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Tinwhistler's college journey as an old man

May 26, 2020#1

Tinwhistler

I didn't wanna keep fluffing up the minor victory thread.

So far, I've passed Intro to IT, Logic and Critical Thinking and Intro to Communications (where I had to write a paper and record a speech in addition to passing a test). Now, on to English Composition, where I have to write 4 essays--each in a different style.

Course instructor says it's possible to pass the course in a week. I'm not sure...but I'm off to a good start. Started the class today, and my first 950 word essay rough draft is done. I'll check it over tomorrow with fresh eyes, and then turn it in and move on to the next one.

May 26, 2020#2

MindDetective

For what its worth, nontraditional or returning students are usually extremely good students. All those life skills help tons in time management, connecting material to life experiences, and transitioning skills from the workplace into schoolwork that is designed to prepare students for the workplace. The primary exceptions to the nontrad students being the gems in the classroom are those nontrad students with severe mental health issues. This is true of any student, of course, but those nontrad students often have years or even decades of issues dogging them. It is sad to see it but they really struggle more than most I've taught.

May 27, 2020#3

GasBandit

Time to dust off this golden oldie!

May 27, 2020#4

Dave

When I started back to college I'd been out of school for 14+ years. I sat near the front because that's what I do. I was also the first one there. The second person there was a really good looking girl who came and sat down next to me and struck up a conversation. My ego was soaring! Until she told me she sat next to me since older students tended to be good study partners and that I reminded her of her dad.

May 27, 2020#5

GasBandit

Dave said:
When I started back to college I'd been out of school for 14+ years. I sat near the front because that's what I do. I was also the first one there. The second person there was a really good looking girl who came and sat down next to me and struck up a conversation. My ego was soaring! Until she told me she sat next to me since older students tended to be good study partners and that I reminded her of her dad.

I almost never say this, but...

OOF.

May 27, 2020#6

Bubble181

Dave said:
When I started back to college I'd been out of school for 14+ years. I sat near the front because that's what I do. I was also the first one there. The second person there was a really good looking girl who came and sat down next to me and struck up a conversation. My ego was soaring! Until she told me she sat next to me since older students tended to be good study partners and that I reminded her of her dad.

"14+", of course, includes such numbers as 15, 16, 18425, 3625716, and ∞ .

May 27, 2020#7

Tinwhistler

Dave said:
When I started back to college I'd been out of school for 14+ years. I sat near the front because that's what I do. I was also the first one there. The second person there was a really good looking girl who came and sat down next to me and struck up a conversation. My ego was soaring! Until she told me she sat next to me since older students tended to be good study partners and that I reminded her of her dad.

May 27, 2020#8

bhamv3

I'm not as old as you, but I also went back to spend a year as a student recently to get my MA. On the whole I think I got along well with my classmates, possibly because I'm still a teenager at heart. I noticed early on that there was a slight tendency for people to defer to my opinions during group discussions, possibly because I was older, so later on I stopped talking so much, to give other people a chance to speak first.

The hot female classmates were nice too.

May 28, 2020#9

Tinwhistler

bhamv3 said:
I'm not as old as you, but I also went back to spend a year as a student recently to get my MA. On the whole I think I got along well with my classmates, possibly because I'm still a teenager at heart. I noticed early on that there was a slight tendency for people to defer to my opinions during group discussions, possibly because I was older, so later on I stopped talking so much, to give other people a chance to speak first.

The hot female classmates were nice too.

Unfortunately, WGU is an entirely online class. So i don't get any of that college life experience. Nor do I get to meet freshmen with daddy issues

May 28, 2020#10

Emrys

Old man, take a look at my life; I'm a lot like you. :notes:

May 28, 2020#11

AshburnerX

As someone who literally just finished his bach degree about three weeks ago, I'm getting a kick...

May 28, 2020#12

blotsfan

I miss college so much other than the classes. Online college sounds like the worst.

May 28, 2020#13

AshburnerX

blotsfan said:
I miss college so much other than the classes. Online college sounds like the worst.

I did about 100+ hours of my degree online, for free, thanks to Pell Grants and a close partnership between Columbus State and Ohio State University. Because of this, I saved more than $20,000 in tuition fees. Online was by far the correct way to do this and I wouldn't trade the money I saved for anything.

May 28, 2020#14

Bubble181

AshburnerX said:
I did about 100+ hours of my degree online, for free, thanks to Pell Grants and a close partnership between Columbus State and Ohio State University. Because of this, I saved more than $20,000 in tuition fees. Online was by far the correct way to do this and I wouldn't trade the money I saved for anything.

Obviously. On the other hand, no. You "saved" $20K because of a broken, horrible system; convincing people that on line just-learning-the-skills-as-quickly-as-possible, destroying the college/university campus is problematic. I don't mean frat parties and drunk campus rapes, obviously. Students developing themselves as thinking individuals, growing into politics, getting to know people from different backgrounds and areas, having the means and time to develop their own thoughts and thought processes, etc is all vital for the proper functioning of a society. Maybe you can create good engineers and software developers by just having people sit in front of a PC for 8 hours a day when they're 19-20; you can't create psychologists, sociologists, or any of the humanities that way.
Educating the next generation is essential in keeping life improving, changing, evolving - making life better for the next generation. It's one of the basic elements of a functional society, especially one that wants the average person to do well.

But, you know, we're back to politics, sorry

May 28, 2020#15

PatrThom

Bubble181 said:
we're back to politics, sorry

They're great points.

--Patrick

May 28, 2020#16

Adam

I'm in school again taking my second Master's and the mature students are both the most annoying and best students there are. They have a wealth of experience and unique perspective which is great, they just don't shut up about it and usually dominate conversations because they don't have the deep-seated social anxiety or fear that many younger students have.

Added: Also at 40, I think I'm pretty close to a mature student as well.

May 28, 2020#17

Tinwhistler

Adam said:
I'm in school again taking my second Master's and the mature students are both the most annoying and best students there are. They have a wealth of experience and unique perspective which is great, they just don't shut up about it and usually dominate conversations because they don't have the deep-seated social anxiety or fear that many younger students have.

I could totally see me doing that, too.

My first essay passed. Working on the 2nd one now.

Bubble181 said:
Obviously. On the other hand, no. You "saved" $20K because of a broken, horrible system; convincing people that on line just-learning-the-skills-as-quickly-as-possible, destroying the college/university campus is problematic. I don't mean frat parties and drunk campus rapes, obviously. Students developing themselves as thinking individuals, growing into politics, getting to know people from different backgrounds and areas, having the means and time to develop their own thoughts and thought processes, etc is all vital for the proper functioning of a society. Maybe you can create good engineers and software developers by just having people sit in front of a PC for 8 hours a day when they're 19-20; you can't create psychologists, sociologists, or any of the humanities that way.
Educating the next generation is essential in keeping life improving, changing, evolving - making life better for the next generation. It's one of the basic elements of a functional society, especially one that wants the average person to do well.

But, you know, we're back to politics, sorry

:I agree with much of this, honestly. But for someone in my position, WGU is perfect

May 28, 2020#18

AshburnerX

Bubble181 said:
Maybe you can create good engineers and software developers by just having people sit in front of a PC for 8 hours a day when they're 19-20; you can't create psychologists, sociologists, or any of the humanities that way.
Educating the next generation is essential in keeping life improving, changing, evolving - making life better for the next generation. It's one of the basic elements of a functional society, especially one that wants the average person to do well.

