posted
I quit school last year (Year 11, not sure what that's equivalent to in America) because I wasn't compatible with the large amounts of homework, I changed classes too much, and didn't attending enough cuase of sickness at one point and famil problems at another. But I have the option of, in July, doing night school, which covers the courses of year eleven at local high schools, in almost half the time. I want to do advanced english, advanced maths and average level science, but no other subjects because there's no advantage in doing so.
Besides my outside interests Wednesday afternoons, Friday nights, Saturday Mornings, Saturday nights and church on Sundays, I also have a full time job from 7-9am til 3-5pm every weekday. So I have three choices.
i. keep doing my job (keeping in mind this isn't until July, but oh well), AND do night school and all the other stuff.
ii. drop my job and just do the three night school classes and other stuff and focus on doing well in school.
iii. drop my job and take up the full equivalent of what year eleven was (probably minus drama which I'm already doing out of school).
What do you think hatrack?
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posted
If you left high school because you couldn't stand the home work load, I would worry that this would still be a problem for you. If the program you are taking takes half the time as traditional school, would there be twice the homework load?
In the end, you have to know your own stamina and ability to both work and go to school. Night school is designed to accommodate those people who work day jobs, and probably the rest of your class will be working day jobs. (Oh, and vampires. They adore night school. At my local community college, the night sessions for phlebotomy always has a waiting list)
posted
Year 11 is the second last year of high school here - first year of post-compulsory schooling.
Cheiros, why do you want to do night school? What kind of job/career are you seeking?
Do you want to go to university? Three subjects won't be enough (you need 4 TEE subjects to qualify for university entry in WA).
Have you considered TAFE/an apprenticeship instead?
If you do want to go to uni, you'll need to finish year 11 and year 12 with 4 TEE subjects, and I can't see how you could realistically do that unless you did it full time.
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Tante- I wasn't bad at handling homework, I just think it's stupid. I started last year in all the hardest classes (Physics, Drama Studies, Intro Calc, Geometry and Trigonometry, English Literature and History (tertiary entrance study subjects). But I got sick during the first term and fell behind. After failing to catch up I dropped a lot of them down to easier subjects and yeah... didn't work out.
It doesn't take half the year so much as you do it at your own pace with a minimum of one semester, and I think I could do these three in just one as I was generally ahead of my maths and english classes for the whole time I did the tertiary (TEE) subjects before getting sick.
imogen- I was hoping yu'd post. I want to go to night school simply to give myself more options. On the whole, my goal is to be a writer but I don't want to go to University. I did at one point want to go to Curtin but I can't remember what for. I'm looking into TAFE for night school (their website's not very helpful but I'm going for an interview soon). I'm also planning on doing Navy Reserve work next year but I've got no particular career interests. I work at Crazy Clarks Not sure if you have that wherever in Perth you live, but it pays well, so I'm happy for now. Posts: 1138 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I think that you should talk to your boss/manager/whatever. Tell him you ae taking night classes and ask him if you can work only or so hous a day instead of 8, or just ask to switch to part time. But be sure to explain to him that you are trying to finish high school. He might even give you a raise afterwards for have a GED.
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If you want to be a writer you'll need another career as well. Only the very, very successful writers in Australia can actually make a full time living off it. Most have a secondary job (a lot of them teach - either High School or tertiary creative writing courses).
To give you an example: my husband has 6 books published, another 3 coming out. His bare writing income (royalties and lending rights) is nowhere enough to live off.
So, don't give up on being a writer but do think about what *else* you could do, so you can pay the bills. I'm sure you don't want to work at Crazy Clark's for the rest of your life.
Have you checked Navy Reserve requirements? They might need you to have completed certain subjects before they'll take you.
My gut feeling would be to do some education, whether it is through the school system or through TAFE. Either way you will keep your options open.
I agree talking to your boss is a good idea.
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The original reserve job I wanted was electronics but turned out I needed to do a class in Year 11 that I didn't realise was useful until way too late. So now my only way of getting into that is doing a full year Cert 3 Electronics course at Tafe, and to get into that I need to have at least C grades in year 11 english, maths and science, or equivalent (which is why I'm looking to do night school).
The Reserve job that I am qualified for and the next most interesting to me is Diving. So after I turn 17 in april I'm planning to do the first stage of training (21 days) in May, then go back to work, then go to school, then back to work, then onto the rest of the Navy Training after christmas (Phase 2 = 10 days, Phase 3 = 9 weeks) followed by a serving time of 35-39 days at a payrate only $4/day less than the electronics position, which I will take up... eventually. Both paths (diving and electronics) qualify me for work outside the navy so I should be set and I'm guessing I won't have to think to much about what I want to do (besides writing) until all this training (academic and military) is complete.
The other thing is my lady friend and I are saving up to go to france mid next year, which is why I think doing fulltime work during my TAFE schooling might be neccessary, but Austudy/Youth Allowance might make up for that... Right?
[ February 04, 2006, 06:18 AM: Message edited by: cheiros do ender ]
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Do you qualify for Youth Allowance? (Austudy is only available for people over 25. Dumb, I know).
You have to be "independant" from your parents. Here for info.
Looking at that I'm not sure you'd qualify. You should definately check it out though. If you can it would make it a lot easier.
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I don't seem to qualify for any of the 10 points listed, but would I be right in assuming that by this clause;
quote:If you are under 18 and you have not finished Year 12 (or equivalent):
you will usually have to participate in full-time education or training to qualify for Youth Allowance...
I would qualify if my study at TAFE was considered full-time? If so, does full time include a consistent 3 major study classes 5 days a week, every week for the period of study in which I am applying for Youth Allowance? I know high school students get this but they do a lot more hours a week of studying than I'm planning to.
I do quite a few extra(curricula?) activities that might be considered educational, and some even relevant to a future career: Voluntary work in a regional park, Navy Cadets, Capoeira and Acrobatics (not so sure about the last two but certain about the first two).
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Unfortunately I think you have to fulfill both the independent *and* approved activity tests.
So the second part isn't enough by itself.
I suggest you go into a centrelink office sometime and talk to someone - they will go over every criteria and find out whether you can qualify or not.
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I want to go to night school simply to give myself more options. On the whole, my goal is to be a writer but I don't want to go to University. I did at one point want to go to Curtin but I can't remember what for. I'm looking into TAFE for night school (their website's not very helpful but I'm going for an interview soon). I'm also planning on doing Navy Reserve work next year but I've got no particular career interests. I work at Crazy Clarks ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
