₦airaland Forum

Burger01:
^^^

Lol. Chinese food na nonsense. I had some Chinese meals in New York, believe me, I threw everything away...tasted more like sugarcane. No food is spicy here. I cook my spicy food at home with real naija ata gungun or some red pepper you get from stores like 'Compare'.

Yeah bro, but that won’t deter me from trying out new foods though. Someone told me to try out one Pakistan food place in Chicago, I go check am out give una update

Yesterday, I took my younger bro out to one Chinese restaurant. After sitting down, we were handed the menu to order what we would like to eat, I was feeling in the mood to try something new, so I ordered something called Peppered beef.

Mind you, I had in mind that the peppered beef would be identical to the peppered beef we have in Nigeria, you know? Like meat that they fried with plenty pepper.


Only for the food to come and look what I got!

They used only green pepper to make some kind of sauce, and threw meat inside it. I took one spoon and almost threw up, it was awful! I asked to speak to the manager (who was a Chinese lady and her English wasn’t too good). She told me that’s what I ordered and there’s nothing they can do, so I had to take my L In Peace . I basically threw away $13.

adrenaline02:
Franknetter how are doing? quite some time... best wishes bro!

Thanks bro. Wish you all the best too

Lhimeet:
Fine as usual Bro..

I trust you're good as well

Managing life

There’s a reason I generally avoid this online bickering and throwing shade, it’s pointless. Earlier on, when I started this thread, some persons put a lot of effort into derailing the thread, it didn’t work then, it won’t work now. All these “I’m right, you’re wrong” posts no dey help anybody. Live and let live, abeg.

How's everybody doing?

Dremca:
@Franknetter, please help me answer this

Scroll up bro. I’ve answered your question

Like I said, I applied for the UPS program to help pay my tuition. After like two hours, it was approved. I was sent a link via email where I printed out a “voucher” which I took to the school. Gbam! Tuition paid for the semester.

The major downside to this job is that it’s physically demanding to the fullest and we’re getting paid a meager $10.35/hr. To get people to come to work, they give out a $125 bonus if you show up for the 5 days of the week: (we work Monday-Fridays weekends and holidays off).

Another challenge I faced was that this job is 35-40 minutes away from my house and along my daily commute/route, I need to pay 3 tolls going to work, 3 tolls heading back home everyday, 5 days a week. Including buying gas, I was burning my meager earnings real fast and it was giving me headache.

I asked around and discovered UPS has a partnership with Pace ( a bus company), they ply a route close to my house and they offer free transportation to my work place once you show them your UPS ID card. That’s what I use to go to work everyday now, so I take the free bus to and from work, this solved a huge problem for me. On my daily commute, I normally listen to music and read a novel.

My weekly paychecks are back to my Burger King days (around $200/week). But I’ll live..



** this is what the voucher looks like

Holocene:
What's your total fees for the Fall Section?

Around $3000. On a normal, if I hustle, I can pay my tuition from my pocket. I don’t see any reason to take loans for my education at this level, if I apply and get financial aid (full tuition coverage) that would be wonderful, but for now, I’m not taking any loans to pay back with interest later.

Holocene:
Why ain't you tapping the advantage of using a student loan to pay your fees. You might be qualified for a Pell Grant since you don't have a degree already. Look into it and see if it helps.
Nursing school ain't as easy as it seems especially with care plans and clinicals

Enlighten me, why should I take student loans for this program?

The area I work is equipped with "docking areas" where the trailers latch unto. They are numbered bay 1, bay 2, bay 3 etc.. Each bay has a laser scanner and a little rectangular metal object.

Each package has a shipping label which shows the destination, address, weight and shipping details of the buyer and seller. When the package is unloaded, they are put on the central conveyor belt which brings the packages to the outbound area. Each package is scanned by the laser scanner which then hits it into the corresponding trailer. So for an item going to Kentucky, after it is scanned, the rectangular metal object hits it into the trailer programmed for kentucky, then you grab it and "load" it. The job is incredibly fast-paced and tiresome. UPS ships packages of a shapes and sizes, so once it comes into your trailer, you quickly look at the shipping label to ascertain it's the right destination, then you load it into the "wall".

