Aurora's Blog

After all the blabbering about college recently, here is at least one actionable step.

I don’t know if you’ve heard about Harvard Extension School. If you haven’t, it’s basically a place where anybody can start in on some college classes. (It’s perfect for someone in my situation.)

If you meet certain criteria, you can actually be accepted to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree from there. If you do graduate from Harvard Extension, you can attend the regular Harvard ceremony, and get your degree from Harvard University.

Also, as a student at Harvard, you can take advantage of many things normal students can – playing on Harvard sports teams, playing in the marching band, etc. I know it’s not exactly the same as being a student at Harvard College, but as far as the limited options people like myself have when it comes to going to college – this is a stellar one.

You don’t need any more info on the school from me since they have their own great channels to talk about it. You can hear this year’s information session, or check out their official website.

What I can tell you is that I signed up for Expo-25, the first of 3 classes one would need to take to eventually be accepted (which is what allows you many of the perks of being a Harvard student (and a student in general)).

To take that first expository writing class, you have to pass a placement exam. I signed onto my Harvard Extension School account, ’cause I remember having taken the placement exam when I first learned about Harvard Extension.

I saw that my passing score was from 2010. I had always planned to go back to Berklee after taking the summer (and possibly fall) to get away from the scene. But alas, in September 2010, I realized that was not going be possible (or it was going to be more prohibitive than I was wiling to sacrifice).
Back then, I was all about, “What are my options?”

That was when I took those community college classes online in the few subjects you couldn’t CLEP out of at Berklee. I wanted to at least feel like I was sort of moving forward in some way.

That year was also when I found out about Harvard Extension. (I took the placement exam in December 2010.) Other than passing one placement exam, I did nothing with Harvard Extension… until now.

I’m not necessarily saying I’m going to become a degree candidate, or that Harvard Extension is absolutely the right choice as the end game for me. But what I am saying is that from everything I’ve heard, it has wonderful and challenging classes.

While looking into any options I do have college-wise, the one thing that was true across the board was that they all wanted some sort of recent academic progress. It didn’t have to be full-time study somewhere, just a class here and there to show you’re willing to study and do well at this point in your life.

So, I’m going to take this class. If I continue wanting to actually go to a school somewhere, this might help me. Or, if I decide for whatever reason that I do want to graduate with a Bachelor’s, but I don’t want to go somewhere else (or if I didn’t get in anywhere else), I could continue class by class at Harvard Extension. The program is amazingly flexible. I sort of wonder why more schools don’t have something like this.

There you have it. 3 years later, I signed up for the first class. Before, I bemoaned about the money. And time. I didn’t want to commit to a 2-hour window every week when I had to sign on to class, ’cause (read over-dramatically) what if it conflicts with my next job?

Now that I work in post-production, it’s much simpler than working on set. My work environments are very lax. If I need to come in a little early and take a 2-hour lunch once a week, I’m lucky that I can.

Basically, there’s almost always a way to find the time and money if you prioritize something high enough. So, I found the time and money for one class, and we’ll take it from there.