Max: 2 Steps Back

Last fall I began online studies for a Master's Degree in Computer Information Systems. I was a little less technical and a little more business oriented than I would have preferred. But it looked like an opportunity to move up and it was the first program I saw that would be completely covered by student loans. I wasn't keen on going deeper in debt. But I was less keen on staying where I am.

Earlier this year, my employer thought it would be a great idea to cut staff in half. Now, they are the great business minds and I am merely a frontline tech, so far be it from me to question their wisdom. I am certain the fact that we were suddenly unable to handle the call volume, that we went from rarely being in queue to having them 50 deep, is naught but a coincidence. Still, something had to be done. Hiring more people would have been too easy. Instead they instituted mandatory overtime.

That was right around the time I started one of the most challenging classes in my program, with one of the least helpful teachers I have dealt with. I was strained to the limit, my class was suffering and something had to give. I dropped the class with the intent to take it back up once the mandatory overtime was over with. It made sense at the time. The thing is, I didn't realize (because I obviously have the common sense of a member of the Bush administration) That I was going to still have to pay for the portion of the class I did take, as well as pay for it all over again when I started back up. So, now my loans are just shy of $1000 dollars of covering my tuition. That means I am now out of school, with nothing to show for it but several grand in new student loans to pay off.

Yup. Another brilliant move on my part.

Oh, and I have yet to hear back about that job I interviewed for. Of course, I am told I would have hated it anyway. That I hate everything and will never have any chance of being happy. Or something like that. So fuck it. At least I'll have more time to read.