Global College LIU Graduation Requirements
Global College LIU Road Block
Feeling a little sad today. Maybe a little confused. Momentarily unsure of what Road to take.
Standing at the fork looking out in one direction and then the other. Thinking too much.
Road my bicycle out to the Budapest island and tried to peddle it all out in my head. A road block was put up in my path, and I must now choose to drive straight through it or comply, and go the long way around. Over the years I have delighted in studying in various colleges and universities around the world - I have been to eight of them already. In early 2004 I enrolled in a Japanese cultural studies program in Kyoto with an American university called Friends World (now Global College). This was either the best or worst thing that I have ever done.
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Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Budapest, Hungary- August 7, 2008
Travelogue -- Travel Photos
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It is probably both.
For the next four or five years I dabbled in this school. I would take a semester here, or a semester there whenever I was feeling particularly studious or I ran out of travel funds and sought to live off of scholarships, student loans, and financial aid. After Japan I studied off and on with Global College in China, India, and Morocco. It was fun, I learned more than I could dream of, and it was hard work. The semesters in this school were perhaps the biggest projects that I have yet attempted, though they always left me completely spent when finished. I always supposed that I would eventually take a degree from this college, but I never rushed myself to do so.
So when Global College - which I was lead to believe was a 4 year international program - came up with a new requirement that stated that all students must take their last semester in Brooklyn, NY, the incentive to graduate nearly completely faded from view. I just shrugged my shoulders and said oh well. I have never needed a university degree for anything up until this point and I am sure that I can work my way around not having one in the future. I do not want to live in New York City.
I have spent very little time in NYC, but from the brief moments that I have passed through there I know the place is unsuitable for a boy who grew up out on the farms of Upstate NY. I was born and breed on the banks of Lake Ontario 600km from the rot and worms of the Big Apple. I know nothing of the city, but I do know that I hate the way I feel there like no other place on earth. The simple thought of that jumbled mass of misplaced humanity makes my stomach curl. I fail to find a drop of Romance in that gentrified, yet concurrently squalid, megalopolis.
The Big City can be nothing more than a brick and mortar cage for an otherwise free canary.
But preferences aside, I know that I can live in and enjoy any town on earth. Though sometimes I cannot help but to look at some paths and find them lined with far more stumps, rocks, mud, and roots than others. If I were to make a three or four month commitment to living in NYC and finishing the degree, I know that I would have to work full time at night as well as study full time in the day. All while living in such a belligerent urban environment that I find gruesome and am almost wholly unequipped for. This road does not look good. I like to study. I really get into studying, and if I am focused on something, I will remain so all day long. Study and work seems mutually exclusive to me. I do not want this stress. As much as I try to ignore it, I know that I am not equipped for the city life. After a week or two in a busy city I begin to feel knotted, wound up, mechanical, and irritable. I believe that all urban environments are abominations of the human spirit. The energy in such settings comes from people and from people alone - not from tree, sky, and sea - and this constant lack of psychological and emotional sustenance turns me into a borderline neurotic.
So is it worth it?
I say maybe, but not today.
I just figured that I would swagger through Brooklyn at some point in the future, stay for a few months, and walk out with a degree that I can give to my mother to hang on the wall. My mother gets proud of such things. I would like to one day stay in NYC. I know that there is an interesting undercurrent to the place and that my aversions will probably fade as soon as I get there. I am sure that NYC could provide much to interest me, and, even if it by chance doesn't, I will still be able to obtain an impression of a place that is so vital on a global scale. It would be a good experience for a traveler to spend a little time in New York City. But I am in no hurry to finish school, I am walking slow and thoroughly enjoying my education. I do not want to have to kill myself to find the means to study. This is stupid. I simply do not want to work day and night struggling to come up with the money just to exist somewhere for an education that should be enjoyable. University is fun for me. Going to class all day and work all night is not fun.
Paying over $1,000 a month for a room in some crappy apartment and $4 for a little container of orange juice means that I would have to work constantly if I were to give in and go to Brooklyn. This would surely ruin any experience that I could have of any place. Throw in school, class, and university obligations and I will surely feel the harsh stresses that are the hallmark of my countrymen.
I want to finish up school, but I do not want to do it like this.
So I put off this last semester of study for a while. I planned on putting it off until I somehow discovered a way to live and study in New York without sacrificing my soul or until the day that I could convince the college authorities to allow me to study anywhere else in the world.
But then a road block was put up in my path. I was provided with the information that if I do not return to school and finish up my degree this coming semester that I will have to start in the program all over again and go through another four years of Global College. This really does not sound to bad to me. I would study internationally for another four years. No problem. I like this stuff (I have been studying off and on since 1998).
But for all practical purposes, this is clearly not a possibility.
So here it is:
I move to NYC with very little money in three weeks or I give up the university education for good.
I have pressured myself with this decision for the past week, and I think that I am finished with it. I have been thinking too much.
