Tonight was my first night volunteering at St Joseph Medical Center, in the emergency department. It was actually a lot more fun than I expected, and I got to do things I never anticipated.
At first, things went exactly as planned. I checked the supplies in empty rooms, filled what needed it, went to the stock room and prepped some blood tube packets and a few other small things. The problem was, 30 minutes in I had already finished what was supposed to last 4 hours.
The volunteer that trained me last week had told me that the nurses generally ignore the volunteers, but I decided not to let that happen. I started talking to them, made sure I caught their names off their badges so I could call them by their name instead of hey you in the green, explained I was a nursing student and told them if they needed help please ask, I would appreciate the chance to learn. About that time a tech came in, and just happened to be the guy that taught me CPR. That little bit of an outside connection, along with being forward with the nurses paid off in the first night.
It didn't take long at all and a few of the nurses were asking me to do things. Granted nothing important, but I was moving patients from the ER to other departments, taking people out to their cars to go home, being mostly useful. I got to watch a doctor remove a do it yourself eyebrow piercing. Talked a psych patient down enough they took the restraints off his arms as long as he behaved. Helped hook up a few monitors, and even got to help put a cast on.
The 2 most interesting events of the evening were the teenage kid that got high for the first time, that went through bouts of paranoia and laughter. His parents thought he was probably going to die of an overdose. I also brought a lady a drink, and she started talking, stopped mid sentence for a bit, then started back up again. Pretty soon i heard water hitting the floor....Hey you in the green, I'm just a volunteer you better come clean this up.
The thing I was most worried about going in was walking into peoples rooms. We're always taught when someone is sick you leave them alone so they can rest, and above all else respect others privacy especially when they're so vulnerable. So to me, it was very counter-intuitive to walk into a room and ask if I could get anything for them. Even though I didn't have to, I forced myself to do this a few times. I need to get used to it. As a result, I got to help a few people, and meet some very gracious family members. I also answered a few call lights, again not really in the scope of a volunteer but what the hell, if all they need is a drink or help adjusting in the bed, I can do that. If it was something more important I would go find a nurse.
All in all it was a very good night, and I think will be great experience for me going forward. Plus after I broke the ice I got to start getting to know some amazing people in the nursing staff, which is great because I need more people at my bbq's.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Back to school!
After my unbelievably long and boring 5 day summer vacation I hit my first day of classes at Avila yesterday. Overall, looks like I'm going to have a really easy semester. Ethics, Literature, Judaism, and Biology. Now if I could just catch a break on the job search I'll be in great shape.
First class of the morning is ethics. As long as you show up and turn stuff in, you're pretty much guaranteed and A. It's very much a discussion based class about whatever hot topics the teacher wants to discuss. Gun control, death penalty, abortion, pretty much anything is on the table. This will be a fun class to start off the morning, and since there is no right or wrong opinion there's pretty much nothing to screw up. The teacher seems like a hoot too. He's definitely a hippy, open minded, and I think he's gonna be the type to stir the pot as much as possible. I should be able to have fun with the little kids in this one.
Next up is biology. I just got a 98 in microbiology so it'll be pretty sad if I don't do the same in this one. I think this teacher is gonna be a bit boring, and it's a huuuuge class so discussions are pretty much out. I'm really hoping the lab is a much smaller group so it's easier to get down and do stuff.
I end my day with literature. I don't know why but in my experience ALMOST all english teachers are a bit stuck up. We got lectured on how she expects emails to be formatted or she won't answer them, the papers have to be damn near perfect, not the content just the format and grammar (not that this was unexpected), and a very long lecture about how she was to be addressed as Dr. or Professor. No doc, no prof, and a hey you pretty much buys you an F. In my previous college career and even in high school I've felt like english teachers have always had a stick up their ass, except for 2 that I've had that were absolutely amazing. Oh, and if you noticed that I'm not capitalizing english it's because one of my high school teachers may be reading this...She was one of the amazing ones of course! On the plus side, I like our reading list. I could do without the Shakespeare, and we have 2 of those, but they're fairly short and in my opinion 2 of his more entertaining stories. Othello and A Midsummer's Night Dream. The Inferno, Canterbury Tales, and an old favorite The Odessey. I've read all of them at some point in the past, but long enough ago that it'll be fun to read them again. Also, despite the teacher being a bit uppity about her title, she seems genuinely excited about the books we're reading. This is very good news to me because a boring teacher leads to a boring class.
