Start where you are.
Those of you who might be joining from my previous post on schooling may be pleased to see that I have some updates. In the last few months, I've executed the plan in that post to great success. I was readmitted back into Western Governors University. Better yet, I've fully secured the buy-in from my employer and have their full backing behind my educational goals. And now, I've already made progress in school. This train stops for no one.
Progress iteratively with feedback.
The readmission process for WGU was not nearly as daunting as I thought it would be. After receiving the readmission letter, I was informed by email that I had been "provisionally readmitted" while they waited for all the paperwork to clear. I conveyed my sense of focus and determination to get through this program that it wasn't difficult for them to decide to readmit me. I had to do all the mundane tasks, like complete my FAFSA, but overall the process was smooth and painless. The readmission team was very responsive to my questions and ensured that I was ready for the term to start in January 2022.
Focus on value.
My current employer has been quite accomodating when it comes to allowing me to further my education, even when not in school. They provided me with the training material, study time, and costs of exam vouchers to gain many of the certifications that you can see on my Professional page. The total price for these items wasn't prohibitive. We spent about $210 on a personal subscription for ITPro.TV, around $100-$350 on various exam vouchers, and the time needed to study for those exams. I'm thankfully quite good at absorbing information by listening, which made a subscription to a resource like ITPro.TV quickly pay for itself. In total, I would be surprised if we hit a total of $2,000 spent for my education in the 2021 fiscal year.
I mention these costs because my schooling will cost more, even short term. At this time of writing, my tuition at WGU costs just shy of $4,250 per 6-month term. If I keep with my current plan to complete my degree program within five terms, this would cost about $21,250 over 2.5 years (assuming that there are no rate increases during that time). My employer has agreed to cover these costs, so this tells me that they are willing to invest in my growth.
In short, I have the full buy-in from my employer.
Keep it simple and practical.
My first term in school officially started on January 1st. Due to the holiday and the weekend, the first day I could begin my classes was January 3rd. I was approved to take four courses: Critical Thinking and Logic, Fundamentals of Information Security, Integrated Physical Sciences, and Business of IT - Applications. I'm grateful that WGU allows the flexibility they do with these courses; I had the first three classes done within a week. Programming knowledge, industry experience, and a deep interest in sciences as a kid helped in quickly propelling me through these classes. Business of IT - Applications did take around two weeks to complete. Effectively, this course focuses on the ITIL 4 Foundation and ends with earning the certification. I found the content quite dry and difficult to absorb without context. Thankfully, a well-put-together video series on ITPro.TV and Jason Dion's practice quizzes on Udemy secured me a 95% score on this exam and a shiny new certificate.
Completing all of my courses within three weeks means that I no longer have any more work to do until my next semester starts, right? Well, not quite...
Optimize and automate.
One of the well-known advantages of attending WGU is the ability to "accelerate" your courses; if you finish your current courseload with a significant amount of time left in your current term, you can take your other classes early. Accelerating this way has no additional cost on your tuition. With this method, I've seen some people take 60-70 credit hours (or competency units, in WGU parlance) in classes in a single 6-month term. I don't think I'll be able to go quite that far while maintaining my full-time job, but I can still take advantage of acceleration with my current term. I'm setting the goal for myself to complete a class once every three weeks, which would get me to complete around seven more courses this term. Doing this will effectively knock out another full term at WGU and enable me to graduate by the end of 2023. I'm hoping to get my general education done in this way so I can get to the more challenging and engaging courses without having any other "filler" courses in my way.
So far, I was approved to take English Composition II. I'm not starting this class immediately, as I have my "last" Microsoft exam scheduled in a couple of days and need to focus on that one. Once I pass that exam, I'll be a Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert. One more certification to add to my growing list.