in school, so be it.
Back to Santa Fe. Now an Animal Science major.
Financial aid suspended, with about 14 more classes to take. All science / math. All "require for Uni".
With 57 credits towards my then English and now Animal Science degree, and another 27 received at this vocational school. I have reached my 90 credit maximum for an associates. No more pell. No more loans.
Not until I can get into University. Ideally, University of Florida. . . since it's within walking distance and all.
Although none of my credits transferred over, what with it being a fake school and all, I did maintain 3.7 in the CVT program, which did wonders for my "All College Accumulative".
I paid out of pocket for my first math class. Got an A. Paid out of pocket for my second math class - I am currently attending.
Albeit with mostly C's, because I've met requirements for almost everything, I can only really take two classes at a time. You have to take Pre-Chem before you can take Chem 1, and you have to take Pre-Calc before you can take Calc 1, etc., etc.
So I get a job, so that I can start taking two classes at a time, because I know that the pre-professional program is very competitive, and one of the things they look for is how well you can handle your course load. I ended up landing a job as an "Engagement Manager" for this leadership curriculum company. They design training material for employees at fortune 500 companies. A whole industry based on BS, basically. $15/hr, under the table. Only 10hrs a week, but it's enough to save up during the semester before the next semester can start.
A small privately owned company. I land this guy an account with Williams-Sonoma. A home-decorating company. I write sample modules for him to take to San Francisco, Williams-Sonoma headquarters, where they review, and are sold on $20,000 deal. I was told before he left that my hours were going to be upped, so that we could write the full modules, but instead he decided to outsource to someone he knows who also works in the same business. These modules get back to me, four 60 page long modules, and I have to edit all of them head to toe, but this person he paid $5,000 to write this. . .writes like a seventh grader, and plagiarized most of it from other leadership material.
I finish doing this, and the next day I'm told that my job is put on "suspension", because he doesn't know where our sales tactics are going. Says he'll call me in a week. A week later rolls around, which was today, and he says that he has chosen to forgo the position for now, but if he picks it back up...I'll be the first person he calls.
So he gets to go make $20,000 off of the account that I landed, on the modules that I basically re-wrote, and what do I get to do? Look for another job, and pray that I can pay for my classes in time.
Class A D-bag, right?
I've started apply for other jobs, including vet related ones, which would be ideal to gain experience..but I'll take what I can get at this point.
So, I know that none of this has any relevance to any of you, and that this forum is meant for people asking advice and opinions. Sharing outlooks. But this feels impossible, and I just wanted to share it with people who could maybe sympathize with the desire to be veterinarians. The person I was at 22 years old, and at 29 years old could not be more of a 180 from each other.
As trite as it sounds, I want to be a veterinarian more than I have ever wanted anything. I NEED to be a veterinarian.
I feel like I'm paying for the mistakes of somebody else.
Thanks for reading.
I didn't even start college until I was 22. I moved to Gainesville, FL from a small town that was about 30 miles away and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone under 30 here. It has a major University. A huge community college, and two vocational schools.
When in Rome...That's the reason I went to school.
I had never really thought about my future. I mean, I had a high school diploma, but it was never anything anybody considered in high school. I'm from Tampa, so I didn't exactly fit in in high school, but it was a tiny little bible-thumber town. The women graduated, got married, and made babies. The men became laborers, or joined the military. They never expected anything else from you. They never prepared you for anything else.
Graduating high school with a 2.2GPA, there wasn't a chance in hell of me going to UF, so I went to Santa Fe College as an English major. I liked reading, that was my reasoning. After already spending 3 years trying to get a 2 year degree. More focused on sewing my wild oats than attending class. Several withdrawals and F's, and not really thinking about the consequences at the time. I just kind of . . . stopped going.
My Mother, who is an RN and the sole breadwinner for my house, lost her job. It took her a year to find another one.
Who ever says it's easy to live on welfare . . . has never lived on welfare.
In the middle of all this, which was a very dark time, I decided that I wanted a concrete way to NEVER be in this situation again. At which point, I walked into a vocational school wanting to receive a quick, easy degree...for the sake of job security.
What I got was an admissions representative asking me if I liked animals. "Sure, who doesn't like animals?" They then proceeded to sell this CVT program to me as if it was the end all be all to my problems. Two years seemed like a long time to get the security that I was seeking, but it sounded wonderful, and I enrolled as a Veterinary Technology student.