Some packages are super heavy (70 pounds and above) some are light. No matter how heavy, you don’t discriminate, load it and complain later.
Like I said, the job is hard for me and I’ve lost 15 pounds already but on the plus side, I’m building some muscles.

From the first day I started, I begun asking questions about the “earn and learn” program which was the reason I got the job in the first place. I was told what to go online, to a website and fill out some forms after which I’d be given a voucher to present at my school which would cover my tuition. Mind you, I had already paid half of my tuition (around $1,500) cos I didn’t want to miss out and have to wait for the spring semester (January 2019).

I found out that UPS has a tuition payment program on its own, but there’s a sweeter deal: a program called CRCP (Chicago region college program). If you sign up with them, you would get your tuition paid in full and extra $400 every month.

On the third day, we each got assigned to one trainer per person. This was a "hands-on" training. The lady who was my trainer was a petite white lady whom I shall call Karen for the duration of this update. She said she had been with UPS for more than 15 years (I raised my eyebrows when she said that, 'cos I couldn't see any reason why someone would pick a job this hard.

Karen is/was a nice lady and I couldn't have asked for a better trainer, for someone else who had an answer to my numerous questions about this place which I found myself. By nature, I'm a curious person and she seemed to understand that and almost always had an answer to my questions, for the ones she didn't have an answer to, she pointed me in the right direction, she seemed like a bottomless pit of knowledge.

So on the third day at work, I was led to my workspace by Karen, to a place they call the "outbound" cos that's where the trailers are loaded with the packages heading to various destinations. Over the next week, I was taught how to build a "wall" with the packages, to stack them up high to the ceiling leaving no gaps in between, I was taught how to properly handle packages "the UPS way", to put the bigger, heavier packages at the bottom of the wall and the smaller, lighter packages up top, I was taught a lot.
For each day we come in, we would be assigned a trailer or two (depending on how fast the packages are coming).

**chill I'm making an illustration on how it works

Take a look at this photo

**bear with me, phones are not allowed into the facility

Dremca:
What happens after you complete the duration of your job that's equivalent to your school fees, if you continue working after the, will you now be receiving salary or how is it done.

Every UPS employee has a $25,000 free tuition grant. Once you get employed, you tap from it and go to school to any level that can cover the $25,000. The tuition money doesn’t affect your normal wages.

The CRCP program I’m under is a different ball game, they give you $400 every month and extra “bonuses” when you get good grades.

FrankNetter:
My placement test scores were more than enough for me to get into the Nursing program. So i booked an appointment with a course advisor and drove down to the school to speak with one. I registered for 4 classes with a total of 13 credit hours.
Pre-registering for the classes was a good idea for me because towards the beginning of the term, the classes tend to get filled up and once the maximum has reached, you would not be accepted for that class (even if you be Dangote pikin).
A deadline date for payment of tuition (or part of it) was given to me. As the date approached, you have to pay or you would be dropped from those classes and have to scramble for the next available ones or you'd be frozen out.

These are the classes I registered for, along with the tuition fees.

As you can see in the photos, the “residency status” shows: in district. That’s the reason the fees are much lower. For an international student, the fees would not be the same

So, as I stated earlier, the reason I put my resignation at my CNA job was that I heard UPS (united parcel services) has a cool program where they cover your tuition fees in exchange for you working for them, the program is called "earn & learn". I filled out the application, online, the hiring process was identical to the one I went through at Amazon. I got the job.

The UPS facility I work at is called CACH which stands for Chicago Area Consolidation Hub. Its HUGE, for comparison, it's much bigger than MMA1 & MMA2 put together. Any UPS package that comes to Illinois or any state around, must come here first. The packages arrive in trailers, we unload, sort and load them according to their various destinations. In a day, we process more than 3million packages. If you have some data to spare, check out this short video on vimeo https://vimeo.com/194397590

The job is hard. Harder than anything I've done in my life.

