I'm an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force. I've been in for 6 years but have really dragged my feet on college. I finally realized how much time and money I had wasted, only taking a class here and there. I was originally going to get a computer-related degree but, after a few classes, I've realized that I don't have an interest in working in that field, or taking those classes. So, I started thinking about what I was truly interested in. That ended up being History, International Relations and Political Science. After looking around a lot for an online program, I settled on American Military University. Then, I opted for the B.A. in International Relations with a minor in History. Once I get out of the military, I'd like to work for the State Department, especially as a Foreign Service Officer in either Germany, Japan or China (I have a large interest in Asian History, etc). It took me a while to decide on AMU. I've always been a little iffy on for-profits, but AMU seemed to have a pretty good reputation. I considered UMUC, but an e-mail from their local contact in SC put me off. It may seem petty, but receiving an e-mail full of spelling and grammatical errors from a university advisor gave me a bad impression. One of those "First Impression" things. I'm actually already admitted to UMUC, from a class I took 5 years ago, but I never did anything else with them. If I end up not liking AMU, I may reconsider. I noticed that a lot of people here have multiple degrees. It's my goal to have several degrees. I have a genuine love of learning, I just have been doing it on my own and procrastinating taking actual classes. I kick myself when I think about the fact that I would've been done with my bachelor's a while ago and would already be working on my master's degree. Right now, I am two classes short of my A.A.S. from CCAF. I am taking the "Intro to World Relgions" DSST on the 25th and then I will take the public speaking DSST in Feb. Hopefully, I will pass both and that will finish that. I would like to eventually get an MFA in Creative Writing, an MBA and I am strongly looking at a Ph.D. in History, one day. Not for work purposes, but just because of my interest in History. There are other degrees I am considering, but we'll see how that goes out (i.e. M.Ed., M.A. History, etc). I may also pursue an A.S. in Professional Aeronautics from ERAU, but I haven't decided on that 100%, yet. That's also just out of genuine interest. Anyway, I think that's enough! I'm looking forward to talking to others who seem to have a love of education.
Since you already have an associates degree why not complete your BS at AMU then take the MAS degree at ERAU?
Well, I'm getting a B.A. at AMU. There's nothing under the "B.S." category that I'm interested in. As for the M.A.S. At this time, I have no interest in the M.A.S., which is why I'm not getting it. At the moment, I'm working on getting myself into a good position for when I get out of the military. The B.A. I'm getting, in addition to the M.B.A., I think, will do this. If I were ever to get ERAU's M.A.S., it would be because the classes interest me. The M.A.S., as a whole, doesn't interest me. There are a few classes at ERAU that interest me, and I'll be able to take those with the A.S. degree. I'm also trying to use as much TA as I can. TA won't pay for two masters (i.e. MBA and MAS), but I can get an A.S., a B.A. and an M.B.A., so that covers all my bases. Once the MBA is done, any degree I go for after that will use GI Bill and my own money. Right now, I'm more interested in getting myself ready for post-separation work.
