In January, my wife is going back to school to become a teacher.
This past summer, she started gathering information on what it would take to obtain a teaching certificate. Sounds easy, right?
Here is her situation. She currently holds a bachelor of art in communication. She would like to teach language arts at the high school level. Thus, the question she posed to several universities was "What would it take?"
Well, this simple question took quite some time for the venue of colleges to answer. It took up to a month for some to get back to her. Of course, the answers were not written in plain English. Rather, she was mailed multiple-page letters written in academic speak, which is just a tad easier to understand than lawyer speak.
After calling each one to try to decipher their coded messages, many required her be there in person to discuss it. In a much kinder voice than I would have used, she explained that she was a mother and a working professional and did not have time to do that. After chasing up the chain of command, leaving messages, e-mails, etc., she was finally able to get her questions answered.
This is not a problem inherent to one school. She contacted several schools, in two different states. In one instance, my wife drove two hours for one of those face-to-face meetings, only to have the person say, "I'm not the person you need to speak to. And, unfortunately, the correct person has left for the day."
If you have a high school senior, get ready to fight these little battles with the university system. Since we've gone through this ordeal, my father confirmed that he dealt with this type of stuff when I was in college. I hope the walls come down before my son turns 18. If not, I'll have to let my wife deal with it. She's much more patient than I am.
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