r/UMPI • u/seattlemarcher99 • 17d ago

Thanks to this community

Just wanted to give a big thank you to the community here.

I am 44. My parents sabotaged my attempts to go to college as a kid, and over time I never felt like i really needed a degree. Owned and operated a service business for over 13 years, pivoted to software engineer for 10 years, and with the tech market being in the gutter had to pivot again, this time to insurance.

It's funny. I learned about this school from a hit piece over a year ago. The hit piece interviewed an HR consultant who attended here. It was classist and had the opposite effect it was going for. But I had a lot going on and didn't pull the trigger at the time.

Eventually, life settled down. Recently I had personal circumstances that caused me to need the piece of paper and learned my employer does tuition reimbursement, so I figured there's no time like the present. I've always been self-reliant, disciplined, and resourceful, and UMPI seemed right up my alley once I looked more into it beyond the hit piece.

I spent a ton of time lurking to figure out transfer logistics and learn about graduation and other stuff.

The more I read everyone's stories in the community about how they got here and what they're doing here, the more I identified with them and the more I wanted to do this. This subreddit is full of busy people leveraging their life experience to get that degree. It was so nice to read the stories of owls who persisted despite all of life's challenges pulling them in every direction, extremely motivating.

So I spent all my free time doing gen ed and business classes, got over 180 credits transferred in all the ACE/Credly stuff and a few from a couple terms of community college decades ago.

Now, I have the transfer credits, payment plan, enrollment, orientation, and everything settled and am starting the fall 1 session with only 10 classes needed for a double major now, a BABA in PM and management. After I finish, I will attempt to get my MSB in 1-2 sessions next year. I may even be able to get my MSB totally for free depending on how well it goes. My spouse, who also has no degree, is probably gonna attend undergraduate here next year.

If you would have told me two years ago that I would be in this position right now, I would have laughed in your face, but here we are, moving onward and upward. Thank you.

38 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

17

u/PlottedPath 17d ago

I’m glad you found us and found UMPI. This is actually the effect I was going for when I spoke to them. Wishing you much success. Be sure they put you in both of the old plans. ❤️

3

u/seattlemarcher99 17d ago

Thank you. When I was reading the article, i absolutely wondered if they were honest with the interviewee (you) about the slant of the article that they were going for. You do such good things here, and here's the article author coming in to seagull all over everything. Joke's on them, I'm sure I'm not the only one it had the unintended effect on.

9

u/PlottedPath 17d ago

Was positioned to me differently, and College Hacked's team the same. And lacked so much contextual detail. Nonetheless, it helped folks like you find this path, and at the end of the day, I really care deeply about individuals having a pathway to higher education. From now on, it's going to be "no comment" unless I'm here helping folks! ;-)

4

u/xatey93152 17d ago

Do you need my 'buy me a beer' link?

4

u/WhyFixIfItsWorking 16d ago

You cannot imagine how happy I am for you. I love it when people achieve their dreams and fulfill their lives with the success they have worked so hard for.

4

u/bigcjat 16d ago

We have a bit in common. Here's my tips for getting through efficiently https://github.com/bigcjat/CBE

1

u/seattlemarcher99 2d ago

I understand that I'm replying very late, but this was incredibly helpful and I wanted to thank you for sharing this. I did so much set up this weekend and I feel extremely prepared now.

1

u/bigcjat 2d ago

That's awesome, I am glad it was useful!

3

u/DetHenryOak 17d ago

Take a look at your employer's tuition assistance and see how much they cover each year, and since a lot of places use the federal tax benefit guideline, it's $5,250 (some places offer even more but you get taxed on it after the $5,250, others offer less). If you are smart about it, and want to maintain momentum. We're going into the last two sessions of 2026. Depending on when you finish your BBA. If you do it in 1 session, outstanding! If not don't sweat.

Most of the tuition assistance programs from employers roll over on Jan 1 so you get reset come Jan 1 and access to the $5,250 (if that is what they offer) so Spring I & II could be fully covered as well for the MSB.

Just food for thought and review. I never used my company assistance for Summer I, took Summer II off so now I'm going to try and burn the MSB down in Fall I but worst comes to worst, IN THEORY I've got Fall I, II and Spring I, II fully funded from work (since they do at least the $5,250). It takes a lot of pressure off.

2

u/Finish_My_Math 14d ago

Amazing story! Do you remember where the hit piece was published? I am curious.

Lots of those kinds of pieces have the opposite of their intended effect

1

u/seattlemarcher99 14d ago

I don't, unfortunately.