It's worth mentioning that 100+ hours was only about 2/3rds of my degree and mostly just the GE portion of it. I still had 60 some hours at OSU, on campus, mostly in my major. I also didn't start college until I was almost 30. I just turned 35.

Also, my major? Psychology, with a focus in organizations and personnel. The MOMENT I set foot on OSU campus and began to interact with the staff, I was being asked by my professors if I'd ever considered going into research... because they knew I had what it took. I'm taking some time to find work and get my life into order, but I plan to take them up on that offer someday. So, I assure you, it's perfectly possible to develop yourself into an actual person while still taking online classes when you can. You're still going to interact with your classmates, on their level... there were times when I was older than my professor and could still relate to the fellow students better. You're going to interact with your professors too. It's not some mind-numbing skill challenge... virtually all of my classwork at both CSCC and OSU was team based and required creative thought or application.

You have some weird ideas of what a path in the humanities looks like if you take online courses.

May 28, 2020#19

Tinwhistler

Second essay complete. It's an "evaluation essay" so, naturally, I chose "What's the best penny whistle a new musician can buy?"

Jun 2, 2020#20

Tinwhistler

3rd essay was Causal Analysis. My topic was "Why is voter turnout so low in the US". That came back today as passed.
Just turned in the 4th essay, a Proposal Argument....in which you propose solutions to the problem described in the previous essay.

Bubble181 will be happy to know that many of my proposed solutions were along the lines of "Be more like Belgium: Make registration automatic, voting easier by allowing mail-in ballots, and make voting compulsory. They have a 90% voter participation rate, you know"

Though I did have to pad that out so that it covered 5 paragraphs and 1400 words

Jun 2, 2020#21

Bubble181

To be fair, there's a sizable group of the people here who wants to get rid of mandatory voting because they're afraid of further pushes people towards f-u votes - people who don't want to vote (because all politicians are corrupt /thieves /etc) have to go and just give their vote to the most anti - political politician that can find.

Oh, also, voting on a Sunday helps since most people are off anyway

Jun 2, 2020#22

blotsfan

We need Tuesday elections though so we can all make the 1 day trip into town to vote while still being able to spend Sunday at church and subsequently resting.*

*that is actually the reason our elections are on a Tuesday

Jun 2, 2020#23

GasBandit

blotsfan said:
We need Tuesday elections though so we can all make the 1 day trip into town to vote while still being able to spend Sunday at church and subsequently resting.*

*that is actually the reason our elections are on a Tuesday

And it is in november so that you have time to get your harvest in beforehand, but still early enough for the snow not to have made the trip impossible.

Jun 2, 2020#24

Bones

Jun 2, 2020#25

bhamv3

Bubble181 said:
To be fair, there's a sizable group of the people here who wants to get rid of mandatory voting because they're afraid of further pushes people towards f-u votes - people who don't want to vote (because all politicians are corrupt /thieves /etc) have to go and just give their vote to the most anti - political politician that can find.

There was an election in Taiwan where I didn't like any of the candidates, so I wrote my name in the margin and put the stamp next to my name. It would've counted as a spoiled ballot, but I like to think that I received one vote for political office in my lifetime.

Jun 2, 2020#26

Tinwhistler

One of my other 'voter turnout' problems was unlikeable candidates. In the course of my research, I found that both Clinton and Trump had historically low approval ratings, pre-election, according to Gallup. Lower than any candidate has ever had, across all 10 questions they ask, since they started tracking such things in 1956. That's pretty....amazing.

Jun 2, 2020#27

Tinwhistler

Started my 2nd term's classes today (First term complete, 1 month 1 day). First class is Intro to Physical Sciences. I've read the first chapter. They're covering things like "what's a law vs a theory vs a hypothesis." and I honestly feel like I'm back in junior high. I think I'm gonna take the pre-assessment tomorrow, and if there aren't any big surprises, just skip all the reading and take the final then too. I mean, I went into the nuclear program in the navy. I feel like I probably know anything they're gonna ask

Jun 2, 2020#28

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
I went into the nuclear program in the navy. I feel like I probably know anything they're gonna ask

Careful, that's the kind of overconfidence that gets people crushed.

--Patrick

Jun 2, 2020#29

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
Careful, that's the kind of overconfidence that gets people crushed.

--Patrick

I did the same thing with my first two courses (Intro to IT and Logic/Critical Thinking). If I do well on the pre-assessment, it's a good bet I'll pass the final. That's what the pre-assessments are for.

Jun 2, 2020#30

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
I did the same thing with my first two courses (Intro to IT and Logic/Critical Thinking). If I do well on the pre-assessment, it's a good bet I'll pass the final. That's what the pre-assessments are for.

I mean, I'm having to go through recertification because of a change to the way our training works, so I'm wading through things like, "Here is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning, it is important to know the difference," so I get where you're coming from, but still.

--Patrick

Jun 2, 2020#31

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
I mean, I'm having to go through recertification because of a change to the way our training works, so I'm wading through things like, "Here is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning, it is important to know the difference," so I get where you're coming from, but still.

--Patrick

Generally, you're supposed to read the material, take the mini quizzes, and finish the whole class, and THEN take the pre-assessment. And if you don't do well, the evaluation will tell you areas that you've got to study harder on. But you can take the PA as many times as you want, and it switches up the questions every time, so you can't just memorize the PA. And you're allowed to take it whenever you want, so if you want to take it at the beginning, and just skip the entire class if you already know the material, you can do that. In fact, WGU encourages it for students like me, who have a ton of experience but no college. It's why they rank their classes on "credit units" and not "credit hours". If you can take the final and pass, you don't need to slog thorugh all of the lectures, videos, mini quizzes, reading, and stuff.

Jun 3, 2020#32

Ravenpoe

AshburnerX said:
As someone who literally just finished his bach degree

... so you were a baroque college student?

I'll see myself out.

Jun 3, 2020#33

PatrThom

Maybe he's just saying he wants seven kids?

--Patrick

Jun 3, 2020#34

GasBandit

Ravenpoe said:
... so you were a baroque college student?

I'll see myself out.

No, no, don't go, we have so fugue-good pun artists.

Jun 3, 2020#35

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
Careful, that's the kind of overconfidence that gets people crushed.

--Patrick

Jun 3, 2020#36

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
View attachment 34152

Well it's obviously not a Statistics class...

--Patrick

Jun 3, 2020#37

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
Well it's obviously not a Statistics class...

--Patrick

I don't have any statistics classes. But I took college level statistics and elementary analysis my junior year in high school. I'd probably do well on it. (I know that's not the joke)

Jun 3, 2020#38

Tinwhistler

As an example of a subject that I'm not just going to be able to blaze through: American Politics and the US Constitution. I barely passed the pre-assessment. It was full of questions about all the different amendments (and I only know a few), and a bunch of supreme court cases (of which, I only know a few) and some history. Sure, I passed the PA, but not with enough margin to give me confidence on the final. Probably spend a week on this course boning up.