Let the Path lead where it may.
(But do I really - really - need a university degree that I probably will never NEED to utilize anyway? I must remind myself that I do not believe in the myths of my time.)
Links to previous travelogue entries:
Global College LIU Road Block
* Travel Blog Directory * Vagabond Journey.com * Travel Photos * Travel Questions and Answers
Feeling a little sad today. Maybe a little confused. Momentarily unsure of what Road to take.
Standing at the fork looking out in one direction and then the other. Thinking too much.
Road my bicycle out to the Budapest island and tried to peddle it all out in my head. A road block was put up in my path, and I must now choose to drive straight through it or comply, and go the long way around. Over the years I have delighted in studying in various colleges and universities around the world - I have been to eight of them already. In early 2004 I enrolled in a Japanese cultural studies program in Kyoto with an American university called Friends World (now Global College). This was either the best or worst thing that I have ever done.
--------------
Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Budapest, Hungary- August 7, 2008
Travelogue -- Travel Photos
--------------
It is probably both.
For the next four or five years I dabbled in this school. I would take a semester here, or a semester there whenever I was feeling particularly studious or I ran out of travel funds and sought to live off of scholarships, student loans, and financial aid. After Japan I studied off and on with Global College in China, India, and Morocco. It was fun, I learned more than I could dream of, and it was hard work. The semesters in this school were perhaps the biggest projects that I have yet attempted, though they always left me completely spent when finished. I always supposed that I would eventually take a degree from this college, but I never rushed myself to do so.
So when Global College - which I was lead to believe was a 4 year international program - came up with a new requirement that stated that all students must take their last semester in Brooklyn, NY, the incentive to graduate nearly completely faded from view. I just shrugged my shoulders and said oh well. I have never needed a university degree for anything up until this point and I am sure that I can work my way around not having one in the future. I do not want to live in New York City.
I have spent very little time in NYC, but from the brief moments that I have passed through there I know the place is unsuitable for a boy who grew up out on the farms of Upstate NY. I was born and breed on the banks of Lake Ontario 600km from the rot and worms of the Big Apple. I know nothing of the city, but I do know that I hate the way I feel there like no other place on earth. The simple thought of that jumbled mass of misplaced humanity makes my stomach curl. I fail to find a drop of Romance in that gentrified, yet concurrently squalid, megalopolis.
The Big City can be nothing more than a brick and mortar cage for an otherwise free canary.
But preferences aside, I know that I can live in and enjoy any town on earth. Though sometimes I cannot help but to look at some paths and find them lined with far more stumps, rocks, mud, and roots than others. If I were to make a three or four month commitment to living in NYC and finishing the degree, I know that I would have to work full time at night as well as study full time in the day. All while living in such a belligerent urban environment that I find gruesome and am almost wholly unequipped for. This road does not look good. I like to study. I really get into studying, and if I am focused on something, I will remain so all day long. Study and work seems mutually exclusive to me. I do not want this stress. As much as I try to ignore it, I know that I am not equipped for the city life. After a week or two in a busy city I begin to feel knotted, wound up, mechanical, and irritable. I believe that all urban environments are abominations of the human spirit. The energy in such settings comes from people and from people alone - not from tree, sky, and sea - and this constant lack of psychological and emotional sustenance turns me into a borderline neurotic.
So is it worth it?
I say maybe, but not today.
I just figured that I would swagger through Brooklyn at some point in the future, stay for a few months, and walk out with a degree that I can give to my mother to hang on the wall. My mother gets proud of such things. I would like to one day stay in NYC. I know that there is an interesting undercurrent to the place and that my aversions will probably fade as soon as I get there. I am sure that NYC could provide much to interest me, and, even if it by chance doesn't, I will still be able to obtain an impression of a place that is so vital on a global scale. It would be a good experience for a traveler to spend a little time in New York City. But I am in no hurry to finish school, I am walking slow and thoroughly enjoying my education. I do not want to have to kill myself to find the means to study. This is stupid. I simply do not want to work day and night struggling to come up with the money just to exist somewhere for an education that should be enjoyable. University is fun for me. Going to class all day and work all night is not fun.
Paying over $1,000 a month for a room in some crappy apartment and $4 for a little container of orange juice means that I would have to work constantly if I were to give in and go to Brooklyn. This would surely ruin any experience that I could have of any place. Throw in school, class, and university obligations and I will surely feel the harsh stresses that are the hallmark of my countrymen.
I want to finish up school, but I do not want to do it like this.
So I put off this last semester of study for a while. I planned on putting it off until I somehow discovered a way to live and study in New York without sacrificing my soul or until the day that I could convince the college authorities to allow me to study anywhere else in the world.
But then a road block was put up in my path. I was provided with the information that if I do not return to school and finish up my degree this coming semester that I will have to start in the program all over again and go through another four years of Global College. This really does not sound to bad to me. I would study internationally for another four years. No problem. I like this stuff (I have been studying off and on since 1998).
