I am making plans to succeed

I have always enjoyed learning, in a classroom, or just by reading and self-study. I have taken classes at several colleges, universities, and institutes, and earned two Associate of Science degrees and a half-dozen specialization certifications. In 1998, I decided to try to tie all this together and complete a Bachelor of Science degree.

Working full-time makes attending college difficult, if not impossible. You have to make a choice, employment, a roof over your head and food in your belly, or go to college, and survive the best you can for four years. I believed there was an alternative somewhere that was accredited and of good value.

After months of research, I chose the University of Phoenix, based in Phoenix, Arizona. The University of Phoenix is the world’s largest on-line distance education program; UoP also has 60 plus brick and mortar campus location from Canada to Hawaii to Puerto Rico, having over 130,000 degree-seeking students. The university is a private institution of higher learning founded in 1976 and accredited by The Higher Learning Commission in addition to being a member of the North Central Association.

I quickly found that attending a regular college would have been much easier. At the UoP, you take one class at a time, a full three-semester hour class, and complete it in just five weeks. The pace of the Daytona 500 is not nearly as fast as is the pace of the University of Phoenix.

With only two classes to complete I was diagnosed with lung cancer, and given only months to live. Both classes were completed with me in a hospital-bed, and a “cheater” Internet connection. The IT department at the hospital let me hook my laptop computer into their network, giving me the needed Internet access.

The doctors said I was a dying man. I was completing a college degree from a hospital bed, fighting a few obnoxious and negative-speaking people daily because I was making plans to succeed. I’ve charted my course, I planted good seed. In my heart, I know that with God I will not fail. God wishes the best for me; that I live in good health, and enjoy His wealth. Yes, I have plans to succeed!