I had no job, no career, and no money, but I was determined to get into school. I'm getting older and job security seems more and more important every year. I tried at colleges but could not get grants and loans because of my age or my financial standing.
I was driving down the road one day when I heard an ad on the radio for New Horizons career development. It promised all these great certifications and even job placement, so I set up an interview.in the interview I was assured that I needed no experience to learn the curriculum and would have plenty of chances to sit down with instructors and ask questions all while working a 40 hour a week job.
The loan was the scariest part of my decision. Since I could not get into a regular college, I felt this was my only chance to recieve a good education. So with the promises of success and a chance to be making good money, I signed on the dotted line with a head full of "Oh yea... You'll be making enough money to pay the loan back easily". I should have known after that statement that they were lying to me.
The first few classes were fairly simple but they only lasted 8 days total. Since I was taking them at night, they were only four hours long. So that means I was in class for 32 hours total and was expeceted to be an A certified person. For the most part, the instructors were cool and seemed to know what they were talking about, except my very first instructor who seemed to know as much as I did.
Two weeks went by and I had already been through two classes. A hardware and operating systems. Not two full weeks but Mon-Thurs 6-9:30.
I started my network class and realized that I could not advance until I understood the basics. So I wanted to go back to the other classes and go through them again.
The counselors were really hesitant about letting me repeat so soon but I persisted saying that I didnt understand any of it. They let me go back and I studied as hard as I could using the worthless textbooks and the random bits of info that the instructors would spout out. After going through one more time I finally got the scores I needed on the practice exam to take the real thing. I barely passed, but "I passed" was what they kept saying.
Now I'm up for job placement. My first interview went horrible. I went in and waited for about 45 mins. Then got called into their interrogation room to listen to two guys talk about the Carolina game the night before. Finally they break down the job for me which requires me to purchase items such as an anti-static mat, steel toe boots, an array of fairly expensive tools, and the use of my vehicle as a work vehicle. All for $11 an hour. I was already making that delivering pizzas.
So I continure to go to class and keep not getting these ghostly emails about jobs from the counselor.in the middle of my Net class, I step back and think about removing myself fromthe program because the material was too advanced for me. I couldn't even tell you how to put a computer together at this point, yet somehow I was A certified.
I confronted my counselor and she persisted that I SHOULD not drop out because the classes "build off of each other". She assured me that the further I went the more I would understand. I sat back and considered my options and since I had achieved the A, I felt somewhat confident in my studies. And my next interview was coming up.
My next interview was at mutual bank for an administrative assistant position. Why? Why did they send a fresh A cetified student to this type of job. I left feeling like an idiot. Three days later at a different branch of mutual bank, I went to the same job interview. Needless to say, I halted all of my job interviews for a while.
I took Net two more times after the first class. Then I finally passed the exam. Again with a very low score. I knew that at this point I was in for a long road. My next class was Implementing and Supporting XP pro. Doesnt sound hard. It is for an inexperienced person such as myself though. I didnt have a clue as soon as the teacher started talking.
I confronted my counselor again. This time saying I want to quit now. Unfortunately for me my 25% of classes taken was at Net. The contract provides that a 75% refund take effect if the student quits before a certain time frame. Which I was unaware of. As far as I knew Sallie may was paying class by class.
Angry, confused, and not knowing what to do I continued on in the classes trying to beat the odds that I would fail at every end. I cannot learn this material in the environment they create. It is not thourough enough for a person with no prior experience in the field.
It is now a year and a half almost since I started. The track was set up for 8 months. I am stuck with a $200 payment a month and now they have placed me in a class by myself with an online instructional streaming video to teach myself. I have talked to Sallie Mae and the Attourney General. They both tell me I'm screwed.
Someone please help me.
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