Take an office technology program.

Well, I did it. I saved up for a month and paid my tuition for my first course as part of the ACA Program at BCIT. Even though I had the money put away, I still waited on paying for about a week due to nerves. Taking the sewing course has given me a lot more confidence to approach schooling, but this is a lot more serious as far as I’m concerned. I committed myself though, so now I have to stick to that.

There’s still a bit of complications surrounding one of the pre-requisite courses for the program, but I don’t have to really worry about it until I sign up for program approval. I’m just going to take a few of the courses involved in the program first before I worry myself about that.

Well, my first class starts at the beginning of November, and after that I don’t get any weekends to myself (well, Saturdays at least) for a month.

I seem to be committing myself to a hell of a lot lately. If I was ever worried that I never had enough to do, I can sure put that thought out of my head right quick. Thanks to some very lovely connections, I got myself registered in advance for the first course in the ACA program. I just need to make sure that I pay by the end of the month and I’m good to go. There was a complicated issue in the form of a preposterous pre-requisite, but I managed to get by it because I haven’t applied for the program approval yet.

Once I apply for program approval, which I will do after I’ve completed at least the first course, then I’ll have to earn the credits for the preposterous course. I plan on having an assessment done to demonstrate that I already have the knowledge, because I flat out refuse to pay $400 to have someone tell me how to use a computer. I think it’s kind of ridiculous to have to take a “how to use computers” course after you’re already taken a computer-related course, but whatever. Things might be different as I work it out, but that’s what I know for now.

I start my first course, which is Microsoft Word 2007, at the beginning of November. I think my sewing course only overlaps for 1 week, which is good. I’ll be taking the course on Saturdays, so It’ll feel like a 6-day work week, since I’ll essentially be doing the same thing at my office all week. I’m excited to finally be getting a roll on all of this and having a little bit of direction in my professional life.

I’ve begun the first small steps towards applying for the introductory course that’s part of a program through BCIT. I’ve decided that I’m going to take the ACA program (Applied Computer Applications) part-time in order to further my office technology skills, or rather, in order to prove that I have those office technology skills. I’ve come to realize, through years of applying for positions that I am perfectly suited for, that I will never be seriously considered unless I have some form of relevant schooling on my resume.

I want to take this program so I have a greater chance of securing a higher paying administrative role in my ultimate “career goal” of being employed by the school system. As boring as it sounds, I want to work for the school system (colleges/universities) for the sheer number of opportunities that it will provide. I like to learn and do different things, so I’m hoping that will keep me satisfied and put more money in my pocket so I can do what truly drives me in my spare time.

Right now I’m stuck on the formalities surrounding the pre-requisite course, which is essentially a “how to use computers” course. I have the option of spending $400 on a completely pointless course, where I will learn maybe 1-2 new things that I have never had a need to know, or spending $100 on a challenge exam. I’m leaning towards the challenge exam for obvious reasons, but I can’t help but get that anxious feeling that they’re going to slip some extremely technical thing in there that they would normally cover in the course for about 5 minutes in order to trip people up. I’ve been working with computers since as far back as I can remember, so I shouldn’t be nervous, but there are a lot of hardware-relating things that I’m pretty clueless on. I don’t want to spend $100 and fail an exam I should have easily passed and then have to spend another $400 on the course.

I’m going to dig around and find out as much information as I can about the exam. I really want a summary or guideline of sorts to show what it covers, but they don’t seem very willing to give that information out. When I e-mailed and asked about the exam, they simple tried to schedule me in for it. Aren’t I entitled to know what I’m being tested on? Needless to say, this part is pretty damn frustrating.

I’ve never been able to decide what I wanted to do with my life, so I’ve decided that I’m going to be a jack of all trades. In order to do so, I want to continue down the road of business administration for my daytime career, so I can earn the funds I need to do everything that fulfills me. My ultimate goal is that this stable career (coupled with continuous learning and saving of funds), will propel me through my other goals and onto a more flexible and fulfilling career as a digital designer.

In order to further my career and earn a higher salary, I want to get my already developed skills down on paper in the form of a certificate.