Tomorrow is my first day volunteering at St Joseph without a guide, bit nervous about that but hey, at least they can't fire me. I'll find out what to expect from my Judaism class next Tuesday, but I don't expect it to be too daunting.
First class of the morning is ethics. As long as you show up and turn stuff in, you're pretty much guaranteed and A. It's very much a discussion based class about whatever hot topics the teacher wants to discuss. Gun control, death penalty, abortion, pretty much anything is on the table. This will be a fun class to start off the morning, and since there is no right or wrong opinion there's pretty much nothing to screw up. The teacher seems like a hoot too. He's definitely a hippy, open minded, and I think he's gonna be the type to stir the pot as much as possible. I should be able to have fun with the little kids in this one.
Next up is biology. I just got a 98 in microbiology so it'll be pretty sad if I don't do the same in this one. I think this teacher is gonna be a bit boring, and it's a huuuuge class so discussions are pretty much out. I'm really hoping the lab is a much smaller group so it's easier to get down and do stuff.
I end my day with literature. I don't know why but in my experience ALMOST all english teachers are a bit stuck up. We got lectured on how she expects emails to be formatted or she won't answer them, the papers have to be damn near perfect, not the content just the format and grammar (not that this was unexpected), and a very long lecture about how she was to be addressed as Dr. or Professor. No doc, no prof, and a hey you pretty much buys you an F. In my previous college career and even in high school I've felt like english teachers have always had a stick up their ass, except for 2 that I've had that were absolutely amazing. Oh, and if you noticed that I'm not capitalizing english it's because one of my high school teachers may be reading this...She was one of the amazing ones of course! On the plus side, I like our reading list. I could do without the Shakespeare, and we have 2 of those, but they're fairly short and in my opinion 2 of his more entertaining stories. Othello and A Midsummer's Night Dream. The Inferno, Canterbury Tales, and an old favorite The Odessey. I've read all of them at some point in the past, but long enough ago that it'll be fun to read them again. Also, despite the teacher being a bit uppity about her title, she seems genuinely excited about the books we're reading. This is very good news to me because a boring teacher leads to a boring class.
Tomorrow is my first day volunteering at St Joseph without a guide, bit nervous about that but hey, at least they can't fire me. I'll find out what to expect from my Judaism class next Tuesday, but I don't expect it to be too daunting.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Shellykins Apricot Surprise
I like to cook. A lot. I like having bbq's, small dinners with friends, or just trying out something new for Denise and I. Unlike most people that like to cook I don't watch the food network, I don't own a recipe book, and I rarely try to recreate something that someone else has done because...well if I want to eat that I'll just go there. A few weeks ago I came up with a new recipe during a particularly boring microbiology lecture, and last night I finally got a chance to try it. It was certainly different, and turned out amazing. I think 4 plates with nothing but a couple shreds of carrot and bones is a good indication that my test subjects agreed with me.
Smoked apricot vinegarette over grilled chops, salad, fried potatoes and carrots
Smoked apricot vinegarette:
This is what made the dish. The rest of the stuff was very simple, and could pretty much be changed out with whatever vegetables you like. The sauce may work on chicken as well, but i think it's suited best for chops.
1lb apricots, cut in half and pitted, then smoked over low heat. I simply put a small pile of charcoal on one side of the grill, then topped it with some pecan chunks and put the apricots as far from the heat as possible. The idea here isn't to cook them, just get them stuffed with delicious smokey flavor.
While those are smoking, in a sauce pan, boil:
3c water
1/4c sugar
1/4c brown sugar
1/4c honey
1/4c rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cloves
4 quarter sized medallions of ginger
Let this all reduce down until about a cup of the water is gone, fish out the cloves and ginger. At this point it will be almost unbearably sweet, that's ok. Grab the fruit off the grill and chop it up. You could puree it but at this point it's almost mush anyways so why dirty the extra dishes. Just running a knife through it a couple times was plenty. Add the apricots to the sugar and let it simmer for about 15 minutes then taste it. If it's still too sweet you can add some more vinegar to mellow it out some. Don't be afraid to leave it a little sweet though, it will be diluted down more when it's poured over the food. At this point, the sauce is done, let it sit over very low heat until you're ready to serve it, the time spent sitting there will just server to let the smoke flavor disperse evenly thoughout.