But for all practical purposes, this is clearly not a possibility.
So here it is:
I move to NYC with very little money in three weeks or I give up the university education for good.
I have pressured myself with this decision for the past week, and I think that I am finished with it. I have been thinking too much.
Let the Path lead where it may.
(But do I really - really - need a university degree that I probably will never NEED to utilize anyway? I must remind myself that I do not believe in the myths of my time.)
Links to previous travelogue entries:
* Travel Blog Directory * Vagabond Journey.com * Travel Photos * Travel Questions and Answers
Labels: europe, europe-eastern, hungary, travel philosophy
posted by Wade Vagabond Journey.com at
7:48 AM
8 Comments:
WADE! I have to say, I am a little disappointed that you would shy away from an adventure in an urban environment. But wait! I did not even finish reading your post before I had an idea that may make things a bit more palatable to you. Check this link out!
That's right, Chinatown, NYC is only 2 miles from Brooklyn. That might peak your interest and make things a little more interesting. It is not Beijing, but for a couple of months, it's something.
I say, go ahead and finish the degree. It is more than a piece of paper, it is an accomplishment that no one can take away from you. Like travel, it is yours for ever.
Also, I wonder how well hobohideout pages would work in a place like that... Most people would just hit travelocity or something and never find an out of the way place. It would probably take a person with a nose for these types of things to find them. Of course they may be a bit more dangerous and could be full of crack heads. Hmm...
Surely the Chinese have hotels there that may need a page, and there is always the possibility of a roommate, or even start your own Hostel for a short period in a rented apartment. I am sure that there are other people in the program that are having the same dilemma as you and may need a short stay room.
There are possibilities outside of the box of work and rent.
It’s not a question of NEED, wade.
Have you heard the expression “Luck (success) is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”?
Consider. It’s very possible that circumstances and events will be such that you’ll have no choice but to come off the road. That sheepskin will open doors for you.
Reflecting on my own life, I hated the idea of collage. It took me 8 years and a number of very uncomfortable situations before I went to college. I studied electronics engineering thinking I’d become a design engineer in the high tech world ($$$).
I am an engineer in the tech world. But since graduating with a BS in engineering I can honestly say I use very little of what I learned in that program. I now work at a chemical plant and have nothing to do with electronics, other than turning on my computer (not so much $$$). Yes, I know the idea of that kind of work disgusts you. The thing is higher learning rounds you out. Having that degree proves to employers that a person can commit to something large, see it to completion, and that they are trainable.
Just finish it Wade. It’s a small sliver of time and an insignificant amount of money when you consider the human lifetime, and the opportunity that stupid little pieces of paper may bring you.
Jeez, I feel like I’m talking to one of my kids. If you call me dad, I’ll hunt you down and spank you.
For one semester out of a lifetime, I think it would be worth it.
You are young and resilient now but you don't know what the future holds and a college degree could help you. You may regret not completing college but I doubt if the opposite holds true.
Pieces of paper very important in life. Need union cards, licenses, and diplomas to make it these days. That's the game. You could live in a snowbank for 4months if you had to. Finish school, you'll like the feel of accomplishment. g.
Hello Wade,
This is Andy of HoboTraveler.com.
I went to about the same leve, needed just one more semester and did not graduate from Indiana University. I stopped because of being an alcohlic, and up to my ears in misery.
I think you are Archeology.
I think four more year of study and financial aid would be great.
But if you do not want to do that, I guess my recommendation as a University Dropout is...
Go finish, just so you can say you finished.
Note, maybe you can live in big Five Star Hotels in New York and so the Hideout thing, strange as it sounds, big hotels understand paying for ads, better than the small ones you have been in.
I truly appreciate you telling us about some of the ways you have studied overseas and helped to fund your travels, this is to me what is totally unique about you and Mira.
Andy of HoboTravler.com
Perhaps living and working at a NYC hostel would work out --
//craig in slovakia
travelvice.com
Sorry not to be able to offer a dissenting voice, but I'd do it too.
I didn't go to Uni, and don't feel my life has been poorer as a result, but if I had and was that close to finishing, I would.
If you're that close to finishing anything, see it through.
What's the worst that could happen?
Thank you, I really appreciate these good words. I must say that they helped me out a lot. When I awoke a couple of mornings ago, I was all ready to give up the degree and keep riding on. But then I got a couple of these comments from you advising me against such a course.
I then again pondered my choices.
Then I got a couple more of these good comments from people who shared their experiences with similar decision.
I pondered my Road some more.
The I got a couple more of these comments and I realized fully that you all are right: I should just finish my last semester of school and be done with it.
Thank you for this advice. Thank you for caring. Thank you for sharing.
I appreciate it.
Walk Slow,
Wade
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