Well I finally stumped up the guts to resign my old job... I've been accepted for an electronics course in 2012! Woo! ;D
(Erm... hope the kids don't mind saveloys (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saveloy) and rice for the next year or three) :P
Congrats man! I love hearing people do stuff like this... encouragement for me to do the same... well, not with electronics, as you guys are frickin ninjas.
cool man. i 'd like to do that in my future too. i'd love to enroll on a PhD, but not now, now i wanna work and make as much money as i can, i wanna buy an house and start a family. it would be very nice if i could do it, maybe 10 years from now. we'll see.
good luck and good grades !
Thanks guys...
Its a one year course which I can extend a further two years if I want to turn it into an electronics engineering degree. I've been in my job 11 years and started to get sick of it after year two... lol! Kept at it, but now its time for a change and my family is behind me! Pedal building has been a great hook into the world of electronics, I'm looking forward to being a student again :)
interesting! i went back to school to pursue a technical education myself, although I was only out of high school for a few years. Best of luck!
Best of luck! ;)
I went back to University after quite a few years away from learning and really enjoyed it; much more than I ever did as a teenager. I know you will too.
To paraphrase an old song, you've got to have a dream to have a dream come true!
Good for you and the best of luck! I wish i could do the same, maybe one day.
Good on you mate! I have gone back to school, 4 semesters in now. I am on my way to becoming a high school Math teacher. Stick to it!
Thanks guys... its still pretty scary at this stage, its nice to hear other peeps have a go at change too :)
Good luck man. It's been about 15 years now since I finished my MBA while working. Very tough honestly but I would have never done it unless I was much younger. Do it while you are young!
That's very good for you. I did a 2 year EE program at a community college. It was really fun, learned so much. Still need to finish those General Ed classes so I can get the actual AA degree.
Are you at a university or smaller school? I know if I follow this further to get a BA at university its gonna be much more intensive, lots of MATH.
Thanks guys! BMFW its a smaller school, there's a bit of an EE skill shortage in NZ, so the government fully funds the course... which means no fees! :) The tutor was in the British Navy for 20 something years and is a really nice guy... I'm hoping the maths don't kill me, I could always do it in school, but with only with some fair concentration! ;)
I think there are some forum members that are superb Mathletes here, if you get stuck one of us should be able to help! Again, best of luck!
Quote from: nzCdog on January 23, 2012, 05:32:04 AM
Thanks guys! BMFW its a smaller school, there's a bit of an EE skill shortage in NZ, so the government fully funds the course... which means no fees! :) The tutor was in the British Navy for 20 something years and is a really nice guy... I'm hoping the maths don't kill me, I could always do it in school, but with only with some fair concentration! ;)
Sounds like a fun time! DC/AC Theory and calculations is not to bad with a little concentration like you said. If you've done any type of calculus class you'll be fine, cause I never did. Finding a good teacher can be a big part of it especially if your having trouble grasping the concepts on your own. A few of my teachers had heavy accents, they would talk fast and had trouble explaining things other than the one way they understood it, those classes being the most difficult. The class that was the most difficult for me was AC Theory (phase angles, sinusoidal voltage, tan, sin, finding capacitive inductance, capacitive reactance). Not meant to be a discouragement, it's a good challenge! :)
Quote from: nzCdog on January 20, 2012, 08:30:19 PM
Well I finally stumped up the guts to resign my old job... I've been accepted for an electronics course in 2012! Woo! ;D
(Erm... hope the kids don't mind saveloys (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saveloy) and rice for the next year or three) :P
Check this link out - you may have heard about it, but MIT (yes, Massachussett's Institute of Technology) has a large number of their courses listed for free free with all materials but no certification (soon they will offer this as well) load of really intense and useful info - much of it is very fresh and new concepts
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/
good luck!!!
Two weeks till I start, can't wait ;D
Won't be long until you say "2 weeks to go and I'm out...can't wait "
:P
Good luck indeed! Any change from the career path you're on--especially if it's a successful one--takes some courage. I was well along the PhD path but left that when it no longer made sense for where I was at that time in life (i.e. my first daughter had been born recently and taking her to Southeast Asia while I was doing field research didn't seem advisable!). My advisors thought I was crazy, but the experiences I had have certainly helped me career-wise up to now. I'll put it this way--making these changes along the way have helped me be more able to do things like start building effects pedals if I like!
So all the best on your new path!
Thanks Bret... My job has been an exciting but demanding one, kind of like yours it sounds. Not everyone understands my decision as it looks like a glamorous job with lots of perks from the outside... but I need a change to a more family friendly routine! Its nice to know I'm not alone in making drastic life decisions. Goodbye late-model company vehicle... and hello bicycle! :D
I have said it for years. For me my life is not defined by my career and any success I have in it. My life is defined by what kind of husband, brother, son and friend I am. That simple. I've worked with so many people over the years who work themselves into the ground at the cost of their family. Sure, they make more money and have lots of material goods. Whatever is most important to them I say. For me, I make as much as I can within the context of my wife and my life comes first (we don't have kids).
Anyway, it sounds like you have chosen a path with less stress, more fun and a better quality of life. My God who wouldn't want that I say !
Thanks TN, I appreciate the encouragement. :)
Well the first day was intense... crammed with a tonne of atomic theory and math... :o Including a 'long multiplication/division' assessment at the end of the day, and no calculators allowed! Hmmm... TBH I'm a bit rusty on my 638 times-tables, but we got there ;)
I can feel my brain right now... throbbing :o
Can't wait for tomorrow!
Holy schnikies...you lost me after the phrase "atomic theory" ???
Did I say stress free :'(
My bad !