Potatoes and Carrots
I used 1 lb of yukon gold potatoes, quartered, then blanched for about 5 minutes.
Spread the potatoes out on a cookie sheet or something and set them aside for about 30 minutes to let most of the moisture out, this will allow them to crisp up more later.
In a screaming hot wok i melted a stick of butter, threw 1/2 lb of baby carrots and let them get started
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped go in
Add in the potatoes, salt and pepper to taste and cook until the carrots are done and you get some delicious crispy bits on the potatoes.
Grilled Pork Chops:
This was the easiest part, just used a simple rub of salt, thyme, and rosemary. Toss them on the grill and cook until done.
Once cooked put the chops on a bed of lettuce, add whatever salad vegetables you like. I went with red leaf lettuce, shredded carrots, and red onion.
Finally, top the chops and salad with the vinegarette. For finishing touches I topped the salad with walnuts, which balanced perfectly with the sweet dressing. For the chops a hefty pinch of french fried shallots.
When it was all said and done, I think the flavors all worked great together. The only changes i would make would clean up the presentation a bit. I would change the red leaf lettuce to a brighter green lettuce, and in place of the carrots and potatoes i would maybe substitute a basil parmesan broccoli, or grilled zucchini. The reason for these changes would be to get more color variety on the plate. The chops are brown, the sauce is brown/orange, orange carrots, and the dark red leaf lettuce made everything kind of run together visually.
Smoked apricot vinegarette over grilled chops, salad, fried potatoes and carrots
Smoked apricot vinegarette:
This is what made the dish. The rest of the stuff was very simple, and could pretty much be changed out with whatever vegetables you like. The sauce may work on chicken as well, but i think it's suited best for chops.
1lb apricots, cut in half and pitted, then smoked over low heat. I simply put a small pile of charcoal on one side of the grill, then topped it with some pecan chunks and put the apricots as far from the heat as possible. The idea here isn't to cook them, just get them stuffed with delicious smokey flavor.
While those are smoking, in a sauce pan, boil:
3c water
1/4c sugar
1/4c brown sugar
1/4c honey
1/4c rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cloves
4 quarter sized medallions of ginger
Let this all reduce down until about a cup of the water is gone, fish out the cloves and ginger. At this point it will be almost unbearably sweet, that's ok. Grab the fruit off the grill and chop it up. You could puree it but at this point it's almost mush anyways so why dirty the extra dishes. Just running a knife through it a couple times was plenty. Add the apricots to the sugar and let it simmer for about 15 minutes then taste it. If it's still too sweet you can add some more vinegar to mellow it out some. Don't be afraid to leave it a little sweet though, it will be diluted down more when it's poured over the food. At this point, the sauce is done, let it sit over very low heat until you're ready to serve it, the time spent sitting there will just server to let the smoke flavor disperse evenly thoughout.
Potatoes and Carrots
I used 1 lb of yukon gold potatoes, quartered, then blanched for about 5 minutes.
Spread the potatoes out on a cookie sheet or something and set them aside for about 30 minutes to let most of the moisture out, this will allow them to crisp up more later.
In a screaming hot wok i melted a stick of butter, threw 1/2 lb of baby carrots and let them get started
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped go in
Add in the potatoes, salt and pepper to taste and cook until the carrots are done and you get some delicious crispy bits on the potatoes.
Grilled Pork Chops:
This was the easiest part, just used a simple rub of salt, thyme, and rosemary. Toss them on the grill and cook until done.
Once cooked put the chops on a bed of lettuce, add whatever salad vegetables you like. I went with red leaf lettuce, shredded carrots, and red onion.
Finally, top the chops and salad with the vinegarette. For finishing touches I topped the salad with walnuts, which balanced perfectly with the sweet dressing. For the chops a hefty pinch of french fried shallots.
