In the past 4 months, I have completed 4 McMaster university courses while dealing with the increase in workload due to the pandemic rearing its ugly head in my workplace. I deployed a ton of WFH computers to the organization and did a little bit of overtime from the chaos. This was difficult. There were old issues that finally got resolved too. It feels nice to fix problems that have been happening for months.
At the start of the year, I cycled on my indoor trainer but it was too much. The amount of reading I had to soak in while completing weekly assignments from 4 classes was hectic. I had to stop working out to manage my time.
Reading takes hours. As someone who barely reads, this was a challenge. I had to re-read every piece of scholarly material thrown at me to understand the interesting world of academia. I had to read chapters 3-4 times to comprehend what they were explaining. It was worth it and I think I benefitted from them a lot.
I’ve read so much and learned so much that I’m looking at applying to graduate school or law school. I enjoyed doing my first research/inquiry assignments. The research I had to perform was something so interesting that I’d like to do more of it. It’s very refreshing compared to my IT job. Research and reading is fun. I never thought I’d say that. I want to continue learning academia even though I’m by no means good at it. I will get good at it though.
As I write this, I have received my final marks. The marks would have been higher but I don’t attend class due to work and participation marks are lost. I also submitted some things late due to my increase in workload.
I talked to an advisor at the school and I have options on what to do next but I need to sit down and think deeply about it. I have to apply to an honors program and then I will most likely apply to law school or graduate school. At the moment, I’d like to get into law school to see if I can make a difference by looking at changing policies or helping people such as immigration law or even international law. Research is also on my mind, being a social scientist would be cool too.
I’m also back to reading my CCNA and CISSP. I think I might be able to get certified within the next two months. I think I can read things faster and soak them in faster. Am I getting better at studying and retaining information? Maybe. There is a ton going on in my life and I’m excited on what’s to come.
As I finish this little blog write up, I’d like to note I’m taking 1 course and my final course in June to complete my undergraduate. I’ve never felt so proud of myself.
