Picking up from yesterday –
(And getting back to the story part of all this…)
After I talked with the counselor, I felt I was back at square one. I looked at the page of requirements again, when it came to going part-time.
Internship, I realized.
Sigh. I don’t necessarily want to do an internship. But sometimes in life we have to do what we don’t necessarily want to do.
I called the registrar’s office to double check that if I signed up for an internship, that would count as attending Berklee (meaning my 4-year clock would reset), allowing me to have my catalog year ’til Spring of 2018.
He verified that was correct. I followed up with an email to get it in writing, which it now is.
I still have to go through a few hoops. Approvals are needed from the Office of Experiential Learning and a department chair. There’s more paperwork in my future. But at least I have the solution.
After the initial elation from finding that solution died down, I wondered… is this actually a good solution?
The amount of time an internship would take is probably the same amount of time you’d spend on those extra liberal arts credits if you had to take them. And you’re gonna have to blow $2,500 (uuugh) on something that doesn’t necessarily even help you move toward graduation. Is that really worth it?
But keep in mind, even if I was allowed to CLEP out of 3 of the 10 new required credits, there’d be 7 left – so, about $9,000.
Ultimately, to fuel and flame my stubbornness and feel as though I’ve “won,” and to leave my options open while potentially saving $6,500 in the future, the internship plan seemed to pretty much make sense.
I’m basically looking at it as a $2,500 fee to keep my catalog year.
Obviously, I was going to have to sacrifice something. I learned that thing could just be money and time. It wouldn’t have to be my apartment; my acceptance into a hard-to-get-into major; or my precious, precious catalog year.
I suppose that’s how it’s done, right? That’s compromise, baby!
[*passes out from all the stress, calling & emailing around, and brain spinning*]
That was the original end to this post (as I drafted it weeks before now). Since I’ve had time to calm down after this whole very mild fiasco, I’m wondering… is the option to graduate from Berklee in the future honestly worth a $2,500 fee to me? Let’s talk about that tomorrow.