When it was all said and done, I think the flavors all worked great together. The only changes i would make would clean up the presentation a bit. I would change the red leaf lettuce to a brighter green lettuce, and in place of the carrots and potatoes i would maybe substitute a basil parmesan broccoli, or grilled zucchini. The reason for these changes would be to get more color variety on the plate. The chops are brown, the sauce is brown/orange, orange carrots, and the dark red leaf lettuce made everything kind of run together visually.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
American Pie
I can still remember, how that music used to make me smile. For the 2 or 3 people that might still read this, I'm sure you've noticed I like to attach songs to these posts. Some are more relevant than others, sometimes a song just pops into my head while I'm writing so in it goes. Like many people music has always been important in my life, and I'm one of those people that has songs attached to different events throughout my life. Dixieland delight comes on, boom I'm driving down the back roads in Nashua with Sara and Sarah in highschool. Mama Told Me Not to Come, cruising down Antioch road in my dads old work truck. I can't get two notes into I Believe In A Thing Called Love by The Darkness without laughing about how a faulty cd kept this from being the song played as Denise and I walked out of the church after our wedding, and likely saved my life.
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step. So I've had a couple rough years. Well, obviously not just me, but this is my blog so we're talking about my problems. Deal with it. Scattered employment, money issues, Denise's health problems, the general stress of living through a recession, and going back to school, I've got a lot of reasons to get a little wound up from time to time. Whenever it happens though music still works. Whether it's Frankie Valli or Threes Days Grace, my choice in songs may fluctuate but the result never does. It has a calming effect that can be very hard to find anywhere else. Denise likes to yell at me about having it up too loud, fortunately I have good speakers on my computer so I can just turn it up a bit more so I don't hear her.
The day the music died. Denise and I share some tastes in music, but not a whole lot. On top of that, she's a tv watcher, music is something to pass time in the car for her. So, there are a lot of days in our house that the music and tv volumes have to compete with each other. Did I mention I have really good speakers on my computer? A while back we did find an unexpected musical connection. A song that we both loved. She was watching a documentary on Celine Dion and I was singing along to "It's All Coming Back To Me Now". She asked what I was doing singing a Celine song, and I said "I don't know, what's Celine doing singing a Meat Loaf song?". She didn't believe me, a couple minutes later I had Meat Loaf on the computer singing it. Up until whenever she reads this, I've had her convinced that Celine did the remake. The truth is however, the song was originally written for Meat Loafs BAT OUT OF HELL II album, but the writer felt it was a song better suited for a female vocalist, and it ended up going to Celine first. The funny part is though, that ever since finding out Meat Loaf recorded the song she doesn't like it anymore, even though it was one of her favorite songs before hand.
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step. So I've had a couple rough years. Well, obviously not just me, but this is my blog so we're talking about my problems. Deal with it. Scattered employment, money issues, Denise's health problems, the general stress of living through a recession, and going back to school, I've got a lot of reasons to get a little wound up from time to time. Whenever it happens though music still works. Whether it's Frankie Valli or Threes Days Grace, my choice in songs may fluctuate but the result never does. It has a calming effect that can be very hard to find anywhere else. Denise likes to yell at me about having it up too loud, fortunately I have good speakers on my computer so I can just turn it up a bit more so I don't hear her.
The day the music died. Denise and I share some tastes in music, but not a whole lot. On top of that, she's a tv watcher, music is something to pass time in the car for her. So, there are a lot of days in our house that the music and tv volumes have to compete with each other. Did I mention I have really good speakers on my computer? A while back we did find an unexpected musical connection. A song that we both loved. She was watching a documentary on Celine Dion and I was singing along to "It's All Coming Back To Me Now". She asked what I was doing singing a Celine song, and I said "I don't know, what's Celine doing singing a Meat Loaf song?". She didn't believe me, a couple minutes later I had Meat Loaf on the computer singing it. Up until whenever she reads this, I've had her convinced that Celine did the remake. The truth is however, the song was originally written for Meat Loafs BAT OUT OF HELL II album, but the writer felt it was a song better suited for a female vocalist, and it ended up going to Celine first. The funny part is though, that ever since finding out Meat Loaf recorded the song she doesn't like it anymore, even though it was one of her favorite songs before hand.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Done, done, and I'm on to the next one
Just got home from my last final for the summer, I think I might have missed one this time. I locked up a 99% in my nutrition class yesterday, and either a 97% or 98% in microbiology today depending on that one question. This means unless something goes completely haywire I get my scholarships for Avila, which is a good thing because I couldn't have paid for it without them. I still won't know for sure for about 2 more weeks, after my official transcripts are available.
