Day 1 – Curriculum

I am starting a “self directed non traditional” Graduate School Experince as written about by Chris Guillebeau on both his blog (aonc.com) and his book, The Art of Non-Conformity.  I read the book a couple of years ago, before quitting my job to travel to Central America for 4 months, and he recently reposted this on a blog, linked here http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/the-one-year-alternative-graduate-school-program/ .  This is my personal journal following this curriculum.  I am posting the original below, and you will see my take on each section, as I am eliminating a few of his prescribed “classes.”  

 

The One-Year, Self-Directed, Alternative Graduate School Experience

• Subscribe to the Economist and read every issue religiously. Cost: $97 + 60 minutes each week.  – NOTE, I had a subscription to this newspaper/magazine and did not read it much.  I check their website and read the articles of interest to me, but I am eliminating this “class.

• Memorize the names of every country, world capital, and current president or prime minister in the world. Cost: $0 + 3-4 hours once.  -I will do this at some point.

• Buy a Round-the-World plane ticket or use Frequent Flyer Miles to travel to several major world regions, including somewhere in Africa and somewhere in Asia. Cost: variable, but plan on $4,000.  NOTE:  I have done this two times already, and will again, just not during this year.  I will approach this like a kid who takes AP Chemistry in high school.  I tested out of the college class.

• Read the basic texts of the major world religions: the Torah, the New Testament, the Koran, and the teachings of Buddha. Visit a church, a mosque, a synagogue, and a temple. Cost: Materials can be obtained free online or in the mail—or for less than $50 + 20 hours.  I might do in my “second semester” but I am not interested in this now .

• Subscribe to a language-learning podcast and listen to each 20-minute episode five times a week for the entire year. Attend a local language club once a week to practice. Cost: $0 + 87 hours.  I will do this, although not right away.  I did practice Spanish in Central America and I need to step my practice back up.  

• Loan money to an entrepreneur through Kiva.org and arrange to visit him or her while you’re abroad. Cost: Likely $0 in the end, since 98% of loans are repaid.  I am going to Panama soon but I did not see a single loan there.  I will keep this in mind though.  It is an AWESOME idea.

• Acquire at least three new skills during your year. Suggestions: photography, skydiving, computer programming, martial arts. The key is not to become an expert in any of them, but to become functionally proficient. Cost: Variable, but each skill is probably less than three credits of tuition would cost at a university.

-Skill One – Computer Programming.  I have a book by Chris Pine, Beginning Programming, which I will follow, and then I will explore various Ruby and Ruby on Rails tutorials and then figure out where to go.  I will treat this as my first semester for 6 months.  Success will be defined as writing a good web app and making a good real estate leads generating web page.  I have considered making a metric ‘becoming employable at an entry level by the end of a year” but am unsure how to measure this short of getting a job.  

-Skill Two-  Motorcycle maintenance – I will define success as taking apart my non-running DR350 and putting it back together and having it run.  This is a “nice weather/spare time” class.

-Skill Three- Learn Real Estate Investing and how to do it.  – I will define success as one successful Flip or otherwise profitable real estate deal achieved.  (or multiple totaling $10,000 profit)

• Read at least 30 non-fiction books and 20 classic novels. Cost: approximately $750 (can be reduced or eliminated by using the library).  I have been neglecting my reading and I will do it.  Only new books count.  I cannot reread a book for credit.  So far I have one non-fiction book, Ender’s Game, in the bag.  I guess my Beginning Programming book counts as well.

• Join a gym or health club to keep fit during your rigorous independent studies. (Most universities include access to their fitness centers with the purchase of $32,000 in tuition, so you’ll need to pay for this on your own otherwise.) Cost: $25-75 a month. -I worked out for the first time 3 years ago and the improvements in my overall life has been tremendous.  I legitimately believe my life up until the age of 27 would have been much better if I worked out and I would be more successful in life at this point (I mean multitudes more successful).  If I could go back in a time machine and make myself do anything, it would be start hitting the gym when I was a teenager and never stopping.  Can’t dwell on the past though, which is why I move forward (and do not talk about the past much).  This one is 100% happening.  The only thing that makes me quit working out is death.

• Become comfortable with basic presentation and public speaking skills. Join your local Toastmasters club to get constructive, structured help that is beginner-friendly. Cost: $25 + 2 hours a week for 10 weeks.  -I am a horrible public speaker, like I shake I am so bad.  I just refuse.  This will be hard and in my “spring semester”  

• Start a blog, create a basic posting schedule, and stick with it for the entire year. You can get a free blog at WordPress.org. One tip: don’t try to write every day. Set a weekly or bi-weekly schedule for a while, and if you’re still enjoying it after three months, pick up the pace. Cost: $0. -This is the blog.  I will do weekly status updates, usually Sunday or Monday, and maybe an optional post each week about something awesome I have learned.  

• Set your home page to http://wikipedia.org/random. Over the next year, every time you open your browser, you’ll see a different, random Wikipedia page. Read it. Cost: $0.  I will try this, however I try to maintain focus and this may hinder that, so I am open to bailing at any time (currently my homepage is blank)

• Learn to write by listening to the Grammar Girl podcast and buying Bird by Birdby Anne Lamott. Cost: $0 for Grammar Girl, $14 for Anne Lamott.  I have horrible grammar as the zero people reading this blog have probably already figured out.  So in!

• Instead of reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, read The Know It All by A.J. Jacobs, a good summary. Cost: $15.  Ordered!