Exams and all that malarky

[Nick]

Well, since leaving school at 16 due to having all sorts of pedophilic parents and other hifuckinglariously retarded incidents of neglect and insanity, I decided to go back to education last September.

In an attempt to get into University I had to do a 2 year "Access Course", which I managed to get done in a year, after taking an exam to determine if I was retarded or not (The answer is yes, but the examiners thought otherwise).

To get into Queens University in Belfast (Do a Google Pic search, it's a beautiful place) I needed to get 60% in my course, with 60% pass marks in each of the last 2 English Modules I did.

I managed to get to 81% and 78% respectively in them, with an overall passing grade of 74% (a "First class Honours" and top of my class to boot!) so I am off to University. Take that parents!

I know many of you loathe me due to the drunken hysteria of a lot of my semi righteous perpetually indignant posts, but in all honesty, I don't think I would have managed any of this without learning how to form coherent sentences of mockery and disgust on the Vault, with a place to articulate my anger and revulsion, not to mention misery and hatred, it kept me to a degree mentally alert. So to a small extent, each of you are responsible for my passing, and helped in my starting off at the age of 23 on a University degree in English (which will cause me to end up about 15k in debt by the end). Yes Yes I know I'm old, and decrepit, and not a sprightly 18 year old anymore, but I fucking got there in the end. Queens is one of the "Ivy league" uni's in Britain, so I must have done ok

I am in celebration mode at the moment, and to fit the potato driven stereotype, incredibly drunk, but I just thought I'd share the good news, which is that I managed to fucking ace my exams and get into Uni despite parents, money or a variety of other things . Everyone is right, it is harder to get back into education once you leave it as a child, but successfully getting back into it again feels a million times better! (I imagine!)

Hooray!



Let's keep this FF, unless you really want to call me a dick, but sure we all know it's all in jest right?


Right?!

[Fash]

grats nick, and good luck.

[Nick]

Cheers Fash

[Winnow]

Congrats Nick on getting yourself together and into college despite the major roadblocks you mentioned! Glad I could help!

23 is not old you bastard! In terms of wising up to the ways of the world, that's pretty young. Stick with it and good luck!

[Moonwynd]

Congratulations, Nick. That is quite the accomplishment - now do well at University and really show 'em!

And 23 is definitely not that old - I have boxer shorts that old. Matter of fact I am wearing a pair right now!

[Nick]

[Abelard]

Congarats on getting your shit together mate! University is a great experience, which you'll love.

[Markulas]

congrats nick, keep trying hard. effort always seems to pay off. right now i'm trying to decide how many more years of schooling i am willing to be doing and it's scaring the shit out of me.

[Xyun]

gg nick.

[Hesten]

Gratz Nick.

Oh, and youre a dick

[Tegellan]

Grats, and 23 isn't old, I personally went back for my uni degree at 25, only thing I regret is spending too much time in a dead end job before i went back to school.

[Boogahz]

Grats Dic...erm, Nick! Keep up the hard work and finish it off!

My mom went to college at 25, and went on to law school. It can be done!

[Dregor Thule]

DICK!

Good job.

[Neost]

Good job, man!

[Wulfran]

Grats Little Green Irish Guy! Since we were so inspirational in your educational success, does that mean we get a cut of the pot of gold when it arrives?

OK bad joke but the grats is sincere: it IS a lot tougher to go back but its worth it

[Xatrei]

Congrats, Nick. As others have said, don't sweat being 23. Just stay focused and keep your head in your work. I've been thinking about heading back to school at the ripe old age of 38 as part of a major change in my life's direction. The thought of spending any significant part of the remainder of my life in corporate IT management jobs makes me want to run off and join a commune somewhere in the pacific northwest.

[Sirensa]

Congratulations! That's a great accomplishment. (And I was 30 years old when I went back to school, so I know how much more difficult it can be after years of absence!)

[Kaldaur]

Congrats buddy, I'm glad you went back to school. Kick some ass and enjoy your degree, with an English degree you can do just about anything

[Lalanae]

I didn't finish my degree until I was 27. I had a lot of fun going back to school, probably a lot more than if I was 18. Better grades too. Made some great friends, mostly around my age too. You'll have a blast.

I have a degree in English Lit. Have you decided what you plan to do with it? I ended up in tech writing after determining that I'd rather bag groceries than be a teacher. Money is good, but it's a shrinking field with outsourcing to India becoming more popular. Just made the jump to doc project management less than 2 months ago. Time to start climbing the management ladder Proposal writing, publishing, newspapers, don't know much about those fields, but those are potential areas to consider.

Whatever you do, intern, intern, intern. It can be sooo hard to get a job with no experience in that field. An internship while you are in school will make your life so much easier. Your school should be able to help. Because I thought I would end up a teacher, I didn't bother looking for any internships and it was tough getting my foot in the door.

[Zaelath]

I'm not sure internships are that readily available outside the US; where semi-skilled slave labour is acceptable ><

[Seebs]

Making a difference - one drunken Shamrock shitter at a time.

Grats on your new found independence - may you gain awesome employment, makes loads of cash, buy your parent's home and burn it down in front of them.

[Canelek]

Great job Nick! I am very happy far ye!

[Knarlz]

Well done sir.

[miir]

Excellent.

[Funkmasterr]

Good job! Now you need to graduate, get a good job, and hide a pot of gold so I can hunt you!

[cadalano]

grats. i have virtually no education on paper too and the only reason i'm not living at home unemployed is through good fortune and the employers that were willing to take a chance by hiring me. I had to work a lot harder to find a job, and once I had one, I had to work even harder to get out of entry level. having a good education puts a lot of gas in the tank and without it you'll always be somewhat shortchanged when seeking employment/advancement even with all the experience in the world... i hope this move puts the rock in your shamrock, dude.

[Zamtuk]

Grats. But getting in was the easy part.

[Winnow]

Grats. But getting in was the easy part.

Really, the hardest thing for young people going to college is being focused. Usually, the older you are when you start, the less of a problem that is.

As cadalano was sort of alluding to, college degrees are way overrated (in the areas of business and liberal arts) but are a required misery if you want to make things easier for yourself and want to work in the corporate world that is more interested in degrees than an individual's actual skills.

The good news is that you can even end up with a degree from a university like Ohio State and still manage to get a job. After getting your foot in the door, you will be promoted based on your ability to brown nose and/or actual skills.

[Sylvus]

As cadalano was sort of alluding to, college degrees are way overrated (in the areas of business and liberal arts) but are a required misery if you want to make things easier for yourself and want to work in the corporate world that is more interested in degrees than an individual's actual skills.

Google recently opened an office in Ann Arbor, and my brother applied there. They told him that his college grades weren't high enough for him to be considered for the job, even though he's been VP and GM of a business for like 10 years, is 37 years old and has been out of college for 15 years.

I thought that was a little much.

[Nick]

That is rough

Thanks chaps!

[Animale]

Congratulations Nick. Good on ya. Have fun in school... especially with your 18 year old classmates... yummy!

Animale