Looking over my grades it has amazed me at how much difference interest and motivation can make in your performance. So far since I've returned to school my lowest final grade has been this microbiology grade, and that is damn near perfect. The first time I went to college my finishing GPA was 2.42. I still don't like school any more than I did then, but I like the material I'm covering a lot more. This makes it much easier to stay focused and participate in conversations which obviously leads to much improved learning. My motivation to succeed is also much higher, for personal, and economic reasons. This gives me the kick I need to drop what I'm doing to read a chapter, make a study guide, work on an outline, whatever needs to be done to prepare myself well ahead of time instead of last minute cramming. It's the perfect 1-2 punch to go from a 2.42 to a 4.0 despite being out of school for so long.
Next week promises to be a bit of a shock to the system. So far at NAU about half of the students have been my age or older, and classes are set up to work for adults. Starting Wednesday at Avila I'm jumping back into a traditional college schedule, and will be surrounded by teenagers. Even worse....mostly teenage girls. I hate teenage girls, they're such a pain in the ass. The course load should be easy enough, and my schedule will allow for lots of library time in between classes to complete most of the homework while I'm there, but still...teenage girls. Bleh. At least I have 2 years of wearing bright purple scrubs to look forward too. /facepalm.
So, in honor of finals week being done and the new semester starting in 5 days!
Looking over my grades it has amazed me at how much difference interest and motivation can make in your performance. So far since I've returned to school my lowest final grade has been this microbiology grade, and that is damn near perfect. The first time I went to college my finishing GPA was 2.42. I still don't like school any more than I did then, but I like the material I'm covering a lot more. This makes it much easier to stay focused and participate in conversations which obviously leads to much improved learning. My motivation to succeed is also much higher, for personal, and economic reasons. This gives me the kick I need to drop what I'm doing to read a chapter, make a study guide, work on an outline, whatever needs to be done to prepare myself well ahead of time instead of last minute cramming. It's the perfect 1-2 punch to go from a 2.42 to a 4.0 despite being out of school for so long.
Next week promises to be a bit of a shock to the system. So far at NAU about half of the students have been my age or older, and classes are set up to work for adults. Starting Wednesday at Avila I'm jumping back into a traditional college schedule, and will be surrounded by teenagers. Even worse....mostly teenage girls. I hate teenage girls, they're such a pain in the ass. The course load should be easy enough, and my schedule will allow for lots of library time in between classes to complete most of the homework while I'm there, but still...teenage girls. Bleh. At least I have 2 years of wearing bright purple scrubs to look forward too. /facepalm.
So, in honor of finals week being done and the new semester starting in 5 days!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Carnac the Magnificent says?! A season, a reason, and laying back easin.
The season is summer...obviously...but for me it's summer finals week. While finals week is really nothing special, hell I have at least 6 more of them to go through after this, this one is a little more important than most. As I've mentioned before I'm in line for some pretty huge scholarships if I get all A's this summer. So far so good, I think. In microbiology I'm set, with everything to date tallied I only need a 66 on my final to lock up an A. Considering I've only missed a total of 3 questions on the 6 tests and midterm, I'm confident that I'm good there. The class that should have been the easier of my 2 however, I'm still a little uncertain about. I have all A's on the tests, and the final is open book, so I think I'm fine. My uncertainty is due to the fact that we've hardly accumulated any points in this class. 40% of our grade is a single project, which I believe I did very well, but I still haven't seen the grade. With so few points in the class a pretty minor mistake can drop you to a B though. I guess it doesn't really matter now since I've already committed to Avila, scholarships or not.