Jun 3, 2020#39

Tinwhistler

hah! My 4th essay got returned for revision. It was based on the 3rd essay--essay 3 described a problem. Essay 4 gave solutions. And while I was cutting things out of essay 3 and rewriting them as solutions, I forgot to modify the thesis. So I had a final line of the first paragraph pointing out the problems, but no sentence summing up the solutions as a thesis. So, it was sent back to me for revision.

Had the thesis in my notepad document with my research. I just forgot to paste it in. Revision sent back in 5 minutes after the essay got kicked back. Now I wait 3 more days for grading.

Don't let it be said that WGU doesn't rigorously check this stuff, no matter how fast I may be blazing through some classes

Jun 5, 2020#40

CrimsonSoul

Tinwhistler said:
hah! My 4th essay got returned for revision. It was based on the 3rd essay--essay 3 described a problem. Essay 4 gave solutions. And while I was cutting things out of essay 3 and rewriting them as solutions, I forgot to modify the thesis. So I had a final line of the first paragraph pointing out the problems, but no sentence summing up the solutions as a thesis. So, it was sent back to me for revision.

Had the thesis in my notepad document with my research. I just forgot to paste it in. Revision sent back in 5 minutes after the essay got kicked back. Now I wait 3 more days for grading.

Don't let it be said that WGU doesn't rigorously check this stuff, no matter how fast I may be blazing through some classes

I'm thinking of using WGU for my ADN to BSN after I get my ADN, would you recommend them or no?

Jun 5, 2020#41

Tinwhistler

CrimsonSoul said:
I'm thinking of using WGU for my ADN to BSN after I get my ADN, would you recommend them or no?

I don't know anything about their nursing degree. I haven't gotten though the basic classes yet, so i also can't speak to how rigorous the learning is for real stuff.
But you could try /r/wgu on reddit and talk to other folks in the program.

I *can* say that when I've had classes that I didn't know very well, (which have been two so far) I've had to actually study pretty hard to get the knowledge into my brain to pass that class.

Having never been to college before, I can't compare the quality of education between WGU and a brick-and-mortar school

Jun 6, 2020#42

Tinwhistler

4th essay passed after I added my thesis statement.

Spent the last two days cramming all 27 amendments using a handy video:

and 29 separate landmark supreme court cases into my head using quizlet to make flash cards. Decided to take the final today after jamming on supreme court cases for 3 hours. 2 questions on the test had to do with cases I didn't make flash cards for. But still,

I invented a bunch of my own mnemonics to remember cases. Like, interstate commerce? that's gibbon v ogden, because gibbons like bananas and you have to transport those across state lines. Gillette v United states? Hippies protest, and they don't shave, so Gillette hates them. 1st amendment case. That kinda thing. Silly, but it worked.

Jun 8, 2020#43

Tinwhistler

Checked my WGU app in bed last night. My mentor added 2 more classes to my term. First class: Scripting and Programming - Foundations.
Took that test this morning without even opening the book. Exemplary, of course.

22/122 credits to completion.

Next class is Web Development Foundations. Reddit says this class has a lot of CSS and HTML5 media objects specific test questions, so I may want to spend a couple of days making sure my knowledge is current before taking that final.

Jun 8, 2020#44

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
Checked my WGU app in bed last night. My mentor added 2 more classes to my term. First class: Scripting and Programming - Foundations.
Took that test this morning without even opening the book. Exemplary, of course.

The college I went to worked on quarters, so it was only three classes at a time.
Finals week was only three days long, with each class having two 3-hr finals sessions to choose from over those three days (usually one morning and one afternoon). Science and language classes might have their finals in the evening as well because labs. If you were particularly unlucky, you might have two finals scheduled on the same day.

The term I took my intro to programming course, I ended up with all three finals scheduled on the same day. People were like, "Raw deal, man. You should get one of those rescheduled," but since one of them was my programming class (and I'm good at languages), I didn't bother. The programming final took all of about an hour and a half, and that was only because a) we had to write it all out longhand into an exam book, and b) I actually included lots of comment statements.

--Patrick

Jun 8, 2020#45

Tinwhistler

Can I test out of two classes in one day? We shall see 75 minutes from now.
Next class is Web Development Foundations. I started the course material this morning, and it's all very basic stuff. Anchor tags, preliminary CSS stuff, a toe in the water with some html5 elements like video, audio, and canvas. Took the pre-assessment and only missed 3 questions that weren't technical in nature, so I scheduled the final.

Jun 8, 2020#46

blotsfan

So are you expecting to learn anything or is this just you testing out of classes until you have a degree?

Jun 8, 2020#47

Tinwhistler

blotsfan said:
So are you expecting to learn anything or is this just you testing out of classes until you have a degree?

I expect I'll learn some stuff in the last couple of terms. I've learned some stuff already, but have already known easily more than 90% of all of the material I've been skimming over.

That said, I'm still within the first 4 terms (2 years) worth of classes..this is 'associate level degree' complexity of courses. It's all "fundamentals" and "intro to"..I don't expect I'll learn much as I go through these. As the classes ramp up in complexity, and dipping more deeply into the subject matter, I expect I'll slow down.

But honestly, I don't expect to learn a ton even in the later courses. The degree is "Bachelor of Science Software Development". The course instruction is intended to teach someone how to be a software developer (either on the c# track or java track), and I've been doing that job for 24 years--14 of which have been c#. Mostly, I want the degree for job-seeking purposes, and my goal is to only spend 2 terms (1 year) doing it. I'm on track, so far--and I'm racing through these beginning courses as fast as I can, in case I run into courses that slow me down later.

Jun 8, 2020#48

Tinwhistler

I should note that in addition to just taking tests to complete classes, I also have to earn the following certs to complete the degree program:
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Project+
CIW User Interface Designer
Oracle Database SQL
ITIL1 Foundation

But I don't expect any of them will give me any significant problems, either.

Jun 8, 2020#49

PatrThom

What? No CCNA?

--Patrick

Jun 8, 2020#50

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
What? No CCNA?

--Patrick

Nope..that's for network schlubs

It's worth noting that the Web Dev Foundations final was more in depth than either the practice test or the material. If I was totally new to this material, I'd have been a bit peeved. I had to guess on a few things, but I still passed with about a 90 (I say "about" because they don't give a score--but you can guesstimate it by how far across the little bar is above the cut line on your test report)

Jun 8, 2020#51

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
Nope..that's for network schlubs

Yes.
I know.

—Patrick

Jun 8, 2020#52

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
Yes.
I know.

—Patrick

If it makes you feel any better, before I got into software, I did IT at a time that meant hauling around coax for 10-base-2 networks. Which meant we were constantly having to track down network issues because someone unplugged their cable and broke the chain without properly terminating.

Jun 8, 2020#53

PatrThom

I mean, I don’t have it yet, but it’s the one I’m working towards. And much like your situation I expect there’s a lot of overlap with the MCSA I already have.

—Patrick

Jun 8, 2020#54

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
I did IT at a time that meant hauling around coax for 10-base-2 networks.

Well then I hope you memorized the thicknet pinout:

--Patrick

Jun 9, 2020#55

grub

I still have to hook up some older CCTV systems with coax. Either in older houses with old wiring, or new cameras on old systems.

