[Rhodes22-list] The Nerd Goes Back To School

Tue Sep 2 14:52:11 EDT 2003

Michael,

The factor that really enabled this whole thing was that SVSU was a college,
within reasonable driving distance, that offered an engineering degree that
I could earn in a year or less.  The nearest college to offer PhD's in
engineering is Michigan State about 100 miles away.  It would probably
require more than a year to earn a PhD as well.  This whole thing is market
driven.  I need to upgrade my marketability, get a job, & get on with my
life.

Roger

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Meltzer" <mjm at michaelmeltzer.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 11:27 AM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] The Nerd Goes Back To School

> good for you, I was thinking along the same lines not to long ago, quick
question, why not the Phd?
>
> MJM
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402 at centurytel.net>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Monday, September 01, 2003 5:53 AM
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] The Nerd Goes Back To School
>
>
> Hi Everybody,
>
> Well, my life has changed again!  I've gone back to school at Saginaw
Valley State University (SVSU).  I've enrolled in their 2nd
> baccalaureate degree program in an attempt to earn a BS degree in
mechanical engineering (BSME).  As many of you know, I already
> hold BS & MS degrees in chemical engineering.
>
> The whole thing happened pretty quickly.  In the end of July, 2003, I
received an advertising flier in the mail from SVSU.  As I
> quickly glanced thru it, intending to toss it out as junk mail, I noticed
SVSU had this "2nd Baccalaureate Degree Program" & they
> had programs in mechanical & electrical engineering.  The BSME & BSEE
degree programs really caught my eye because I wasn't aware
> SVSU had an engineering school.  Up to that point, I thought the closest
school that offered engineering degrees was Michigan State
> University in E. Lansing, MI, about 100 miles away.  So, the next day, I
arranged an appointment with the SVSU Admissions Dept.,
> took a tour of campus & the Engineering School, & talked with a couple of
the engineering professors.  I came away convinced these
> folks & their program were for real!  The decision to pursue the
mechanical engineering degree is purely market driven.  As I've
> been job searching, it appears about 75% of the engineering jobs that come
onto the market in this area are for ME's.  In my
> previous job, at the Dow Chemical Co., I did a lot of mechanical
engineering-related work.  Those of you familiar with my technical
> writing for the Rhodes 22 list know that most of it is mechanical
engineering oriented.  With 26 years of experience, I could
> probably do the job in most of these positions.  However, without an ME
degree, I couldn't even get an interview.
>
> However, I've been unemployed since March, 2002 & our savings are
dwindling away pretty quickly.  In addition, my older son Daniel,
> is just starting his 2nd year of college as a Graphic Arts major.  So,
from a family resources point of view, I needed to get the
> required class credits for this BSME degree down to something that could
be completed in a year or less.  That's where this 2nd
> Baccalaureate Degree Program came to the rescue.  Despite the fact that my
1st BS degree from Michigan Technological University
> dates back to 1975, in the 2nd Baccalaureate Degree Program, all the
general education class requirements were waived.  All I had to
> do was determine how many of my chemical engineering college credits would
transfer & count towards the mechanical engineering
> program.  Getting an official copy of my transcript from Michigan Tech
sent to SVSU was no problem.  However, I needed to somehow
> get documentation of the course content of certain of my chemical
engineering courses from the years 1971 - 1976!
>
> So, on very short notice, in the 1st week of August, Daniel & I made a
road trip up to Michigan Technological University in
> Houghton, MI.  Houghton is in the NW upper peninsula of Michigan, about
450 miles away.  We left early one morning & got to Houghton
> by about 2:00 PM.  I spent the rest of the afternoon in the archives of
the campus library.  The library archives had bound paper
> copies of the academic catalogs from the years I attended school there.  I
was able to photocopy the course descriptions I needed
> out of these original academic catalogs.  We camped overnight nearby &
drove home the next day.
>
> >From these course descriptions, a few syllabuses (syllabi?) I still had
from my college notebooks, and some letters of
> recommendation from my former colleagues at Dow Chemical Co., I put
together a stack of course petitions wherein I attempted to
> preempt out of as many ME courses as possible.  For each required ME
course, I took the course descriptions from the current SVSU
> academic catalog and tried to justify my case that combinations of 3, 4,
or even 5 classes from Michigan Tech &/or my work
> experience provided equivalent training.  I had to prepare stand alone
course petitions for each SVSU course I wanted credit for.  I
> also had to sort thru the remaining required SVSU classes to figure which
ones I still needed to take.  In certain cases, I had to
> petition SVSU to allow me to take classes and their prerequisite classes
concurrently.  I had to submit these petitions to the SVSU
> mechanical engineering dept. and the entire ME dept. faculty voted on each
one in private session.   After all the academic dust
> settled, I've managed to enter SVSU as a senior with 93 credit hours in
the bag and 36 credit hours remaining to be earned.  This
> works out to 17 credit hours per semester in the fall and winter terms
plus 2 credit hours in the summer, 2004 semester.  At this
> rate, I'll be done by August, 2004 with less than $10,000 invested, not
including commuting costs.  It's doable; but, I'm going to
> need to find a job ASAP after that!  If it's not in engineering, I may be
flipping burgers at McDonalds a year from now.
>
> 12 - 18 credit hours is considered the "normal" range of full time student
load.  So, 17 credit hours per semester doesn't sound
> like a real heavy load, right?  However, the course petitioning process
left me with mostly the really hard core ME classes to
> take - i.e. the real "killer" classes that everyone dreads.  The normal 4
year BSME degree program has students taking only one, or
> at most two, of these killer classes per semester.  I'm taking three of
these beasts at the same time this semester, plus a couple
> of somewhat easier (for me) courses.  The winter semester class load will
be similar.  Keeping in mind the last calculus class I
> took was something like 30 years ago, the homework load is staggering!
For some reason, I only have classes Monday - Thursday.
> But, on Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday, I have classes from 10:00 AM to
10:00 PM with a 45 minute commute on each end.  Fortunately,
> there is downtime during the day to do homework in between classes.  Being
a morning person, I'm not too thrilled with the 12 hour
> days & the late evening schedule.  But, in each case, there was only one
section of the class available.  So, my class schedule has
> zero degrees of freedom.  I'm fortunate it's even possible at all!  I'm
very motivated; but, hopefully, haven't taken on more than I
> can handle here.
>
> So, on September 22nd, I will turn 50 years old.  I will spend my 50th
birthday in college classes with students less than half my
> age.  Because of my late night class schedule, I've resigned my adult
leader position in my Boy Scout troop.  You won't be hearing
> about any more Boy Scout Polar Bear Winter Camping trips for awhile.  For
now, I've kept my adult leader position in the Venture
> Unit.  But, I've warned them I won't be attending any Monday night unit
meetings and will be very selective about attending weekend
> outings for the next year.  Hey, load had to be shed somewhere & I think
I'm going to need the weekends to catch up!  I plan to stay
> on the Rhodes list, but probably won't be as active in my contributions.
I hope you all understand.
>
> Despite the work load, my attitude is better than it's been in a long
time.  I'm a very active person & engineers are, by nature,
> hard wired to be problem solvers.  The past 18 months of fruitless job
searching has been pure torture & my ego & self esteem have
> really taken a beating.  I don't know where this new phase of my life is
eventually going to end up.  But, at least there's a goal
> to be worked for & it feels like I'm moving forward again.  My wife, Deb,
is nervous about the cost & worried about me bearing up
> under the crushing class load; but, in the end supportive.  She was
appalled at how many hours it took me to do my homework & amazed
> at how cheerfully I did it.  The nerd has gone back to school!
>
> Wish me luck!
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>
>