The reason I chose nursing? I can't say it's simple, it took over a year to decide. I could have gone back into electronics/computers, not all that interesting to me but it's steady. I could have stayed in construction, it's unreliable but pays well enough, plus I'm good at it. Nursing though has many of the benefits each of the fields have, and it brings a few of its own. The simple truth is though, despite all my yelling, cussing, crude jokes, and intimidating drunks in bars for fun, I really like to help people. Over the last few years my wife, Denise, has had more than her fair share of medical problems. As bad as they have been, it did introduce me to a new working environment where people actually work together, enjoy their jobs, and don't threaten to stab each other in the neck on a regular basis. It carries the same job satisfaction as I got from building things in the form of helping to cure people. It has a job security that is second to none. When I look up and down the list of pros and cons it's amazing how unbalanced it is for me. Of course, the first things my friends usually bring up is "OH MY GAWD YOU'LL HAVE TO CHANGE DIAPERS!!". To which i simply respond, "It's ok, I've been dealing with you assholes for years, I'm used to it.".
And finally, laying back easin'. School has already done a number on my hobbies, and so far I've had a very favorable schedule. With a more rigorous schedule starting in two weeks, and hopefully a job starting soon I'm kind of dreading the complete lack of free time. All of my favorite hobbies require scheduling with other people, or are only available on certain days. I'd love to pick up a kayak and some fishing gear so I could have a spur of the moment hobby, but without a job that's out of the question. Maybe a new video game will come out that catches my interest, who knows. Luckily though I have about 2 weeks to sit back and relax, I see a lot of bbq in my future.
The reason I chose nursing? I can't say it's simple, it took over a year to decide. I could have gone back into electronics/computers, not all that interesting to me but it's steady. I could have stayed in construction, it's unreliable but pays well enough, plus I'm good at it. Nursing though has many of the benefits each of the fields have, and it brings a few of its own. The simple truth is though, despite all my yelling, cussing, crude jokes, and intimidating drunks in bars for fun, I really like to help people. Over the last few years my wife, Denise, has had more than her fair share of medical problems. As bad as they have been, it did introduce me to a new working environment where people actually work together, enjoy their jobs, and don't threaten to stab each other in the neck on a regular basis. It carries the same job satisfaction as I got from building things in the form of helping to cure people. It has a job security that is second to none. When I look up and down the list of pros and cons it's amazing how unbalanced it is for me. Of course, the first things my friends usually bring up is "OH MY GAWD YOU'LL HAVE TO CHANGE DIAPERS!!". To which i simply respond, "It's ok, I've been dealing with you assholes for years, I'm used to it.".
And finally, laying back easin'. School has already done a number on my hobbies, and so far I've had a very favorable schedule. With a more rigorous schedule starting in two weeks, and hopefully a job starting soon I'm kind of dreading the complete lack of free time. All of my favorite hobbies require scheduling with other people, or are only available on certain days. I'd love to pick up a kayak and some fishing gear so I could have a spur of the moment hobby, but without a job that's out of the question. Maybe a new video game will come out that catches my interest, who knows. Luckily though I have about 2 weeks to sit back and relax, I see a lot of bbq in my future.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Money for Nothin'
Today I officially made the leap to transfer schools this fall. I'm confident enough in holding my grades that I feel my scholarships for Avila are secured, so I cancelled my fall classes for National American. The process was a little drawn out, and it all boiled down to "how can we keep you paying us?". While I've had a decent enough time at this school, it got me to thinking about the differences between a traditional 4 year private school and a for profit.
With University of Phoenix being the largest college in the world, a lot of attention has been given lately to the quality of these for profit schools. I enrolled in one out of convenience, so I could start getting classes finished while waiting to get accepted to a better school. I did however do some research before I started. The first thing I did is check their accreditations, and called some of the local private schools to verify that all credits would transfer. I also searched online for reviews and opinions. Here's where I hit a giant cluster of bad, wrong, or poorly represented information. Overall the reviews and opinions were pretty decent, including those of people who claimed to be employers. In the most scathing reviews I noticed a trend that caused me to quickly discount them. Most of the horrible reviews were written by disgruntled former students who had difficulty finding a job, I get that. Most of these reviews were also written by people who couldn't complete a sentence with anything resembling logic as well. In my opinion, the trouble you're having getting a job is more likely related to the fact that you didn't pay attention while you were in school and that is obvious to interviewers, not that the school wasn't good enough.
