I am going to University. I can finally say it, even though it is a British thing. I am going to Southern New Hampshire University. Well….not going per say, but attending the COCE online university. But I am getting ahead of myself here. Let’s start at the beginning. I attended three years at Pine Manor College in Boston, MA. I was a double major in English and Biology and had tons of grants and scholarships. I was a straight A student for most classes (DAMN YOU ORGANIC CHEMISTRY! My only B+) and had a fun time in my classes getting to know my professors. I was building confidence. About a month into the summer, I knew that I was never going back. My childhood home was foreclosed on. I needed to get a job to move into an apartment with my dad. I started at Kmart in September and moved out in January.
We lived in that shit hole apartment for three years. After a year, I got a job at my current insurance company MAPFRE in the Remittance department as a rep I. On my 23rd birthday, I found out that I was pregnant and my fiance left me. We were doing the long distance thing, since I left college. He lived in Boston. My high school sweetheart and all. That December, I got a promotion to Senior Rep and had a baby boy.
I came back from Maternity Leave and decided that I needed to get my shit together, so I worked for about a year and got my associate degree in Information Technology from The Institutes which is an Insurance based accelerated college program supported by my work. Still have yet to hang up the degree yet. Anyways, in Feb of 2017, I left Remittance for my current job as Senior Rep in the paper processing claims unit. I am really doing great at my current job, learning new stuff, working part of the time from home, and being a SME (Subject Matter Expert) again.
Last September though, I decided that I needed to get my degree to become someone and get a better living wage to support my autistic son and his needs. So, I heard the radio and tv talk about SNHU. I decided to go on the website and send in my inquiry. Jessica got in touch with me quickly and soon enough, I was filling out a FASA and waiting for my transcripts to arrive. I was originally going for a BA in Environmental Science, but my work would not support that degree. They reimburse through Edcore up to $5,250 a year and going through Edcore gives you a 10% discount on Tuition at qualifying institutions. Mine is one of them.
So, I switched to a BS in Data Analytics, since my end goal is to be a Statistician. I will probably pursue a Masters for it, once I am getting a good salary to pay for it. In the mean time, I got my Degree Audit and had to fight a bit to get one of my college composition courses recognized for what it was. That was all settled in February, when SNHU was finally satisfied with the original syllabus from 2012.
SNHU made it a breeze to apply and start college again. The financial aid team is great and I am signed up for 5 semesters (I was one semester late for the 2018-2019 school year). Generally, there are 6 online semesters. They are 8 weeks long each and you can take up to two classes. I am very happy with my financial aid package and between that and work, I am looking at contributing about $200 a year myself. Mainly interest and fees for the student loans. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.
There is so much more to say, but I am ending this blog post here. I will talk about my adviser and orientation and everything in the next blog post. If you have any specific questions or requests, please comment them down below and I will answer them. I am very happy that I chose SNHU. They call me often to see how I am doing. They are invested in me as a person and not just a paycheck. It is really refreshing. Oh, and in case you where wondering, I will be finishing in the Spring of 2020.
With Love,
Home Sweet Phoenix Cove 