School is Out!

You know this kid?

He is done, done, done, moved on.

Graduated Thursday, May 31st.  Moved to Sheboygan Monday June 4th.  Got an apartment with some friends.  Got a job delivering sandwiches for Jimmy Johns.  Got accepted at UW-Sheboygan.

Yay Jack!

First day, part two.

So how was my first day of school. It was good. Man, the UWGB campus has changed so much. My class is held in a building that wasn't even there when I graduated. And a 300 level math class with over 20 students? Unheard of back then. One guy looks to be about my age, everyone else could be my kids.

The most exciting thing, though, was the homework I did that afternoon. I mean, Dr. Davis is a fine lecturer, clear and thorough. Actually doing the math, though, was a lot of fun.

First Day of School

For an end of summer project, Becky let the kids each design their own t-shirt, printed the designs onto transfer paper and voila . . . $4-$5 for the shirt, $3 for the transfer paper and you get a pretty inexpensive artsy/craftsy thing the boys really enjoyed. Even if you add in the 2 sheets of transfer paper and one shirt we ruined trying to figure out how to do it. I mean, at least, considering the cost of buying a new t-shirt someone else designed.

First day of school, everyone wore their very own personalized shirts.



So how was the first day of school?

Ben
It was all right. Okay, here's what happened. We sat in a class while they told us about the school and the rules. Then we toured the school. Then they talked to us more.

Sam
Really good! I hardly got lost at all. I met one kid I even have several classes with, including study hour.

Jack
Good! I really like my AP chem teacher. Also I can get college credit for the class, then take AP physics next year. But I'm the only Junior in a class full of Seniors. Math and English will be okay. Gym should be fun.

"I hardly got lost at all" is significant. Edison Middle School is huge. I think it's a rambling five stories built into a hill, so not all stairwells pass all floors. And the number of students is crazy. Green Bay has an open enrollment policy allowing families to choose which schools their kids go to. Most still choose their neighborhood school. I mean, transportation becomes an issue if you don't, right? But enough choose otherwise, and I guess Preble and Edison are the popular choices.

So Jack, Sam . . . are the schools noticeably bigger than Farnsworth and South were in Sheboygan?

Both (simultaneously)
Yeah!

Sam
Like five times as big.

Jack
So big we had more people than could fit at our lunch table.

Course Set

I'm still looking for a mainframe developer job. Those are looking scarce, though. At least relative to the number of job seekers. Great Lakes answered my e-mail to let me know, "You weren't lacking any specific skill. It's just that we had nearly 400 applicants." So, a career change is looking more and more . . . well, not so much appealing as adviseable.

Which got us thinking about, if I'm going to take an entry level position, does it have to be as a programmer? No. And why not do something to broaden my skill set? So I am registering for school . . . but not something that would take so long as law school. I'm going to retake some math coursework at UWGB that will prepare me for the Actuarial exams. If a good mainframe developer position comes along, I'll take that. Otherwise, after this next school year I'll expand my search to include actuarial positions.

Until school starts, because we have to leave this home, we're moving in with Becky's parents in Wisconsin Rapids until we can find a place in Green Bay.