So far in my experience, NAU has been a good school. The curriculum is comparable, the teachers knowledgeable, and the teachers seem to genuinely care about your success. I believe more of the bad reputation these schools get is from the quality of students they attract, not the quality of education they provide. Basically, you get out of it what you put into it.
There is one thing noticeably missing from this school that you will find in a private school though, an excellent support structure. Counselors, tutors, huge libraries, and more accessible teachers all lend a tremendous amount of support to students that need it. Unfortunately, the kids that flock to the for profit schools are the ones that need this support the most. This leads to perhaps the biggest support structure of all, the other students. If you are at a school where you aren't confident in your fellow classmates it is very difficult to get help from the one group that is doing the same thing that you are.
The counselors at NAU are where I've seen the biggest problem. They spend most of their time on financial aid issues and seem to only take an academic interest when it means keeping a students grades just high enough to keep attending. I've tried working with mine a few times and have concluded that his "academic adviser" title is nothing more than a shiny plate on his door. Interestingly enough though, the guy who enrolled me in classes and is basically in a salesman position has routinely checked in to see how classes were going, asked for feedback about the school in general, and has presented changes to the admins based on my feedback.
Overall, I think the for profit route isn't all bad. If a traditional program doesn't fit your schedule these programs are excellent. The largest pitfall is the amount of responsibility that falls on you as the student. At any college you're responsible for your work, but at least with the private option you get an exceptional support network to help you through. If you are able to take your pick of schools though, go with the private school. The quality of education, support, and the overall "college experience" is well worth it.
With University of Phoenix being the largest college in the world, a lot of attention has been given lately to the quality of these for profit schools. I enrolled in one out of convenience, so I could start getting classes finished while waiting to get accepted to a better school. I did however do some research before I started. The first thing I did is check their accreditations, and called some of the local private schools to verify that all credits would transfer. I also searched online for reviews and opinions. Here's where I hit a giant cluster of bad, wrong, or poorly represented information. Overall the reviews and opinions were pretty decent, including those of people who claimed to be employers. In the most scathing reviews I noticed a trend that caused me to quickly discount them. Most of the horrible reviews were written by disgruntled former students who had difficulty finding a job, I get that. Most of these reviews were also written by people who couldn't complete a sentence with anything resembling logic as well. In my opinion, the trouble you're having getting a job is more likely related to the fact that you didn't pay attention while you were in school and that is obvious to interviewers, not that the school wasn't good enough.
So far in my experience, NAU has been a good school. The curriculum is comparable, the teachers knowledgeable, and the teachers seem to genuinely care about your success. I believe more of the bad reputation these schools get is from the quality of students they attract, not the quality of education they provide. Basically, you get out of it what you put into it.
There is one thing noticeably missing from this school that you will find in a private school though, an excellent support structure. Counselors, tutors, huge libraries, and more accessible teachers all lend a tremendous amount of support to students that need it. Unfortunately, the kids that flock to the for profit schools are the ones that need this support the most. This leads to perhaps the biggest support structure of all, the other students. If you are at a school where you aren't confident in your fellow classmates it is very difficult to get help from the one group that is doing the same thing that you are.
The counselors at NAU are where I've seen the biggest problem. They spend most of their time on financial aid issues and seem to only take an academic interest when it means keeping a students grades just high enough to keep attending. I've tried working with mine a few times and have concluded that his "academic adviser" title is nothing more than a shiny plate on his door. Interestingly enough though, the guy who enrolled me in classes and is basically in a salesman position has routinely checked in to see how classes were going, asked for feedback about the school in general, and has presented changes to the admins based on my feedback.
Overall, I think the for profit route isn't all bad. If a traditional program doesn't fit your schedule these programs are excellent. The largest pitfall is the amount of responsibility that falls on you as the student. At any college you're responsible for your work, but at least with the private option you get an exceptional support network to help you through. If you are able to take your pick of schools though, go with the private school. The quality of education, support, and the overall "college experience" is well worth it.
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