The College Plan

I decided to take a break from researching real estate at the bank job today. As I did my rounds, I saw some kids walking around with their bookbags and caught a case of nostalgia. I remembered a few names of students I taught at Roy H Mann, so I decided to look them up on Facebook.

It was great to see their faces again. Some of their faces brought back memories that made me smile. They're in their senior year of high school now, so next year they'll be off to college. I only taught there for two years, so I didn't get that sense of pride as if I had something to do with their success. And, even if I did, I don't care. Seeing them simply made me miss teaching.

I wrote a post in March that went over my feelings about my teaching experience, Teacher Chills. I haven't decided whether or not I plan to teach again, but I definitely want to get my Master's degree in Education. I'd be going back to college but I'd do it a different way. In my last year of college at CCNY, my total GPA was a pathetic 1.92. My guidance counselor told me I needed at least a 3.45 in order to graduate. With 15 credits and two jobs on my plate, there was no way I was going to pull an average that high. So I paid people in my classes to copy their tests and/or write my papers. At the end of it all, I graduated with a solid 2.01 GPA.

Should I decide to get my Master's to teach again, I'll have to do the same thing. Only this time I'll have to pay someone from the start. I'll have to earn enough money to pay for my degree as well as someone else's, the lucky bastard. In order to have enough money I'll have to succeed at this real estate business, and quickly. Whether or not I use the degree and go back to teaching is irrelevant. I want the option to teach again, so I need my Masters degree. Either way, there are many reasons why I can't fail at this venture and my college plan is one of them. I guess that's more motivation for me.

(As a side note, I'm also going back to feed my curiosity of what college life is really like. At CCNY, there were no dorms or fraternities or anything like that. I just worked, went to class, slept, then repeated the cycle for years. I've always wanted to know what it feels like to go through the college experience when I don't have work so many jobs and worry about money.)