Jun 9, 2020#56

Tinwhistler

Gonna celebrate with a beer today. Officially into my 2nd year's worth of classes.

Jun 9, 2020#57

Tinwhistler

Hah, got 2 awards today. I didn't even know this was a thing at WGU. They're mailing me certificates and everything. For free, so it's not like those "we'll publish your poem if you sell 10 copies of the book to your friends" things

Jun 9, 2020#58

PatrThom

"We've never had anyone do a paper on pennywhistles before."

--Patrick

Jun 9, 2020#59

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
"We've never had anyone do a paper on pennywhistles before."

--Patrick

That may very well be true

Jun 11, 2020#60

Tinwhistler

Current class: Intro to Humanities. I thought it would suck, but it's not too terrible.
Gotta learn 5 periods: Classic, Renaissance , neo-Classical, Romantic and Realist.
Each period has about 6-8 themes you need to learn for them, as well as influential art and artists.

I thought this was gonna be tough for me, but so far, going to through the Classic and Renaissance periods, I already know most of the stuff, and I'm only running into a few new people to learn. The themes have mnemonics to help you learn them, so that's coming along. I'm tackling one period a day, and hope to test by Sunday. And then I have to write a paper--but I can generally knock those out in a day. That puts me at right around a week to finish the class, which keeps me on course for a 2 term graduation.

Jun 11, 2020#61

evilmike

How To Recognise Famous Painters According To The Internet

Jun 11, 2020#62

Bubble181

evilmike said:
How To Recognise Famous Painters According To The Internet

Déjeuner sur l'herbe is Monet and has people in it. List invalid.

Jun 11, 2020#63

evilmike

Bubble181 said:
Déjeuner sur l'herbe is Monet and has people in it. List invalid.

I think I would be more impressed if you have found a van Eyck that didn't meet the Putin criterion.

Jun 11, 2020#64

Tinwhistler

well, there's only a small handful of artworks in each period to memorize. It's an "intro" class. Not gonna muck up my brain looking at any lists that may be wrong or may not be on the test

Jun 11, 2020#65

evilmike

Ok. I'll spoiler my attempt at a Rembrandt so as to not contaminate your studies.

Jun 12, 2020#66

PatrThom

Not yellow enough.

--Patrick

Jun 12, 2020#67

Tinwhistler

humanities pre-test looked good enough for me to schedule the final for 5 minutes from now

However, this is the most unprepared I've felt for any test so far

Jun 12, 2020#68

Bubble181

Good luck!

Jun 12, 2020#69

Tinwhistler

thanks! I'm just burning nervous energy for the next 3 minutes until I can sign into the test site.

Jun 12, 2020#70

PatrThom

Oh no! I'm too late!

--Patrick

Jun 12, 2020#71

Tinwhistler

The test took me half an hour. I didn't really feel super prepared, but I suppose I did alright

Now, I gotta write a paper.

Jun 12, 2020#72

Tinwhistler

Paper will be easy. Choosing Mary Wollstonecraft’s essay A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
Template says:
2 paragraphs on the time period (Enlightenment/Neo-Classical) and cultural and historical events.
2 paragraphs on the themes of the piece (super easy..it's about women's rights, and early feminism)
2 paragraphs on the cultural significance, which should be pretty easy to do for what's happening in the USA today--much easier than, say, figuring out modern significances of Michaelangelo's David.

Jun 12, 2020#73

Tinwhistler

Took 90 minutes to write the paper. Usually takes 3 days to grade them, but it came back in pretty quick. Passed. On to the next course

Jun 15, 2020#74

Tinwhistler

I asked my program mentor to add a new class on Friday at noon. Still haven't gotten one. I could've passed another gen-ed class over the weekend. I've called the school to have her replaced with a more responsive mentor.

Jun 15, 2020#75

Tinwhistler

So, had my weekly mentor call today, and she asks "so are you ready to start a new course?"
Uhm, you don't read your emails?

Anyway, so I started Networking and Security Foundations class today. Took the pre-test, and there were questions like "Which nanometer wavelengths are commonly used for modern multimode fiber systems? Pick 2" and "how many voice channel can a t1 carry at a time?" and "hey, lets do some subnet masking math with binary".

I know some networking guys who don't know some of this stuff. Luckily, I know some--got a 46% on the pre-assessment. But it looks like I got some studying to do. Not sure what it has to do with software development, but whatevs

Jun 15, 2020#76

GasBandit

Tinwhistler said:
So, had my weekly mentor call today, and she asks "so are you ready to start a new course?"
Uhm, you don't read your emails?

Anyway, so I started Networking and Security Foundations class today. Took the pre-test, and there were questions like "Which nanometer wavelengths are commonly used for modern multimode fiber systems? Pick 2" and "how many voice channel can a t1 carry at a time?" and "hey, lets do some subnet masking math with binary".

I know some networking guys who don't know some of this stuff. Luckily, I know some--got a 46% on the pre-assessment. But it looks like I got some studying to do. Not sure what it has to do with software development, but whatevs

T1... what is this, 1998?

Jun 15, 2020#77

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
T1... what is this, 1998?

T1 maxes out at what, 1.5Mb/s?
<checks> Yep!

--Patrick

Jun 15, 2020#78

evilmike

Tinwhistler said:
Anyway, so I started Networking and Security Foundations class today. Took the pre-test, and there were questions like "Which nanometer wavelengths are commonly used for modern multimode fiber systems? Pick 2"

I'd guess 1380nm and 1550nm.

Jun 16, 2020#79

Tinwhistler

evilmike said:
I'd guess 1380nm and 1550nm.

850 and 1310. I got that one right

Jun 16, 2020#80

evilmike

Tinwhistler said:
850 and 1310. I got that one right

Ah well. I remember 1550 was a big deal -- maybe that was single mode?

Jun 17, 2020#81

Tinwhistler

Hah, the "pre-assessment" I took wasn't WGU's Network and Security Foundations assessment. It was for the CompTIA Network+ prep class. The "foundations" class only uses a small subset of that information, which I was already very familiar with. Took the actual pre-assessment today, got exemplary, so I'm testing out of that class this afternoon.

The foundations class mostly concerns itself with the OSI model (the "7 layer burrito"..though they don't call it that in the class), cable types, network types (ring, star, mesh, etc) and different types of attacks (phishing, packet sniffing, etc). I coulda been done with this day before yesterday. Heh.

On a side note, I talked to my mentor's manager yesterday. Long and short of it: The manager now knows I don't want to wait several days between finishing a class and starting a new one--especially if I'm able to finish some classes in 1-3 days. The wait means I missed out on finishing an entire class while I waited. Result: I have a new program mentor that's supposed to be more responsive than the old one.

Jun 17, 2020#82

Tinwhistler

Latest test results

Joy! (this is an Examity problem, not a WGU problem.)

Jun 17, 2020#83

Tinwhistler

Was able to get rescheduled for 8pm EST. Took me about 18 minutes to take the test. Passed.

"Planned graduation" said "oct 2024" 6 weeks ago

Jun 17, 2020#84

Tinwhistler

Next class is IT Foundations. Figured it'd be simple.
It's a CompTIA A+ Core 1 test. Don't think it's gonna be simple.

