Probing the university universe.

So it's not quite the Pacific Ocean, but the campus of Mt. San Jacinto College does have a nice view. My secondary reason for purchasing a laptop was so that I might take online community college courses this summer. I want to declare Point Loma's new writing minor in the fall, so I thought I should begin freeing up as many credits as I can to avoid scrambling in the end to complete my degree. I went to pick up Angelica the other day and paid for my courses while I was there. Six credits cost me all of $120. I'm paying more than $1000 per credit at PLNU. I knew community college was cheaper, but the difference didn't register until I was writing a check for less than what books would cost me should I buy them at the bookstore (not that I would do such a thing—I don't pay retail for anything if I can help it; my wardrobe attests to that).



The campus is also beautiful on rainy days, such as today. Angelica was at MSJC because she is currently pursuing her Associate's, though she's only a high school junior. Even if she doesn't get the degree, she'll have a pile of transferrable credit, saving her probably tens of thousands of dollars. File this one under "things I wish I knew when I was younger." She's also taking summer classes, to stay on track, and we're taking one together, so we can share books and help each other with homework and all kinds of fun stuff like that.

Higher education truly is a privilege. I was looking at my report card (guess who pulled an A in the class where she got a B- on the midterm?) and I just marvelled at all I've learned this year. Some of my best experiences were in my gen eds, and my only reservation about taking classes this summer is that I will be missing out on some potentially amazing professors in departments I'd otherwise never enter. But looking at how much I'm paying goes a long way in assuaging some of that.