Why are you earning credit this way?

[DavidHume]

I was working full time, 2nd shift Thursday-Sunday. I assembled a class schedule that was Monday-Thursday that would give me ~2 hours from when my classes ended on Thursday to get to work. Worked out swimmingly for a quarter. Then, state budget cuts led to the college shortening lab hours and my Thursday school schedule got slid to a later start, later finish. I needed to get work to let me come in an hour later. It would work, there was staff. Plus, it would then make my Thursday work schedule the same as my Friday, which made more sense. I sent emails, went to THREE meetings where I had to pitch my plan. All looked like it was going through, but at the last minute I was told I could come in the hour later, but they were going to dock it out of my accrued vacation time. So I did that, but then ran out of vacation time and it was a constant headache and anxiety every Thursday. I lost points on a group project because I had to leave at a specific time to make it to work.

Then I got mugged on the way to the last exam before the final. I made it through that quarter, completing my work the first week of the next quarter. I intended to soldier on, but I just couldn't do it anymore. I took a year off and when I was ready to start working on a degree again I knew I needed to find something that would not cause the issues I'd had previously. Anything in a classroom was out, since my experience taught me that the published time schedule for the year was really more of a hopeful suggestion.
Then I read something about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation work with the Alternative Credit Project. Then I did a whole lot of Googling. Then I was taking Uexcel exams. I already had the bulk of all my lower level credits at that point. And voila!