Jun 17, 2020#85

Tinwhistler

So far, I'm doing pretty good on the practice tests, but I'm missing all of the "Which CPU fits in which socket" questions. I just haven't been keeping up with all of the hardware changes in the last few years.

Jun 17, 2020#86

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
I'm missing all of the "Which CPU fits in which socket" questions. I just haven't been keeping up with all of the hardware changes in the last few years.

TBH I would miss a bunch of them too if I had to do them all from memory. Thanks a lot, Intel!

--Patrick

Jun 17, 2020#87

grub

I did the CompTIA A+ thing 20 years ago. It was way different then. Weird thing is, is that it doesn't expire because I did it so long ago.

Back then it was mostly irq and DMA assignments.

Jun 17, 2020#88

GasBandit

grub said:
I did the CompTIA A+ thing 20 years ago. It was way different then. Weird thing is, is that it doesn't expire because I did it so long ago.

Back then it was mostly irq and DMA assignments.

IRQ 5 DMA 1 Port 220... old skool.

(actually my first sound blaster defaulted to IRQ 7 but Creative Labs got wise to the problems with Parallel ports pretty quick)

Jun 18, 2020#89

Tinwhistler

one of my first networking jobs was fixing a Novell network with the NIC on IRQ11...when the documentation specifically said not to use IRQ11 for the NIC. Don't remember why.

Jun 18, 2020#90

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
one of my first networking jobs was fixing a Novell network with the NIC on IRQ11...when the documentation specifically said not to use IRQ11 for the NIC. Don't remember why.

Quick Google says it would conflict with ACPI.

--Patrick

Jun 18, 2020#91

Tinwhistler

I didn't care enough to google it

Jun 18, 2020#92

drifter

Jun 20, 2020#93

Tinwhistler

Got about 50% of the way through the study exam, and was still scoring in the 90% ranges. So, I said "screw it" and scheduled my exam, knowing full well that I hadn't covered all the material and that there'd be things I just simply didn't know on the test. I was banking on my experience and general knowledge of this stuff to get me at least a passing grade.

Success.

(I took the exam online, so that's why there was no site number)

Jun 21, 2020#94

Squidleybits

Omg you’re flying!

How long is this meant to take?

Jun 21, 2020#95

Tinwhistler

Squidleybits said:
Omg you’re flying!

Thanks!

Squidleybits said:
How long is this meant to take?

School in general? Was supposed to be nine 6-month terms. I've completed 3 terms worth of classes in 7 weeks, and Monday, I'm starting classes from the 4th term. I'm a special case, in that class of students they call "accelerators". About 1% of WGU college students complete their schooling in less than a year. ("Super-accelerators" do it in one term. I *might* be able to do that if I keep up the momentum. The math says 5.4 months to completion at my current rate of burning through these classes).

The average time to complete the schooling, according to the WGU website, is 3.5 years. And that's mostly because WGU doesn't usually take students in "cold"..you usually have to have at least some college credits transfer in. But they do make an exception for people who have years of experience (like me). They initially denied my application, and I had to appeal and write a huge paper on my experience and how it will help me get through the classes. But because I had no college classes to transfer in (and no un-expired certs that could have stood for college credits), I started with exactly 0 credits, and will have to take every single class.

If I had A+ certification, already, as an example, it would have given me the credits for the C393 and C394 classes (which are the A+ Core I and Core II prep classes).

A+ Certification? I have no idea. The class is typically 45 days long. I looked at some Professor Messer's stuff (who's supposed to be a whiz at teaching these things) and he said it takes some people months to prepare for A+. But I'm assuming that's someone going in 'cold' without a lot of preexisting experience. I've got a *lot* of experience with tech support and tech in general (though much of it is dated), so I didn't read any of the material at all.

Most WGU classes have a "pre-assessment" and an "objective assessment". The PA and OA are generally drawn from the same bank of questions, so often will give you a good indication on how ready you are for the final. Sometimes, you'll see the exact same question on both.

This class didn't have the benefit of a PA to judge how ready I was for the final because CompTIA keeps their test bank questions secret. But it did have a lot of 'pre-tests' made from the material that might be indicative of the actual cert test. But you aren't likely to see the exact same question on the actual test as you do in your 'pre-tests'. I took 5 of those and scored in the 88-91% on all of them. They also had a huge bank of like 560 questions that was a 'learning' test--it would tell you immediately if your answer was right or wrong. I spent about 4 hours in that, and got about half-way through. I was scoring in the 91% consistently on that. So, based on that learning test bank and 5 'pre-tests' (3 from Messer and 2 from WGU), I scheduled my proctored Core I test with PearsonVue (the folks who proctor this particular exam).

If I judge my actual scores properly, I scored around 88% on the actual cert. Getting the Core I passing score finishes the class. Passing the test proves you have the knowledge from the class, and so you get the credits and move on. I was in the class 2 and a half days.

Jun 21, 2020#96

Tinwhistler

Last "3rd term" class completed. Starting on my "4th term" classes Monday. I asked my program mentor to put a couple of non-tech classes in front of the A+ Core II class. She did, but she dropped the hint that Core II is easier than Core I. I dunno how true that is, but if it's actually true, I might have my A+ by the coming weekend

Jun 21, 2020#97

Tinwhistler

Looked over the Ethics in IT, and it looked like it covered laws and concepts and stuff that I was already well versed in. Scheduled the test while I was still on the high I get from taking/passing a test.

Jun 23, 2020#98

Tinwhistler

Jun 23, 2020#99

Tinwhistler

decided to take advantage of the post-test high and take Applied Algebra and not look at the material. Because, well, it's algebra.
Probably would have done better if I'd refreshed what I learned in high school..but meh, I passed it

looking at the coaching report, I did 100% on the actual algebraic formula stuff, and missed a few on the "interpreting concavity" and "examining utility of models" stuff--things we didn't cover in high school, but that I made my best logical guesses at. Guess they weren't great

But--they were good enough

Jun 24, 2020#100

Tinwhistler

Finished Web Applications Development. Didn't miss any javascript or webforms questions, which stands to reason. Those have been my bread and butter. Missed a few html5 media, css3, and web dev questions, because I don't have as much experience with them. If I'd have gotten one more question right, I'd have gotten exemplary.

I'm trying to blaze through the stuff I know just as fast as humanly possible. I spent 30 minutes taking the pre-test, saw I passed with an acceptable cushion, and just went on to take the final without looking at the material.

This was a huge 6-credit course and would have been really difficult for someone without experience. Passing puts me at 53 credits, 43% complete for the degree. I have revised my hopes. I originally hoped to finish in 18 months. Then, I changed that 2 terms (12 months)..now, if I can complete 3 classes a week for 2 weeks, and 2 classes a week for the remaining weeks, I will be able to finish in one term and save myself some money. It's definitely a possibility.

If I can't finish in one term, then I'll have an entire 2nd 6 month term to finish whatever small number of classes remain.

Jun 27, 2020#101

Tinwhistler

Well, I guess I'm A+ certified now

Jun 28, 2020#102

Tinwhistler

guess I don't need to guess now

That came sooner than expected.

CompTIA A+ ce Certification was issued by CompTIA to Gregory Mahan.