At my first week at the job, we underwent training. I got hired on a Monday along with 15 other persons (12 guys and 3 ladies). Prior to that, we were adviced to come to work with work boots with high backs and non-slip soles. I quickly looked for a second-hand timberland boots on ebay and got a pair for around $20. My first day on the job, we were ushered into a classroom of sorts and "welcomed" to the UPS family by some persons high up in management. Our trainers were two ladies, one black and one hispanic. The first two days consisted of us watching videos of the do's and dont's of the facility. How to stack boxes in the trailer, how to avoid hurting yourself when working etc etc.

The third day, we were split into groups: Loaders, Unloaders and Small sorts. *Loaders load the trailers, unloaders unload trailers and small sorts handle the small packages which could be crushed by the bigger packges if not handled correctly. I was picked to be a loader by a process which I don't know.

YOLO18:
Where Frank go sef

I just dey observe for one corner

paroh137:
This is not your car you're driving ba?

No bro. My elder sister’s 2016 Corolla.

Stopped by to get some food

paroh137:
No wonder. I think I just seen you, driving recklessly too Na black and black you wear abi?

Na me be that! Your eye sharp o!

Tunmise100:
Franknetter wishing you all the best in your studies. Go and Excel.

Thanks bro.

Give me one second guys, I'll continue the update shortly, gotta drop my sis off at the airport.

My placement test scores were more than enough for me to get into the Nursing program. So i booked an appointment with a course advisor and drove down to the school to speak with one. I registered for 4 classes with a total of 13 credit hours.
Pre-registering for the classes was a good idea for me because towards the beginning of the term, the classes tend to get filled up and once the maximum has reached, you would not be accepted for that class (even if you be Dangote pikin).
A deadline date for payment of tuition (or part of it) was given to me. As the date approached, you have to pay or you would be dropped from those classes and have to scramble for the next available ones or you'd be frozen out.

These are the classes I registered for, along with the tuition fees.

As you can see in the photos, the “residency status” shows: in district. That’s the reason the fees are much lower. For an international student, the fees would not be the same

Yes

The program was convenient for me, having not done algebra for the past 5 years, I was glad to still remember some concepts and I picked up speed in no time. For each part of the algebra, You'd be given a problem and an explanation after which you'd be given problems to solve, when/if you answer 5 questions correctly, the program acknowledges that you've mastered that topic correctly, then moves you to a more complex problem.

Unlike JAMB, you can take the tests a maximum of 5 times, your highest score would then be used to place you in classes accordingly. I took the English exam once and the Math exam twice. After I took the math exam the first time, I was unsatisfied by my score, so I paid $30 for the school sponsored online program to help me brush up on the math. The fee granted me access to this web program

The Nursing AA degree confers the associate RN degree to whoever completes it, you can start work at once when you take the state board exams and pass it.
In the hierarchy of nurses, this is how it goes

Nurse Practitioner NP (writes prescriptions)
Masters degree in nursing
Bachelors degree in nursing BSN
Associate degree in nursing AA
Licensed practical nurse LPN

The nurse practitioner degree is the "holy grail" of Nursing. Someone who is a nurse practitioner is almost the same level as a doctor in the healthcare field, a NP writes prescriptions, sees patients, alters the patient's care plan (just like a doctor). I have an uncle who is a NP (I mentioned this before) and the money he rakes in, no be beans.


Now to understand the placement testing process, think of the educational degree as an expressway 10 miles long heading to one destination; Some people enter the process at the beginning (10 miles), others enter at 8 miles left, others enter at 5 miles, and so on and so forth but they are all heading to the same destination.
For everyone who's about to be admitted into the community college, they have to take the placement test (except in some cases where they took SAT's pr ACT's before hand).

