School starts in 3 weeks and getting excited

Well, my first set of pre-requisite classes start in about 3 weeks and I'm getting all antsy and ready to get going. Never had I felt such enthusiasm for starting school before as I am on this new journey of mine, but I love the mental stimulation of school and learning. Last year I took Statistics 243 with my wife because my wife wanted a study partner since she had to take the class for her major and was not as excited about math as I am. I have to say that I absolutely loved it. Getting out of the office and on campus, interacting with new people, being mentally challenged to learn and stretch. It makes me feel alive in a way that I never did when I was a kid in school 20+ years ago. It's interesting how the passage of time causes you to change your perspective on things.

On a side note, for the first time in over 2 years I scored a significant legal animation project which was so much needed. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get another legal project again but thanks to a connection I had on LinkedIn, the stars aligned and we now have 30 days to crank out a significant project. I'm hopeful that this will lead to more projects while I am going back to school.

What kinds of things has the passage of time caused you to change your opinion about?

Why are republicans opposed to giving me a chance to see a doctor?

I'm sorry, but I'm feeling very frustrated today. I've recently had several discussions with some friends of mine that are very upset at the prospect of everybody in this country having access to healthcare. These friends are republicans and they are so opposed to any health care reform (although they can't explain clearly why), that they almost feel it would be better for everyone to commit suicide if such reform actually happened.

I let them talk and go on about how terrible it will all be if everyone had access to health care and that it will mess up "our" insurance and "our" treatment. They didn't know I wasn't covered by health insurance. As I listened, the main theme of their argument was boiled down to this concept: My insurance is great and I don't want it messed up by making health care available to ALL.

When I finally took my turn in the conversation, I said, "You know, I have been self employed for 17 years and have always simply had to buy my own insurance. 17 years ago it was $325/month to cover my family. Unfortunately, I had to drop it when my original plan finally reached almost $2,000/month, yes $2,000/month." Funny how they sort of got quiet after that. I went on to tell them that I have Type 2 diabetes and currently take Metformin to control it. Because of that diagnosis on my record, I am now uninsurable...that is to say I would be turned down by any policy I would apply for, and in fact I have been. The recession has clipped my earnings by 70% over the last 2 years and my health insurance had to go... in my case it literally was a choice between food and lodging and health insurance. So I explained to them that my prescription for Metformin runs out in 3 months and I have no insurance or money to go see a doctor to get it refilled. I called my doctor to try to see if they would refill it for me over the phone... no they would not, I would have to come in for an appointment which is a minimum $150-$200 plus blood work before she would refill it. Guess what, I do not have that kind of spare money now so when my prescription runs out, I can't get it refilled unless they wanted to loan me the money. They weren't interested. I told them my 12 year old daughter is now not covered because dad can't afford it.

I said the only way now for me to get any shot at getting health insurance is to try and find a full time job that offered it because group plans can't discriminate when it comes to pre-existing conditions. Which is one major reason I have enrolled to go back to school to get a job actually IN the health care industry. Neither can the Oregon Medical Insurance Pool which is the plan for indigent and uninsurable people and guess what that plan runs for my family... over $700/month. Affordable? Get real. There is still NO allocation for $700/month in my financial situation to afford that.

So I asked my friends, who were now pretty quiet in their arguments, what the republican party should do about health care reform. They didn't have a single answer. Because I believe that party is basically only thinking of themselves, who are the "haves" and they do not want to help out the "have nots". It's interesting because for many years I was in the "haves" groups myself, flying high with a 6 figure income, but life looks really different when you are living on the side of the argument for real and the health care argument is no longer a discussion in theology but a real life situation that you live in every day, and becomes real when the medication you used to be able to take is now taken away from you because of lack of coverage. Life looks really different on the other side.

Please, republicans or democrats, please pass a plan that would allow me to go out tomorrow and get health coverage for me and my family that I can afford that won't exclude me because of a pre-existing condition.

Now enrolled and good news from financial aid

Well, I am now officially enrolled in college and starting to work on some of my pre-requisite courses for my major. I'll start in the fall and can hardly wait. I love the mental stimulation that learning and college brings, I just wish I had that same enthusiasm and drive back when I was a kid in school, but that's OK. Life has a way of teaching these lessons to you as you get older.

Good news on the financial aid front. After filling out my FASFA, and because my annual income has dropped so much, I have qualified to have all of my first year (until I fill out next year's FASFA), fully paid for by federal grants and state grants including books and even some extra. I thought I would need to take out some Stafford loans, but it looks like that won't be necessary right now as all my education this first year is all compliments of the government. Thank you!

I highly encourage you, if you are someone in my situation thinking about going back to college, but unsure whether you can afford it, to fill out a FASFA and get in contact with your school's financial aid department. You may be very surprised to find out that as an adult, there are a lot of financial incentives to help you change your career and make it more than affordable. To find out more about filling out your FASFA, visit http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

My first meeting with my advisor

For the first time in over 20 years I sat down with a college advisor to go over my plan of action to start getting me under way toward a degree in Radiography. It was pretty simple. Basically we went over all the pre-requisites that I need to have knocked out before I can make my final application into the course. The pre-reqs will need to be finished by the Winter term of next year (2010) which shouldn't be a problem, and it will only require part time schooling to get it done.

The next step occurs next Tuesday when I need to go in and sit down and take the college placement test to see exactly where I rank and if I can test out of any classes. I imagine that I'll do fine in the math since I have an aptitude for it, but there is some writing that I have to do which I personally don't enjoy. Writing is so subjective sometimes whereas math is very concrete. Anyway, I'll take that test which will take about 2.5 hours they say, then right afterwards I will get registered for whatever class(es) I need for the Fall term.