Earners of the CompTIA A+ certification are proven problem solvers who are able to perform critical IT support tasks including device configuration, data backup and recovery, and operating system configuration. CompTIA A+ certified professionals have demonstrated baseline security skills for IT...

www.youracclaim.com

Jun 28, 2020#103

PatrThom

Congratulations, you officially proven problem-solver, you.

—Patrick

Jun 28, 2020#104

jwhouk

Quick, @Dave - hire him as the official HF IT specialist in CompTIA!

Jun 30, 2020#105

Tinwhistler

CompTIA Project+ Cert passed. Another class down. On to ITIL Foundations V4.

Tomororw will be the official 2 month mark for my schooling: May 1-Jul 1.
In that time, I've earned 61 credits (out of 122 needed)--exactly 50% of the way there.

I'm feeling very hopeful that I can get this thing done in one term instead of 2.

Jul 2, 2020#106

Tinwhistler

That feeling when you are ready to take your next certification exam, but everything is shut down due to a national holiday...so you're only going to finish one class this week

Jul 2, 2020#107

MindDetective

Oh, THAT feeling.

Jul 2, 2020#108

CrimsonSoul

I've lost 50% of my vocational nursing class so far and we are still in the 2nd semester (one to go!)

Jul 3, 2020#109

Tinwhistler

MindDetective said:
Oh, THAT feeling.

I'm laughing, because I know it was kind of an asinine thing for me to say. But, on the other hand, I'm trying really hard to save $3200 by not having to take a 2nd term, and this puts a damper on those plans.

Jul 5, 2020#110

Tinwhistler

Somehow, even though they were on vacation, my instructor approved my latest cert test July 3, and Scheduling Services issued me a test voucher July 4.
End result? I'm now ITIL Foundations V4 certified.

Jul 6, 2020#111

Tinwhistler

Next class: Scripting and Programming - Applications

This is a pretty in-depth class, and I feel sorry for newbs who have to take it. It's WGU's first real to-in-the-water for programming. It's in C++, and requires you to use arrays of pointers as part of the rubric, and then freeing that memory. I feel pretty bad for anyone who has to deal with it. I haven't dealt with pointers in so long, it took me all day to knock out the 400 lines of code or so that was required to meet all of the requirements. I can see why they'd expect someone to take 30-45 days to complete.

Jul 6, 2020#112

Tinwhistler

Turned in my work (final code count: 503 lines), and amazingly, they graded it already. Pass.
69/122 credits. Past the half-way mark

Jul 9, 2020#113

Tinwhistler

Operating Systems for Programmers
I did a lot worse on the pre-assessment than I was expecting to do. Lotta Solaris and Linux memory management questions. So I spent 2 days studying (taking a day off after all of that c++ work I had to do), and passed today. 72 credits out of 122 needed.

Jul 14, 2020#114

Tinwhistler

Technical Communication.
15 pages of writing: An inter-office memo, a fact sheet, 2 pages of writing analysis, and 11 pages of a proposal for a fictitious solution to a fictitious company. It's all turned in. The memo, fact sheet and analysis are graded. Just waiting for the 11 page proposal to be graded to be done with this class.

Jul 14, 2020#115

Tinwhistler

Passed

Jul 14, 2020#116

Tinwhistler

C484 - Organizational Behavior and Leadership.

Took the pretest an hour ago, and passed with an exemplary. It covered a lot of things I already knew from past trainings, like Marlow's Hierarchy of Needs and that kind of thing.

So, I just scheduled the final without reading the material--and passed.

78/122 credits complete.

Jul 14, 2020#117

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
things I already knew from past trainings, like Marlow's Hierarchy of Needs

--Patrick

Jul 14, 2020#118

MindDetective

PatrThom said:
--Patrick

Yikes! On a class he just passed, too. That's a paddlin'.

Jul 15, 2020#119

Tinwhistler

hah

I'm allowed some post-test brain fuzz

In all honesty, I don't remember names very well, so I kinda remember the 'shape' of the name and the data points they're attached to.

Went ahead and did C175 - Data Management Foundations.
In this class, you had to know a little UML, what the difference between cardinality and modality was, what the difference between a unary, binary, and ternary relationship was, and know some elementary SQL. Plus, you had to know a chapter on Data Warehousing, which is where I missed most of my questions.

Still, passed with exemplary. ..the score line there represents six questions missed (which you can only figure out if you inspect the html element and then do some math on the percentage fill times the number of questions asked).

81/122 credits earned

Jul 15, 2020#120

Emrys

MindDetective said:
Yikes! On a class he just passed, too. That's a paddlin'.

Hey, if there's going to be any paddlin' around here, I'm the one who's goin' to be doin' it!

Oh, @Tinwhistler... :unibrow:

Jul 15, 2020#121

Squidleybits

Are you being cloned too?!?

Jul 16, 2020#122

Emrys

Squidleybits said:
Are you being cloned too?!?

Does the world need that?

Jul 16, 2020#123

Simfers

Yes.

Jul 20, 2020#124

Tinwhistler

Week 11 update.

10 classes remaining, 66% done. 4 classes with tests remaining, the rest are 'practicals'..things like writing code.

Tomorrow evening, I'm taking my CIW Interface Designer certification for C773 User Interface Design. I'm a bit nervous about this one. I know the material very well, however, all the chatter on Reddit is that this test is badly written by a non-native English speaker, so it can be difficult to sometimes discern the question and/or correct answer. I'd be bummed if this was the first test I failed at the first time.

Last upcoming cert: Oracle Database PL/SQL Developer.

The last two tests after the certs are

a MySQL hybrid final, with half of the test being questions, and half of the test being a lab.
a Software QA final.

Jul 21, 2020#125

Tinwhistler

C773 - User Interface Design.

After all of the negative things I've read about C773, I totally over prepared for this class. I read the udemy material several times, did the quizlets, did the chapter quizzes. I did poorly on the chapter quizzes and quizzes in the cohort material (scoring in the 70's percentile)...they totally sucked, were vague, and badly written. I was really worried about the actual cert test. But it wasn't anything like that.

Almost all of the conversations in reddit talk about how CIW test is hard to understand, and vague, and seems like it was written by a non-native speaker. I felt like I understood every question, and I felt like most of the answers were pretty clear. That said, there were only 3 questions on the test that I felt I wasn't 100% on. And one question on website security that I felt had no right answer at all. I hit my final "end test" button secure that I'd have missed, at most, 4 questions.

I missed 8 (if my math is right), so I'm not really sure where the disconnect was...maybe that's why people are seeming to have a hard time with it.

9 classes left, 85/122 credits.

Aug 6, 2020#126

Tinwhistler

Had some vacation downtime, so I finished a class night before last, C188 Software Engineering. It was mostly how to create a design document. Upcoming classes (Software I and II) deal with actual programming.

Banged out a 15 page document with visual aids (flow charts and UMLs) in about 5 hours. Had a couple of go-rounds with my evaluator about my scope section, but finally it passed yesterday. 89 credits in. 33 credits/8 classes remain. 3 months of term completed, 3 months left. I think I can probably finish up this term

Aug 7, 2020#127

Tinwhistler

Woke up early. Decided to get some more schooling done during my dead time. Next class is C856-User Experience Design

This class has multiple submission requirements. I have to write a UX design timeframe, and create a "persona"--a fictional user that I envision is using the site. The goal is to make sure the site meets the persona's needs. Then I need to create a mock-up (low-fidelity wireframe) and then a working prototype.

