So much to say....
I've had a lot to say for a while, and that's why I haven't posted. You see, I've got so much news I don't really know where to start, so eventually I just give up trying and play Duke Nukem instead.
It's a coping strategy, and yes, I know it doesn't work.
Anyway: I'm leaving the brewery in two weeks. And I'm going back to school full-time.
Yup. Two small announcements with huge ramifications. Leaving the brewery will leave me without income for the first time in 21 or so years. I'm going to live on school loans for the next sememster or two, by which time I should get my degree (finally) and be able to get actual work that pays actual money.
I'm enrolled in the University Without Walls program at UMASS, a program designed for "non-traditional" students to finish undergraduate degrees. One of the nice features of this program is that it lets the student design his or her own degree program, and so I have taken advantage of this option to desing a degree in Brewing Science.
Why Brewing Science? Why not computers or whatever? Am I planning on working in breweries for the rest of my working life?
Yes. No. I don't know. Probably not. I think, after this experience I've had working at the brewery where I now work, I may be done with brewing as a career option. It's lots of work and not a lot of money, and generally I prefer things the other way around. But a degree in Brewing Sciences has two advantages for me:
a) it's something I can achieve with only one more year of school; and
b) it's a foothold into the up-and-coming world of biological sciences. The way I figure it, brewing is really just applied biochemistry, and so I will graduate next spring with a good working knowledge of biochemistry and microbiology. This, tied to my past career as a computer professional, should allow me access to the lucrative world of biotech.
That's the theory, anyway.
But first things first. I'm leaving work so that I can go to school full-time and dedicate myself to my classes. I've taking three very demanding classes this fall (Biology, Microbiology, and a graduate-level Food Microbiology). All three of these classes have labs attached to them, so I will be pretty much in the lab until mid-December. If this sounds ambitious and possibly masochistic (Hi, Zoot!), it probably is. I'm hoping that all these labs will serve to reinforce each other, so it's not like I'm taking three different labs, but one big lab from three different points of view.
Or something. Quite frankly, I'm terrified about all this. I mean, not having income + going into debt with lots of student loans + three demanding classes has me stressed to the max. I'm not at all convinced that I'm intellectually up to this task. But I'm doing it anyway.
Wish me luck, my friends. I will surely need it.
It's a coping strategy, and yes, I know it doesn't work.
Anyway: I'm leaving the brewery in two weeks. And I'm going back to school full-time.
Yup. Two small announcements with huge ramifications. Leaving the brewery will leave me without income for the first time in 21 or so years. I'm going to live on school loans for the next sememster or two, by which time I should get my degree (finally) and be able to get actual work that pays actual money.
I'm enrolled in the University Without Walls program at UMASS, a program designed for "non-traditional" students to finish undergraduate degrees. One of the nice features of this program is that it lets the student design his or her own degree program, and so I have taken advantage of this option to desing a degree in Brewing Science.
Why Brewing Science? Why not computers or whatever? Am I planning on working in breweries for the rest of my working life?
Yes. No. I don't know. Probably not. I think, after this experience I've had working at the brewery where I now work, I may be done with brewing as a career option. It's lots of work and not a lot of money, and generally I prefer things the other way around. But a degree in Brewing Sciences has two advantages for me:
a) it's something I can achieve with only one more year of school; and
b) it's a foothold into the up-and-coming world of biological sciences. The way I figure it, brewing is really just applied biochemistry, and so I will graduate next spring with a good working knowledge of biochemistry and microbiology. This, tied to my past career as a computer professional, should allow me access to the lucrative world of biotech.
That's the theory, anyway.
But first things first. I'm leaving work so that I can go to school full-time and dedicate myself to my classes. I've taking three very demanding classes this fall (Biology, Microbiology, and a graduate-level Food Microbiology). All three of these classes have labs attached to them, so I will be pretty much in the lab until mid-December. If this sounds ambitious and possibly masochistic (Hi, Zoot!), it probably is. I'm hoping that all these labs will serve to reinforce each other, so it's not like I'm taking three different labs, but one big lab from three different points of view.
Or something. Quite frankly, I'm terrified about all this. I mean, not having income + going into debt with lots of student loans + three demanding classes has me stressed to the max. I'm not at all convinced that I'm intellectually up to this task. But I'm doing it anyway.
Wish me luck, my friends. I will surely need it.