Cville24
TWE '28, reapplicant for '29!
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2022
- Messages
- 125
I'm currently looking at taking some courses at my local community college- just across the street from my high school, in fact.
For the record, I'm looking at air traffic control courses for the sole reason that they seem like a fun thing to do. I've had a chance to spend a few minutes in tower and TRACON sims in the past and I;ve enjoyed it. There's no other reason I want to take it. It won't give me high school credit (to absolutely nobody's surprise).
With that aside, we get to the meat of the question. My parents are concerned (probably rightfully) that I won't be able to handle the workload of an additional online course with a full HS schedule this semester. Next year is possibly more open as I could get early release and take some of the courses then but I'd be a bit further behind in the course progression. I have a meeting scheduled with an aviation department professor tomorrow afternoon to hear what the workload/time commitment/course structure are like for the initial course(s). The primary concern here is that I might be taking on too much (again, probably rightfully so) and won't be able to spend free time on holidays and such as teenagers perhaps ought to be able to do. After all, regardless of where I end up I really only have a few family vacations left and I think it would be best if I can be present for those rather than sticking behind all day working on coursework. For context, I'm a trumpet player who takes part in a lot of honor bands and other extracurricular musical engagements, I'm the VP of Model UN, and I'm pursuing my private pilot license (albeit slowly with scheduling conflicts and weather and all)- and that's just outside of school, I'm also an AP student in almost all GT and AP courses. The question here really is this: is it worth it to take on the extra workload of a community college course that I'm only taking for fun?
I'm looking for advice in the realm of both the SAs and also just person-to-person advice. In the SA world, would it be beneficial to see the college course (even though it's in air traffic control) or would it be more beneficial for me to spend the energy on doing more with my current activities and excelling there? I'm really struggling on this one, probably more than I should be. It seems like a fun thing to do, but in the end I don't see myself going into ATC and even if I did, I could get hired off the street or take some courses further down the road. Thanks.
For the record, I'm looking at air traffic control courses for the sole reason that they seem like a fun thing to do. I've had a chance to spend a few minutes in tower and TRACON sims in the past and I;ve enjoyed it. There's no other reason I want to take it. It won't give me high school credit (to absolutely nobody's surprise).
With that aside, we get to the meat of the question. My parents are concerned (probably rightfully) that I won't be able to handle the workload of an additional online course with a full HS schedule this semester. Next year is possibly more open as I could get early release and take some of the courses then but I'd be a bit further behind in the course progression. I have a meeting scheduled with an aviation department professor tomorrow afternoon to hear what the workload/time commitment/course structure are like for the initial course(s). The primary concern here is that I might be taking on too much (again, probably rightfully so) and won't be able to spend free time on holidays and such as teenagers perhaps ought to be able to do. After all, regardless of where I end up I really only have a few family vacations left and I think it would be best if I can be present for those rather than sticking behind all day working on coursework. For context, I'm a trumpet player who takes part in a lot of honor bands and other extracurricular musical engagements, I'm the VP of Model UN, and I'm pursuing my private pilot license (albeit slowly with scheduling conflicts and weather and all)- and that's just outside of school, I'm also an AP student in almost all GT and AP courses. The question here really is this: is it worth it to take on the extra workload of a community college course that I'm only taking for fun?
I'm looking for advice in the realm of both the SAs and also just person-to-person advice. In the SA world, would it be beneficial to see the college course (even though it's in air traffic control) or would it be more beneficial for me to spend the energy on doing more with my current activities and excelling there? I'm really struggling on this one, probably more than I should be. It seems like a fun thing to do, but in the end I don't see myself going into ATC and even if I did, I could get hired off the street or take some courses further down the road. Thanks.
Last edited: