Shcizool

SO I've finally decided to go back to school... after years and years of wafting in the wind and working what I could (the jewelry store was pretty good, though), I looked at my future and was like "what representable skills do I have?" Not so many. I consider myself a fairly smart person, yet my resume at age 26 looks like the extended version of a just-barely-graduated Liberal Arts major with out the B.A. on it. And I'm tired of working just "jobs."

I applied to Long Beach City College and was accepted (MIRACLE.. oh wait. They accept everyone). I registered for classes. I borrowed dollars from my mom to pay for them. I start TOMORROW. I am nervous o nervous. I haven't been to class in many years. I don't even know where the campus is. I don't know where the parking lot is. I don't know how I'm supposed to know what books to buy, much less afford. But I'm doing it.

This semester will include THREE classes after work (well, TWO, because one is on the internet) - Business Law, MicroEconomics, and US Government. Sounds Awesome, right? Not right. But these are things I must get done in order to pursue a Business Degree of any sort, which is what I'm thinking of. And, if I just take night classes at this point, I will probably be done with my transfer degree right about the time Jesse is ready to transfer his booty back out of the city. I could transfer at that point to any state college we might land near.

I'm also thinking of trying for my Graduate Gemologist certification, which would put the letters G.G. after my title. Ms. Jennifer Crist, G.G., or Mrs. Jennifer Smith, G.G. I know that a G.G. from the Gemological Institute of America means very little to anyone reading this, but just know that those two letters are the diamonds equivalent of having a Massage Therapist, M.T., or just a back rub-er with experience. It would help my credibility in the future of jewelry, those two letters. Those two letters, however, are worth FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. Oy. So there's a huge mental debate over whether I should get my G.G. at all, or just swing on having my business degree to start.

** So, business school?, you ask skeptically, and with reason. My thought process is this: Upon graduation, both of myself and Jesse, we will hopefully be moving back to Chico, and truthfully, I would love to move back to Kirk's Jewelry. Kirk has occasional bouts of disillusion with his jewelry business, and has often contemplated selling it or closing it because he likes real estate development so much better at this point. So, if it's still operational in three years and I have the credentials and training to entirely run his business, I'd like to get my foot in the management door, and perhaps eventually, upon his becoming too old and disillusioned, there might be a possibility of my taking it over for him. And even if not, I really feel like I have the mad skills, only to be enhanced by education, to have my own jewelry business in the future. Hence the necessary management training, though I'll hate it while I'm there. And, I'll actually have a degree. Whoa