I will need help with the wireframe portion! I am supposed to do 'guerilla usability testing"--three users who will look at my wireframes and then give feedback (from which I will analyze for actionable and non-actionable items). I have completed the timeframe and persona, and will start on the wireframe as soon as I can get access to my Balsamiq license. So that might be finished today too.

If anyone would like to volunteer to look at my mock-ups and provide feedback, let me know!

Aug 12, 2020#128

Tinwhistler

WGU C856 - User Experience Design.

Things are definitely getting more complicated. This task required 6 different artifacts for submission, one of them being a fully functioning prototype. Got half of it done when I was on vacation.

And I have one more task to complete for this class. Thankfully, it's the smaller of the two tasks.

Aug 24, 2020#129

Tinwhistler

Still waiting on all of my student usability tests for the above class. So in the meantime, I've finished Software I, and Data Management Applications (which required writing raw SQL in a funky lab environment). I'm about half-way through with Software II.

Here are all the classes I have left.

The C993 course is an Oracle SQL Cert, which I read is an absolute beast. Other than that, it looks to be smooth sailing. Since I'm already mostly done with two of these, that means I have 4 classes to between me and graduation. I have 9 weeks left in the term. I'm still hoping I can do this in one term.

Aug 26, 2020#130

Tinwhistler

I just turned in my homework for Software II and for User Experience Design.

That's 9 credits and if they both pass, I only have 4 classes left.
Those four classes are:

Getting the Oracle SQL cert. I hear this one is a bitch. Barely a minute per question.
Building a mobile app in C# using Xamarin. Used to do this before switching to PhoneGap for easier cross-platform coding.
A software QA class. This seems like it coulda/shoulda come earlier than this. But my mentor did move some stuff around so that I could work on non-test courses while on vacation, so maybe that's why it's at the end.
The Capstone--"This course requires the completion of the design, development, and implementation of a software application; this is your performance assessment....There is no learning resource for this course..." This is where they throw you in the deep end, and you just gotta build something passable from the ground up with no resources. Good thing that's basically been my whole job for 26 years.

Aug 26, 2020#131

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
that's basically been my whole job for 26 years.

Oh, come on. Only 26 years? I'll bet you were doing it on the sly (or just for fun) even longer than that.
I mean, I was doing electronics & computer repair for almost three decades before I finally started getting paid to do it.

--Patrick

Aug 26, 2020#132

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
Oh, come on. Only 26 years? I'll bet you were doing it on the sly (or just for fun) even longer than that.
I mean, I was doing electronics & computer repair for almost three decades before I finally started getting paid to do it.

--Patrick

I made my first "slave disk" (because you couldn't boot to it) in September 1979. I remember it very well, because the instructions for formatting it instructed me to put my name and date on the disk, as well as the words "slave disk". It was useless for letting me know what was on it later, but very good at reminding me of the first time I ever stuck a floppy disk into a computer and typed something on a keyboard.

I programmed lots of stuff as a hobby--including my own dial-up BBS from scratch. I didn't have a hard drive, so I'd boot to the BBS software, and then once it was running, I'd flip the disk over and use the other side as storage for the message board.

But it didn't become my job until about 1994.

Aug 26, 2020#133

Simfers

Tinwhistler said:
I made my first "slave disk" (because you couldn't boot to it) in September 1979.

I was 3 months old at the bolded part, just to confirm the thread's title.

Aug 27, 2020#134

Bubble181

Simfers said:
I was 3 months old at the bolded part, just to confirm the thread's title.

I wouldn't be born for another 5 years. Dude's almost as old as Dave :whistling:

Aug 27, 2020#135

PatrThom

Simfers said:
I was 3 months old at the bolded part, just to confirm the thread's title.

In 1979, I had independently discovered the artificial larynx, and I was electrolyzing water into hydrogen and oxygen into jars in my living room. Or maybe it was early 1980, I forget.

EDIT: I literally had a rectifier plugged directly into the wall. So much of my youth makes me wonder why I’m not dead.

--Patrick

Aug 27, 2020#136

Squidleybits

I was playing with teddy bears and watching cartoons in 1979. Much like now

Aug 30, 2020#137

Tinwhistler

The end is near. Just at 90% completed, 14 credits left. Those 14 credits are in 4 classes. I started the mobile app class on Thursday, and I'm mostly done with it. It's a 6-screen mobile app, and I have 5 completed. I should be able to complete the 6th tomorrow, and tie phone notifications into the app and be finished.

Unfortunately, Xamarin has changed considerably in the 7 or 8 years since I first looked at it. But I'm picking up the changes pretty quickly.

That leaves 3 classes and 8 weeks to complete them in. It's so close I can practically taste it.

Sep 5, 2020#138

Tinwhistler

Finished the mobile app class. Part way through SQL.
I've decide that I'm ok to push my capstone and the QA class into another term. The capstone is a lotta work, and I may need a full 6 weeks to get it done.

3 classes/11 credits to go.

Sep 6, 2020#139

Celt Z

Well, if you didn't spend all your time playing computer games...!

Nov 10, 2020#140

Tinwhistler

I haven't posted about schooling in a while.

My first term finished 10/31. I took off the last 5 or so weeks, because I was completely burned out--having finished 111 college credits in 4 months.

Plus, they were removing C993 (Oracle SQL certification) for a different class (Advanced Data Management). After spending a couple of weeks in the Oracle class, I decided to wait it out and take the new class instead. C993 is really a DBA course, and has concepts like complex roles management (what happens when you give a guy a role, and he gives three more people that role, and one of them gives someone the role, and then you take it away from the first guy. The answers isn't always as cut and dried as you think) as well as other administrative stuff I'll never have to do, not being a DBA. Even DBAs have a hard time getting the cert. Oracle gives just about 70 seconds per question in a lab-style test environment, where they will give you a page of SQL and you have to analyze it and then answer questions on which parts are wrong, or which parts execute first, etc. Just not something that I've ever had to deal with in a job environment. So I took the time off, rejuvenated, and waited for the course to switch out.

New term started 11/1. I am taking my C857-Software Quality Assurance final today. Provided I pass, that will leave me exactly 2 classes to complete my bachelors:
D191 - Advanced Data Management
and C868 - Software Development Capstone.

In the data management class I "will learn advanced SQL techniques to perform critical tasks for data analytics." So, I'm expecting that one won't be too terribly difficult. Or at least not as difficult as C993.

The capstone requires "the completion of the design, development, and implementation of a software application" Which, you know, has basically been my job for nearly 30 years. It sounds much like my previous software courses that I flew through, except on most of those, they provided the design step. The mobile development class was a complete design/develop/implement" class, so it'll likely be very similar to that one.

I don't expect either class will take me a month to complete, so I'm looking at (hopefully!) having my bachelors before the end of the year.

Nov 10, 2020#141

Tinwhistler

Passed.

Nov 16, 2020#142

Tinwhistler

D191 - Advanced Data Management--passed!

Only the capstone sits between me and my bachelors.

