my life is a circus: about to be homeless

[Immortal Wombat]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Yeah, he isn't the first student to fail out of college though.

Yeah, but that doesn't happen to the best of us.

[:) Smiley]

I don't think he was kicked out, didn't he choose to withdraw?

[Imran Siddiqui]

I think he was about to fail out, though the distinction's not really important at this time.

[Drogue]

Originally posted by Immortal Wombat
Yeah, but that doesn't happen to the best of us.

I'm damn close, and I think I'm doing pretty well

Admittedly this is mainly because one of the tutors is an absolute ass who really doesn't like me

[Ben Kenobi]

I've withdrawn, and I disagree that it is worse than flunking out. Sometimes you just don't have a choice to continue on. If you withdraw, it's less of a reflection of your capabilities than flunking out would be, provided you have a good reason for doing so.

[Asher]

I disagree that withdrawing is a good option.

Example: Ben.

[Ted Striker]

WHere is MRT anyway?

[Ben Kenobi]

Is it a good option? No. Is it better than flunking out? Yes. I can return to UBC at my own initiative, rather than having that door closed to me.

[Asher]

So you left because you couldn't cut it?

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Withdrawing is a much better option than flunking out. Flunking out gets you debarred from the University and prevents you from coming back until you appeal it. And even when you return you have a horrible mark on your record.

[Gatekeeper]

I had a roommate at university who withdrew. He was a great guy, and seemed to be doing good in his classes (we shared the same major — journalism). I learned in December 1997 that he hadn't been attending his classes since October 1997 or so. I asked all the profs in the department that if I helped him catch up with his classwork and tests if he could still pass. Sadly, 'twas too little, too late.

I last saw him Jan. 6, 1998, when he cleaned out his half of the room. You know what his downfall was?

Internet addiction.

Gatekeeper

[Urban Ranger]

Not going to any of the classes is fine, as long as you hand in all the assignments and pass the exams.

[Ben Kenobi]

So you left because you couldn't cut it?

Why did I leave when I did?

More than a few reasons. My profs all asked me to stay, they liked my work, and felt I was one of their better students.

But the real reasons were financial and institutional.

I really don't know what to call the second thing. At UBC they have a Disability Resource Centre that supplies notetakers for students. Up until this last year, they allowed me to hire my own, and they would start within a week of classes starting. I'd get a package of notes every week right until the end. The system worked well, and allowed me to do well at university. Then they changed the system.

A new director of the program got hired with squat knowledge of this particular program which she oversaw. A case of merit hiring, she had a different disability, but one that had nothing to do with my program. In any case, she made several substantial alterations. First of all, she made it so that all notetakers had to go through the same hirings process as all other employees of the DRC. Looks good, but there's more. Part of this hirings process meant that they had to take a test concerning the workings of the DRC. If they failed, they were removed from consideration.

Secondly, until a notetaker was hired, they would not pay the notetaker. I had always argued for retroactive pay, from the start of the class, so that they got compensated for all the notes I received. A difference of about 40 dollars per notetaker per semester, considering that all the notetakers got 10 dollars an hour to work.

Then they scaled back the pay to nine dollars. All of these changes took place at the same time.

Needless to say, it was a complete disaster. It took a month for all my notetakers to be hired, completely unacceptable when my semester is only 3 months long with 1 month for our examinations.

Secondly, they refused to pay my notetakers for the first month of classes, even though I was supposed to get my notetaker's notes from that first month. I argued that they ought to be compensated for this, as they had been every year before.

I eventually managed to get the DRC to pay them retroactively because I would go on my own time and hassle them over this issue. They said they would grandfather me until I graduated, an agreement which they reneged on in the second term.

As for financial, I didn't have the money to pay for all my books on top of my living costs, without taking a part time job. I took the job doing inventory work, in the second term and got burnt out from that and a full course load.

Will I go back? When I have what I need, in terms of money and support so that I can finish. If I have to work and save to do that, then I will do that.

[Asher]

UBC is a clusterf*ck of a school. Shameful.

[Ben Kenobi]

I had a scholarship to Calgary and to Edmonton, but I turned them both down.

Too many rednecks.