The placement test is more like an upgraded, less stressful version of Nigeria's JAMB exam. It is made up of just two exams: English and Maths. The English exam involves essay writing, critical thinking and linking two abstract thoughts in the essay, arguing for or against it. The math exam involves a variety of mostly high school level algebra (and college level if you can handle it).
Your score on the placement tests determine how many "brushing up" classes you would have to take and how far up on the highway (to the educational degree) you would enter.

Pictures attached

My admission into prairie state college has been smooth and seamless. I’ll try to break it down really well.

You see, Prairie state college is a community college which is entirely different from a university. A community college offers a two year associate degree while a university offers a 4year bachelor’s degree.
The advantages of going to a community college are numerous, the most important being the tuition is much more cheaper for “in-state” residents. From my experience so far, the courses you take, (maths, eng etc) have been fragmented to the barest minimum so that once you’re done with each particular course, you move onto the next one; under ENGLISH as a subject, you’d have ENG100, ENG101, ENG103 with each of them hammering on different aspects of the whole course which is ENGLISH. This method is great because you could rack up enough credits for each course. The plan most people now take is to go for a two year program at a community college then transfer the credits to a university; that way you don’t have to pay the expensive tuition for a university.


Under their nursing program, they have these two programs. To someone who hasn’t been told, you’d think they are the same, but that’s not the case. From the photos, you can see that one of them is Pre-Nursing AAS and the other one is Nursing AA. The major difference is that the pre nursing program prepares you for transferring to another university without giving you an RN degree, so technically, on completing the program you wouldn’t be able to work as a nurse cos you’re still a student, so you have to transfer to a 4year university to complete the program where you would be awarded the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree.

I see everyone is getting along in my absence.

That’s great! I remember when I’d login and meet insults and fights on the thread. Good old times


Update coming

Regarding my previous post about my tuition being paid by UPS, I’ve completed the application, been invited for an interview and I’m currently awaiting my start date. I have also put in my two weeks notice at my current CNA job.

Holocene:
Hey Frankie, your page needs new content. Gist us the latest gossip in Chiraq

They don’t call Chicago “chiraq” for no reason. Every single day, every 24 hours more than 10 people (even children) are killed from gun violence. Chicago is no joke bro.
Fist fights don’t happen anymore, guns rule these streets.

Yesterday, 7/7/2018 protesters came out and blocked a major expressway to protest the violence.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/07/07/us/chicago-gun-violence-protest/index.html

sassysure:
One of the highest paying places to work in the health-care system nut at the end of the day u will start questioning your sanity.

You know wassup

vizkiz:
Lol... This is so true.

FrankNetter, was the resident (who started the fire) dismissed to another (Psych) floor?

Nah bro. She was totally evicted from the facility.

So like I was saying, some days back, I was scheduled to work a double shift 3:00 pm to 11:00 pm, then 11:00pm to 7:00 am.

Towards the end of the 3-11 shift, I went to do my rounds (to make sure the residents are in their rooms). The fire alarm started going off, it wasn't much of a big deal because most times, the residents mess with the alarm out of boredom.
Next thing I heard over the public address system was "CODE RED!! CODE RED on the fourth floor"!! In my mind, I said "Is this person joking? code red?

I continued doing my rounds. The public address system boomed again "ALL STAFF PLEASE REPORT TO THE FOURTH FLOOR!! CODE RED ON THE FOURTH FLOOR!!"

Mind you, this floor is filled with residents who can't even get move or get out of bed by themselves. I stopped what I was doing and ran to the stairs. I got to the fourth floor, opened it up and tried to rush in. Thick black smoke pushed me back. i fell back coughing. Another staff member ran up the stairs and met me there, we both rushed to the third floor, grabbed some towels, soaked it in water so as to cover our nostrils from the smoke and ran back upstairs. We met other staff members strategizing on what to do, we knew if we let don't pull the residents from the floor, they would die from c02 poisoning and/or fire.