Nov 19, 2020#143

Tinwhistler

Capstone progress:
I came up with an idea for my software project, and my instructor approved of it.
From my proposal document:

Project purpose/goals: A local used bookstore has grown in recent years and needs a way to keep track of their inventory. Currently, they keep track of their books and pricing with paper notes and institutional knowledge among the employees. The recent departure of one of their most senior employees caused the loss of much of that knowledge, and exposed the need for hard records to keep track of their inventory and pricing. After consultation, a small stand alone application was determined to be the best fit for their needs.

So, today, I submitted my idea to the assessment team, along with the approval document. Task 1 complete and evaluated as passing. Task 2 is to actually do all of the work.

Task 2 objectives completed:
Design document, complete.
UML data diagram, complete.
Class diagram, complete.
Design diagram, complete.

Still to do:
Actually code the project
Write a test plan
Execute test plan (with screen shots)
turn in the executable, source, and all of the artifacts (test plan, diagrams, etc)

Nov 19, 2020#144

PatrThom

We did this for my wife's bookselling business when she was still doing that.
The SKUs for each book included the book's original purchase price (i.e., what she paid for it) and even the location of the book in question so we could find it more easily.

--Patrick

Nov 19, 2020#145

Tinwhistler

that's basically what I'm making in a simplified format.
Gotta show inheritance and polymorphism, so I'm gonna make a "used book" object that inherits from book, but uses a different "sale price" calculation to show polymorphism

Nov 27, 2020#146

Tinwhistler

Capstone update:
All of the CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) functionality is done for my capstone. All that's left is to write a report. So I researched a simple HTML report creator that will do all of the printing, exporting, saving, etc for me. But before I dig into that and learn a new tool, I decided to turn my attention to another requirement:
Writing a test plan and unit tests. Such fun!

Nov 28, 2020#147

Tinwhistler

Aaaand...capstone complete.

If they don't send it back for revisions (and likely even if they do), I'll have my bachelors as a nice Christmas present

Dec 1, 2020#148

Tinwhistler

7 months to the day. 121 college credit units. I am DONE!
According to my program mentor, the grad process is pretty easy. They'll send me a link to fill out stuff for my application for a diploma, and it should get here in 2-3 weeks (or maybe longer. Covid is causing delays). I'm not 'officially' a bachelor of science yet, but that's a formality that should be crossed here in the next couple of days.
Not much makes me cry. But I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. This has been a goal of mine for 30 years.

Dec 1, 2020#149

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
This has been a goal of mine for 30 years.

This ain't the deepfake thread, so please excuse my restricted-to-only-the-tools-I-have-at-work attempt, but:

--Patrick

Dec 1, 2020#150

Tinwhistler

lol, thanks! Love that movie

Dec 1, 2020#151

Tinwhistler

They sent me the application to complete, and I turned it in this evening. Once they review everything, I should get a nice "you've graduated" banner at the college web portal, and then I'm official.

Dec 7, 2020#152

Tinwhistler

Dec 7, 2020#153

Tinwhistler

Honestly, I feel so silly about this. I turned 51 years old this year. All of my friends from high school did this right out of high school. I'm already earning in the top tax bracket, and the degree will probably not do much for me.

But I've been carrying the shame and guilt of not getting it for 30 years. It feels so good to finally check off the box on my life's accomplishments list.

Dec 24, 2020#154

Tinwhistler

Paper diploma arrived today. Lotta goodies coming on Christmas Eve. I musta been a good boy

Digital diploma (with encrypted security features and stuff) arrived a few days ago.

So, of course I hadda go to Jostens to get a nice diploma and tassel frame. Outrageously priced, but cheaper than the prices at Michaels for the same kinda thing.

What really bit the wallet was getting suckered into getting one of these things, because I thought they were cool.

Dec 24, 2020#155

PatrThom

"It's like a regular award, but made with frikkin' LASERs!"

--Patrick

Jan 22, 2021#156

Tinwhistler

showed up today.

It's a bit bigger than I expected, heavy as hell, and super well made. I'm glad I bit the bullet and got it. (name edited out, because, you know, the internet)

Jan 22, 2021#157

PatrThom

"Would you call your degree useful?"
"Well it's sure effective for bludgeoning intruders."

--Patrick

Mar 2, 2021#158

Tinwhistler

I missed the announcement that this was out.

(link should take you directly to me, but if it doesn't, it's at 21 minutes, 20 seconds.)

Mar 2, 2021#159

CrimsonSoul

Tinwhistler said:
I missed the announcement that this was out.

(link should take you directly to me, but if it doesn't, it's at 21 minutes, 20 seconds.)

Congrats man!

Mar 2, 2021#160

PatrThom

So does that mean this thread is over?

--Patrick

Mar 2, 2021#161

Emrys

Our little Gregory is all grown up now! <sniff>

Mar 2, 2021#162

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
So does that mean this thread is over?

--Patrick

Unless I go back for my masters...you tired of it already?

Mar 2, 2021#163

CrimsonSoul

Tinwhistler said:
Unless I go back for my masters...you tired of it already?

I'm thinking of going through WGU for my BS in Nursing, what was your experience with them?

Mar 2, 2021#164

Tinwhistler

If you are self-motivated, you should do fine. On some classes, the course material left a bit to be desired, but reddit.com/r/wgu was always helpful--so much so that I'd search the course number there and read what people had to say before diving into any of the official material. A lot of people hate the proctored tests, but they didn't bug me as much as I'd feared they would.

That said, software development is very different from nursing, so I don't know how the degrees compare in thoroughness. But if I was in the position to hire a junior developer, I'd have no issues hiring a WGU grad.

Mar 2, 2021#165

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
you tired of it already?

No, just wondered if you would go and } it since this routine is now complete.

--Patrick

Mar 3, 2021#166

Ravenpoe

Tinwhistler said:
I missed the announcement that this was out.

(link should take you directly to me, but if it doesn't, it's at 21 minutes, 20 seconds.)

You're not even holding a tin whistle, how am I supposed to know it's you?

Jul 5, 2022#167

W

wasosur

I've lost 50% of my vocational nursing class so far and we are still in the 2nd semester

Jul 5, 2022#168

Dave

wasosur said:
I've lost 50% of my vocational nursing class so far and we are still in the 2nd semester

I started a class once that went from ten people to 5 in the first week.

Jul 5, 2022#169

Dirona

My biblical Hebrew classes went for four semesters over 2 years.
From 24 people, to 12, to 6, to 2 in the final semester.

Jul 5, 2022#170

Bones

My final degree track went from 150 to 6 in the final semester! @_@

Jul 5, 2022#171

Simfers

My bachelor's in translation started at 120 people (110 women, 10 men) and finished, 3 years later, at 60 (50 women and the same 10 men).

Jul 5, 2022#172

Tinwhistler

this thread reminds me that I'm allowed to attend an in-person graduation ceremony since they were all canceled when I graduated. I should look into it.

Jul 11, 2022#173

W

wasosur

I did the CompTIA A+ thing 20 years ago. It was way different then. Weird thing is, is that it doesn't expire because I did it so long ago.
tellculvers com survey taco bell breakfast hours

Jul 11, 2022#174

Tinwhistler

Just for the record, I think ComTIA A+ expiring is cash-grabbing bullshit.

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