An Epiphany

I have had an epiphany today. Yes, another one. But a great one, one that left me feeling content and fulfilled with where my life is and where it is going.

See it's tough to stay in school. 4 years to do a Bachelor's at full-time? 20,000 Gs?
I can't afford that. Time-wise, nor money-wise. So I study part-time. But then, that 4 years quickly becomes 7 or 8 years. 7 years to obtain a Bachelor's? 7 long years of toiling away in minimum wage positions, working at coffee shops and restaurants, scraping by. It doesn't appeal to you? Doesn't appeal to me either.

Add to this "torture" the fact that I study in French - not my first language. I don't know why, but i've chosen to put myself through a meat-grinder of an education it would seem. I am not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

So, while one of my professors was dragging on, rather listlessly, in French, about municipal political structures across North America, I decided that I am done studying there and will study at one of my city's finer, English-speaking institutions. Again, part-time, but nonetheless, in my mother tongue.

I will start in winter so as not to lose anytime. With 3 classes/term, I can be done in another 4 - 5 years. Not 45 but 4 - 5. It aill seem like 45 though.

But it will pay off in the end. I considered the other night, going to one of the technical colleges in my city. In fact I live right near a very reputable and well-attended one (read: well-financed, no chance of disappearing overnight as some vocational schools can do).

There, I would take a 1-year office admin. or tourism planner program. 1 year. in. out. they give you a work placement for 2-weeks, they teach you WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW, and they help you acquire employment upon graduation. All that for LESS than I'm paying for a post-sec education. A 50 min bus ride away, second-language, costly, post-sec education. So, comme j'avais mon voyage avec Quebec (i've had it with Quebec), j'avais egalement mon voyage a l'Universite ________.

Im gonna go speak some good english at a uni here in the city where ill get a degree and a job with the federal government in 2011 when 40 percent of their workforce becomes eligible for retirement.

Lesson for today: Do what you love in life cause it's your life and you're the one that's gotta enjoy/endure it.

UPDATE: College is a much better option for people who feel the way I do: that education should not take a life-time (yes 7 years to a young person feels like a life time!) and cost an arm and a leg. Rather, college offers people a fast, direct, and applicable education. I will therefore be studying journalism at one of our city's fine colleges next september. I have ceased going to my francophone university. How I enjoy going to the library, reading, writing, thinking, formulating opinions on things. Too often, in this hectic and busy world, where we are told where to go, when to eat, when to sleep, we lose our sense of direction, our sense of who we are and what we wish to achieve. Taking a step back from the "chaos" (school/work/etc) I now have time to cotemplate these million dollar questions and choose a life path I will be happy with. 24/11/2008