In the meantime between now and next year when I put in my application for enrollment into the Radiography program, I will be trying to become active as a volunteer in one of the local hospitals, ideally in the imaging department to help out and shadow them. This experience looks very very good on the application because they want to know that you have worked in a hospital setting and have been exposed to the good sides and bad sides of that world. It shows you understand what you are getting yourself into. Currently my wife volunteers in our hospital's cancer center and she has found that very rewarding. She is hoping that her work there will be instrumental in landing her a job in that cancer center as a counselor (AND hopefully get health insurance too).

My transcripts from community college that I went to back when I was in high school were really of no help with the pre-reqs that I need now... oh well, that's OK. I'd rather retake any of those classes and pull A's now than C's back then.

So tomorrow I'm heading out for a week long hiking/backpacking trip with some of my longtime friends and so I'll be refreshed when I get back and ready to take my placements. I'll post more once I get back from that day's testing.

Had my first informational meeting today

Today I had my first informational meeting at college to hear about how their program works and to give prospective students an overview of what is required and expected. I am enrolling in a school for an AAS degree as a radiology technician, with continuing education to obtain both an MRI certification and CT certification. I have known people in this field, even in my own family and have watched their career from the sidelines and admired what they did.

The session was about an hour long with Q&A afterwards and would require me to begin this fall working on about a year of pre-requisites to get ready for final application to the program. The program gets about 250 applications per year and only 36 are accepted and they explained what goes into the evaluation process, who is likely to qualify, etc. I found it interesting that not only does the college evaluate applicants, but you also need to be interviewed by one of a dozen possible hospitals in the area by their staff and that interview weighs heavily into acceptance as well. Even some people with a 4.0 GPA that don't do well in the hospital interview have been turned down. It doesn't discourage me though, in my 17 years of being self employed I've had to deal with so much that I've learned that you don't get anywhere if you don't try.

Many people also talked about money. How much can I make? When can I start making money? It's a valid concern. I can honestly say that money is only one of many different reasons why I need to change my career. Sure this can pay well, but for me there is a big need to feel like I am helping others in their medical care. A certain job satisfaction that would come from knowing that I am playing a part in helping a person solve a health issue. At age 44, job satisfaction is a big thing for me as well as money. I'll write more about that in another posting.

This coming Tuesday I have my first meeting with an advisor to start setting up my fall schedule. Last night I filled out my FAFSA form, which I found pretty easy actually despite having been warned heavily that it is a nightmare.

About my journey of a new career

Today marks the beginning of a new life for me. You can read a little bit about me in the left sidebar but I'll try to establish a baseline for what this blog is about and where it is hopefully going.

I have been self employed as a freelance 3D artist and custom programmer for 17 years. In that time I've had great ups and downs. In fact at one point I was earning enough from residuals from software royalties to take 3 years off complete at which time my wife and I invested in flipping some real estate and day trading the futures markets. The real estate flipping paid off, the futures markets did not, however I loved trading futures anyway, but as a math-head and statistics cruncher, I honestly don't see how anyone can make a living day trading unless you are in the business of selling software to that market or information or something other than trading.

Anyway, back on topic, after 17 years I have reached complete creative burn out and exhaustion from the logistics of running a small company. For much of this time I have worked at home as well which most people would think was the ultimate situation, which I must admit has its benefits. I had built a huge new custom home almost 5 years ago with a big separate studio just for my work and it is indeed very nice. But the ups and downs of being self employed have had their toll on my and my family and I am exhausted. For one, I pay all of my own benefits if I want any such as health insurance. Well, my old health insurance policy just last year reach about $1,950 per month. Guess what, I have no health insurance now. Retirement? What's that? Financial insecurity, I've had plenty of that. Anyone that has run a small business for numerous years understands exactly the thing I talk about.

But some of the biggest complaints I've had come in the form of job satisfaction and socialization. I have done some very cool 3D stuff over the years, and working with attorneys doing forensic animation has been rewarding depending on the case. But overall, my work is seen for but a moment and then gone and I am left feeling that I didn't really do anything to benefit society for it. Working at home has also left me isolated and feeling alone. With the internet I have done work literally all over the world, yet I have met probably less than 1% of the people I actually have worked for. I work alone in my studio 7 days a week without personal contact. That has certainly taken a toll on me. I miss people. I miss mental stimulation. Sure I have plenty of friends, but my typical work day finds me working alone, chatting on Skype or email with my clients, but overall, I'm alone... I need to interact with my fellow humans.

I need a change... a complete change. Financially yes, but socially as well along with a feeling that I am doing something positive for my fellow man. After my wife battled and won her fight with breast cancer 7 years ago and my own personal health crisis in the hospital, I felt a great degree of admiration for those in the health care industry that were helping us. From the nursing staff, the doctors, the technicians and everyone else. That planted a seed in my brain that for the 2nd half of my life, I have a desire to be directly involved in helping people in medical distress by playing a part in their care. I have decided to embark on a 3 year journey of entering school to become a radiologic technician... an x-ray tech. Fortunately there is an incredibly respected school for that in my town and I have just enrolled. But my journey is just starting... can I do well enough in the pre-requesits to gain entrance since they only admit 36 out of 200-250 applicants. Can I get my financial aid I need? Can my small amount of existing software royalties and clients sustain me through this time without losing my home while I make the change?

I don't know but I am willing to do whatever it takes to at least try. At age 44, I bet there are plenty of folks out there who would love a chance at a career do-over. I invite you to follow along as I post about each day's progress, frustrations and victories. I invite you to leave comments and questions.

Here I go.