August 17, 2010
40Plus & OnCampus
By NETC Student Karolyn Treadeau

Summer term is over!!

And I’m happy to report that I ended up with an A in Computer 101 and a B in Psychology 201.  It got a bit hairy over the last few weeks of classes because of the week we had off for the Fourth of July holiday.  Most of the people I talked to, including the instructors, had a hard time getting back on track when we came back after the break because a lot of ground had to be covered. Even though I’ve been working on computers for over 20 years, I learned a tremendous amount of information that will be useful in the future.  Psychology class, as I reported previously, was a blast; and I look forward to taking more classes in the future.

I have found that I really need to work on my study habits.  I am good at doing written projects and end up with As and Bs, however, tests are another story, and that’s where I need to improve.  My grade point average is 3.5, and I am very happy about that. It could be a 4, though; and I am going to work at that becoming a reality.

For the fall semester, which starts on August 16, I will again be taking three classes like I did during the Spring semester.  My choices are Sociology 205, Math 101 and English 101. I’m really looking forward to the sociology class and the English class.  Math is another story, but I’m planning on brushing up before the semester starts to make it easier on myself.  These are all required classes on my road to a degree.

I am so grateful to be allowed this opportunity to pursue a college degree with the help of the federal Pell Grant.  A small amount also comes from the state of South Carolina lottery to help me pay for cost related to being enrolled at NETC.  I had wanted to take more classes, and they would have been funded; however, I needed to take into consideration the fact that I am always looking for work and need to have free time available if I should encounter a job. I believe that just the fact that I am pursuing an Associate of Arts degree at this time is good to have on my resume, especially considering the fact that I am looking for work in the human services field.

The prospect of Fall semester is exciting, not only because it signals getting nearer to the end of this oppressive heat; but because it will be so much fun meeting new people and starting new classes.  The campus will be bustling again.  It will also be much more comfortable having shorter classes.  The almost two hour classes of summer can be difficult to handle.  I’m also hoping to participate in the college’s work-study program where students are selected to work in various departments at the college.  I think it would be very interesting to work for NETC.

I’m looking forward to giving you a great column in September.  If you want to contact me in the meantime, please email karolynt@shtc.net or check out the college’s website at www.netc.edu.

Karolyn Tredeau, 63 of Ruby, entered college after taking a 40-year hiatus from formal education.  She is a student at Northeastern Technical College and will write about her experiences in this column, “Plus40 & OnCampus” once a month.  Karolyn can be reached at  karolynt@shtc.net.


Read Karolyn's July column