It was the end of my problems. . .for awhile. But it brought new problems. Like the school was ACICS accredited, an accrediting body that isn't recognized by the U.S. Board of Education. The CVT program? Not AVMA accredited. Concerned for graduating without the privilege of being able to take our boards, we asked consistently about AVMA accreditation, and were told that a representative was coming that January...it never happened. They also kept saying that even if we didn't get accredited, we still could work for two years, and then sit for boards. What they failed to mention is that this only applies to Alaska, California, and Washington. I had to find out that little tidbit on my own from the AAVSB website.
The DVM who was the Director of the program got pregnant, and took maternity leave. A few weeks later she announced via email that she wouldn't be returning. This was conveniently right around the time that her 2-year non-compete was up from the last practice she was employed at.
Upon further research I found that these schools are a part of a for-profit financial aid scam system that is really just a ruse to take advantage of student's pell grants. "A pulse and a pell" is the motto. It certainly explained why the "College Algebra" class I attended was teaching prime numbers, by a guy who had a degree in philosophy, and didn't even require you to have a TI-83/84. These vocational schools are only 13% of students, and yet are 50% of student debt.
I finished the semester, and left.
I was mesmerized with vet medicine though. Class would go from 8:30am-5:30pm. I'd stay until the CVT kicked me out of the lab, which was usually around 7pm. Growing up in crappy public schools, it was the first time I had been in lab, played with microscopes, learned any kind of real science. Forget being a CVT, I wanted to be a DVM, and if that meant another 8 years in school, so be it.
Back to Santa Fe. Now an Animal Science major.
Financial aid suspended, with about 14 more classes to take. All science / math. All "require for Uni".
With 57 credits towards my then English and now Animal Science degree, and another 27 received at this vocational school. I have reached my 90 credit maximum for an associates. No more pell. No more loans.
Not until I can get into University. Ideally, University of Florida. . . since it's within walking distance and all.
Although none of my credits transferred over, what with it being a fake school and all, I did maintain 3.7 in the CVT program, which did wonders for my "All College Accumulative".
I paid out of pocket for my first math class. Got an A. Paid out of pocket for my second math class - I am currently attending.
Albeit with mostly C's, because I've met requirements for almost everything, I can only really take two classes at a time. You have to take Pre-Chem before you can take Chem 1, and you have to take Pre-Calc before you can take Calc 1, etc., etc.
So I get a job, so that I can start taking two classes at a time, because I know that the pre-professional program is very competitive, and one of the things they look for is how well you can handle your course load. I ended up landing a job as an "Engagement Manager" for this leadership curriculum company. They design training material for employees at fortune 500 companies. A whole industry based on BS, basically. $15/hr, under the table. Only 10hrs a week, but it's enough to save up during the semester before the next semester can start.
A small privately owned company. I land this guy an account with Williams-Sonoma. A home-decorating company. I write sample modules for him to take to San Francisco, Williams-Sonoma headquarters, where they review, and are sold on $20,000 deal. I was told before he left that my hours were going to be upped, so that we could write the full modules, but instead he decided to outsource to someone he knows who also works in the same business. These modules get back to me, four 60 page long modules, and I have to edit all of them head to toe, but this person he paid $5,000 to write this. . .writes like a seventh grader, and plagiarized most of it from other leadership material.
I finish doing this, and the next day I'm told that my job is put on "suspension", because he doesn't know where our sales tactics are going. Says he'll call me in a week. A week later rolls around, which was today, and he says that he has chosen to forgo the position for now, but if he picks it back up...I'll be the first person he calls.
So he gets to go make $20,000 off of the account that I landed, on the modules that I basically re-wrote, and what do I get to do? Look for another job, and pray that I can pay for my classes in time.
Class A D-bag, right?
I've started apply for other jobs, including vet related ones, which would be ideal to gain experience..but I'll take what I can get at this point.
So, I know that none of this has any relevance to any of you, and that this forum is meant for people asking advice and opinions. Sharing outlooks. But this feels impossible, and I just wanted to share it with people who could maybe sympathize with the desire to be veterinarians. The person I was at 22 years old, and at 29 years old could not be more of a 180 from each other.
As trite as it sounds, I want to be a veterinarian more than I have ever wanted anything. I NEED to be a veterinarian.
I feel like I'm paying for the mistakes of somebody else.
Thanks for reading.
