University after leaving the Watchtower?

by SweetBabyCheezits 36 Replies latest jw friends

  • SweetBabyCheezits
    SweetBabyCheezits

    Thank you, Maksym, Billy, ND, Nugget, DC, 2T, FA, and everyone else who shared their stories!

    I'm still trying to figure out if I can make it work while our kids are young. If not, I'll be going back after they're out of school, getting a very informal education in the meantime. Like you guys, though, I want all the benefits, knowledge, experience, debt, and sense of accomplishment that go with earning a degree.

    For those who like educational stuff and own an "iWhatever", if you haven't checked out the free iTunes U app, I highly recommend it.. You can download entire semester courses on some subjects and video/audio of lectures from Yale, Stanford, Berkley, MIT, Duke, Carnegie-Melon, etc... no charge. Good stuff. And yes you could probably get the same video/audio other places, too, this just seems to be well organized and easily accessible. Plus the Course Materials downloads are sweet (but not available for many public classes). I'm going through Yale's Psych 110 lectures right now and loving it.

  • snare&racket
    snare&racket

    Do it! It will be the best thing you ever do.

    Was a Jw, a pioneer, bethelite. Had questions, left, did high school exams again at age 26, did college 27, got into medical school 28 and I'm not far off finishing now 4 years on.

    I have friends in med school with kids, hard but coping. Education is so very valuable to your life and an amazing example for your family. Hawkins, Dawkins, Darwin and Hitchens await you....

    Snare

  • JonathanH
    JonathanH

    I fit all criteria except I don't have any kids. Though I will add that I didn't even graduate High school thanks to my witness up bringing, I got a GED instead.

    Knowledge and education are paramount to me, and it was very distressing to me after I woke up that I had so little formal education, even if I was an avid reader.

    I am 27 and in my second semester earning a degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics, which I have yet to decide if I will turn into a second major, or if I will add a second minor. I definitely am not made of money, but student loans are currently covering my academic costs (mostly, I have had to pay just a bit out of pocket for a couple of text books.) My goal is to both improve my lot in life, giving myself a useful set of skills and abilities in the job market, to improve myself as a person by getting a rounded education and a greater mental discipline, as well as just the pride of having earned a degree (or two.)

    It does require a tremendous amount of effort and dedication, and I have little free time. But in all honesty, I am doing exactly what I would want to do with my free time if I had any.; study, learn, write, and better myself in general. I could think of no better way to spend my mornings and evenings than writing critical textual analysis of a book I'm reading for English class, or visiting local art galleries and writing about it for my Art Appreciation class, or studying diligently to solve math and physics problems.

    It is immensely rewarding, especially after getting that "A" on a paper I busted my ass on, or passing a major exam with flying colors, or sometimes just stopping and looking back at how far I've come. Only four years ago I was miserably knocking on doors and handing out magazines in a religion I strongly suspected was a lie, washing windows for an elder that profited off the ignorance and sense of obligation of the members of his own congregation. And now, I work for a company with nary a witness in sight, studying math, art, physics, literature, biology, sociology and I have years of this ahead of me. I worked hard and changed my circumstances and that alone has been worth the price of admission.

    Given that I am married (to a witness girl,) I do have to balance my time. I always make sure to at least once a week take her out to a movie, or dinner, or shopping or some such, and make sure to sit down and have dinner with her with not books or study materials. It's a balancing act, but it can be done. Even better, my being in college has inspired her to go to college. I am helping her get prepared to enroll part time for the next fall semester. She isn't going to go full time or anything, and isn't even sure what it is sure wants to work towards, but she wants to go and learn and think. Being passionate about education is contagious. She is going to take just one class for the fall semester (which we should be able to pay out of pocket) and she is excited thinking about what class she will choose.

    I can't recomend strongly enough the value of going to college. It makes me sad to see how many worldly high school kids go to college and just spend the whole time drinking and partying, or maybe just not taking it seriously. They don't know what an amazing gift it is, and how much it can improve us as individuals and our lot in life. Go to school. It's not always easy, but it's the best decision you can make.

  • SweetBabyCheezits
    SweetBabyCheezits

    Snare, I love to hear about exBethelites ditching the WT and going back to school. And you're absolutely right - setting an example for my kids was one of the reasons I want to go before they're out of the house instead of waiting.

    That's a pretty damned inspiring narrative, JH! It sounds genuinely fulfilling. Of course, Sesame Street is more thought-provoking than the "theocratic education" provided by the WTF Society. (Though in both cases you know someone has a hand up a puppet's ass.)

    My wife and I are both looking forward to getting back to school now that we have a new perspective on secular education. It's just a matter of when.

  • snare&racket
    snare&racket

    Glad to be of service, it's so obvious why they don't want you to go, when you go there. It's like someone opening a door to a room you never knew about... Whole languages, specialities and intense researching into areas of life you never knew existed. Being raised on JW information, you have no perspective of how much modern man knows, can achieve and has potential to do.

    I left the JWs and within days was engulfed....chemical moles, quantum strings, mutating bacteria, laws of diffusion and osmosis, wave theories, half lives, Descartes, Plato, the laws of thermodynamics, simultaneous equations, scientific referencing (Harvard, Vancouver), junk DNA that isn't so junky, retroviruses, covalent bonding, redox reactions, evolution you can watch take place over days in bacteria....... And this was just a tiny snippet of my first year back to school.

    It doesn't compare to talking about the statue with feet made of copper and clay and bullshit...

  • maksym
    maksym

    My first two years of undergraduate work was done online. I could do my studies while my everyday life seemed mostly unaffected.

    It takes commitment and dedication, and also there will be some time constraints but it is certainly doable.

    As far as money goes; using community colleges in your local area will be cheaper and sometimes grant money will pay nearly all of it.

    My neighbour, with a husband and two kids, went to school and got a degree and owes nothing just because of grant money she recieved. She worked a part time job to help support her husband and family.

    Secondly, it really helps when you have family or others around you as a support network cheering you on.

  • soft+gentle
    soft+gentle

    I want to echo the warning others have suggested - studying for a degree is very tough and time consuming in itself. If you are married and have children, and are working it is even tougher. It can be done but everyone in your family has to make sacrifices including your children. Think carefully, sbc, and it is great that you are investigating all angles.

    It is easier if you are working part time or if you do a degree in something you are already involved with - in your job for instance.

    I am presently completing my final year and have run into enormous problems that may mean I have to put off studing for a year. Illness in the family, my own injury (which I now thankfully have fully recovered from) but which took a huge chunk out of my study schedule. Plus keeping fit and healthy is a must while you are studying because of postural issues associated with long periods of study.

    However if you have the kind of brain that retains well and can s-t-r-e-t-c-h withought huge effort then you may not need as much time and sacrifice as us lesser mortals. In that case what are you waiting for...

    Otherwise my advice is to take a small taster course and see how you manage.

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