Honestly, everything happened so fvcking fast. Someone came with a fire extinguisher, another person was grabbing pitchers of water and towels, someone else was yelling, someone was crying. It was chaos. with each second that passed, the chances of the residents coming out alive diminished. We decided to do what we can, one guy covered his nose with the wet towel and rushed in, I followed him with a wheelchair. Thick black smoke was everywhere, we couldn't see, we couldn't breathe. We were basically groping in the dark, once you feel a human hand or leg, pull the person into the hallway and towards the stairs; that was the plan. I managed to pull two people when I ran out of steam, I sat on the staircase catching my breath when I heard the welcome blare of sirens which meant fire service, police and ambulance were close by.

In no time, they pulled up and took over. The fire was contained and put out, nobody died. But a lot of people were sent out to the hospital for medical evaluation..

The story later filtered around that the fire was started by a female resident who was angry with another resident. She threatened to fvck him up, so she waited till he was in bed, took a knife, cut open his mattress (foam) and set it on fire from the inside.

Update



You see, the place I work is a psychiatric facility (like I've said a million times) so na craze people full here. The place has 7 floors. Each floor has two general shower rooms, a dining area (with tv and dvd), a nursing station and some other rooms like the linen room (where they keep clothes), janitor closet (where they keep cleaning equipment) etc.
Floors 2, 3, and 4 tagged the "skilled floors"; 5, 6 and 7 are tagged the psych floors. The skilled floors require more work cos the residents on these floors pretty much cannot do anything for themselves, so you bath, clean, feed them. The psych floors are much more easier (for me) cos most times, all you have to do is supervise the floor and make sure they don't fight and kill each other, you pass linen, make sure the shower rooms are locked after use (a resident tried to drown herself sometime ago), check the rooms to make sure no one is smoking or doing funny stuff, pretty basic stuff.
The facility is also divided into different departments, Nursing (Nurses and Nursing assistants), cleaners (we call them housekeeping), cooks and food servers, security guards and the rest.

The nursing station is equipped with computers (for documenting the residents' day to day activities), a land-line telephone and a public address system which is connected to speakers on all floors (amongst other things). So if attention is needed on any of the floors, you speak into the public address system so as to alert all the floors.
The facility has different "codes" for different emergencies. Code blue for medical emergencies (cardiac arrest, choking etc), code yellow for staff attention on the floor when the residents are fighting, code red for fire outbreak and the rest. So instead of yelling "Mr James is having a heart attack!" into the public address system, you yell "code blue" so you would not cause panic amongst the residents. For the 6months + I've worked here, we've had countless code blues, code yellows but never a code red.

************

Picture one: food cart where the food trays are sent up in. The food trays come with the name, room number and type of diet each resident is supposed to eat. The diets for each resident differs, they range from puréed, regular, mechanical soft. You CANNOT give a resident that’s on puréed diet something else.

Picture two and three: soap and towels for the residents to take their showers

achilex:
Greetings to all the great members of this forum. I'll be as straight forward as possible. I graduated with a Bachelor's in 2017 and applied for my masters in environmental policy this year 2018, in Canada. I was awarded a full tuition waiver, living stipend and money for accommodation. But my study permit application was refused, for so many reasons a 22 year old cannot comprehend.

I have decided to let God take the glory and move on seeking similar opportunities in U.S.A for my masters in environment related field.

please I implore the benevolent contributors in this group to give me some ideas.

in conclusion, I need to know how to apply for a tuition waiver when applying for my master's program in USA. when I applied to Canada, I was asked to contact a faculty supervisor willing to supervise my research. The total applicable funding was quoted on the program website, but for the USA I learnt this process is for PhD applications.

should I just go ahead and search for programs with my course of interest, apply, and pray I get a similar opportunity? (the USA student visa process is easier I guess) or I still need to identity a faculty supervisor prior to my application? (I am going for thesis route)

Thank you. your warm contributions are highly anticipated.�

Sorry about the setback bro. About your Phd visa inquiries, you should check out the USA student visa thread cos this is beyond my reach.