Back to School

I've been talking for awhile now about taking some classes offered by my esteemed employer. In theory it always seems like a good idea, not unlike Communism, but in practice when I actually have to do something, it seemed a little daunting. With my contract, my employer allows me to take one class per semester for free, with the ugly little caveat that if I leave the company less than 2 years after I finish the last class I took, then I have to pay them back. Plus I was probably going to have to do homework, and write essays, and who needs that hassle? And so I hesitated.

I finally pulled the trigger about a week before the semester started. I sent a request to HR to approve me for the employee scholarship. The required signatories were on leave. Then they got back and they were busy. Two days into the semester, 6 days after the MBA program stopped accepting applicants I got the signature. But the admissions people know me and wanted to help so the next day I submitted my application, complete with my hastily completed "statement of career goals" and "letters of recommendation" from my bosses. All that was left was the approval of the dean for the School of Business, but on that very day it was announced that he had been fired/resigned/moved on to other opportunities, so we had to submit to a notoriously unsympathetic individual for review. We waited 3 more days. He said no.

But it wasn't over. My boss, in her wonderfulness, was incredulous when I told her this. She sent him an email requesting that he reconsider. We waited another day. He replied, "Two weeks into the semester it would be inappropriate." Another wonderful person from admissions took him the schedule...

"See? He'd only be missing one class! The second class is today!"

He approved. I registered. I'm a student again. It's weird. It's exciting. I'm not sure if I'll be here long enough to finish or if I'll like it. But I'm currently studying for my MBA. And doesn't it sound kind of cool to say that?