College sucks!

Okay, So, I'm getting set to take the T-TEN (Toyota Tecnical Educational Network) course at the local community college to get my Associates in Applied Sciences for Automotive Technology. I've been arguing back and forth for weeks trying to figure out what the course entails, class-wise. Both the Gentleman who was helping me and myself wasn't understanding what the other was saying.

Now, I have everything cleared up, but I have a bigger problem. I have to complete 640 hours of "dealership internship" over 2 summers. That means 8 - 40 hour weeks WORKING FOR FREE!!! Hell, actually, I'm working for negative money! I have to pay the school $300 and change to go work somewhere for someone for FREE! The problem is, I can't afford, financially and physically, to do this. I would have to keep my current job, which would make the process even worse cause I work 12p-830p and at best would be able to give the dealership 4.5 hours a day Mon thru Fri and than 8 on Sat. This equals out to 30.5 hours a week, AT BEST. That would mean I would need to give them 10.5 - 6 day weeks and not have time for myself. Remember, I have to do this for 2 summers before I can get my degree. Plus 2 ASE's

I know I'm supposed to "man-up" and do what I have to do, but DAYUM! That's insane! I'm applying at the dealership nearest me and hoping I get the job and they damn well better let me use that time there towards my degree. I can't afford to do that and not get paid for it. It's too much and I don't have the time to slice it any thinner. My wife is gonna be 29 (and I'll be almost 26) by time I graduate and we wanna have kids before she's 30 and we're still trying to find a way to save up for a house. Thank god we're moving out of Jersey!

On top of that, I want to get fully ASE certified along with my A.A.S. degree, which will take me forever, even with taking up to 2 ASE's per year. I'd be able to complete 4 of 8 total ASE's and than there are three more ASE's I'd like to persue:

Service Consultant Test - Automobile Service Consultant
Alternate Fuels Test - Light Vehicle—Compressed Natural Gas
Specialty Tests - Exhaust Systems

Man am I wishing I had known about this course a lot sooner. It's a real drag with my wife and everything. She's finishing her medical billing and coding course soon and after one year of interning, she'll be able to make great money (some of the doctors here have even offered to hire her when she completes the state cretification and has a few weeks of hospital internship under her belt). Meanwhile, I'll be sitting in class or working for free at the dealership, making $*squat*.50 an hour.

Sorry, I really needed to rant. Do any of you here have any ideas or suggestions for me to help me out?
 
Yup. I agree with Sara. For teaching, we had 2 semesters where we had to put in 100 hours of teaching observations in addition to school hours in which we weren't paid for. And then you have student teaching which is 16 weeks of whatever hours the teacher is at school including parent/teacher conferences, professional development days, etc. None of which was paid for.
 
It's not that I'm not getting paid to do those hours. The probelm lies in the fact that my schedule will only allow me so many hours and at that, I'll be killing myself to get it done. Then I get to deal with gaining weight from being stressed at work and not sleeping right which will screw up everything I am working towards.

Bottom line is, there is no way possible for me to go to the dealership (which I would absolutely love to do) and continue working my current job from 12 noon to 830 pm. I've gotta get into the dealership. It's the only way this will work. Besides, it'll even get my foot in the door before I finish the course so I don't have to work for Pep Boys when I graduate.



Who's got the DeLorean?
 
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