My life plan was always to go back to school when my youngest child started school. I married young and put my husband though college and then went straight to having babies so I never finished my degree. I've never regretted doing it in that order, but I have always wanted to get that degree under my belt. So when Shaylee started kindergarten I signed up for a couple of classes at Salt Lake Community College during the afternoon while she was at school. I LOVED going to school again and I did well, so my confidence shot up. After years of being a stay at home mom (which I also loved) it was wonderful to receive recognition for my efforts in the form of grades and teacher praise.
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| On a field trip at the nanotech lab at the U. (I'm second from the right) |
Shaylee is in second grade now, so being a student has been a big part of my identity for the past almost 3 years. However, the first week of classes in January of this year found me really rethinking what I was doing. I have a teenager that has had major struggles the last few months. She was really falling behind in her online high school courses and I didn't know how I could possibly be available to get her to seminary or work or weekly therapy appointments. I went to the first couple of days of class and then dropped all of them. I gave up my scholarship (no deferrals-bummer) and returned all of my books. It was hard, but I knew it was the right thing to do.
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| I have this book but haven't taken the class yet. I keep telling myself I should get ahead and study now but the info inside is serious craziness! |
Happily, my teenage daughter is doing fantastic now, and I was ready to start applying to new schools. I decided to go directly into the program I wanted, rather than reapply to SLCC and then have to apply to the other schools in a few months. Depending on funding and scholarships I may start again this fall or as late as the next summer (I'm still waiting on a meeting with my adviser).
Drumroll please!! I am now a future student of Utah Valley University :) It was a little bit bigger ordeal than I had hoped and involved tracking down transcripts from over 20 years ago and filling out forms geared to high school seniors. I was grateful for the accountability and deadline this project gave me because frankly it was great to watch tv with my family or play tetherball in the backyard instead of studying all of the time.
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I know that pretty much anyone that pays the fee and fills out the correct stuff is accepted, but I'm still pretty happy about this stuff. This paper version just got here today!
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5 comments:
I love the family pics, too. Your girls are beautiful and I love your son, too. It sounds like your decision has worked out well for you. Good luck with your wedding and UVU!
Thanks for including pictures, akk your kids are growing up! And Janice is stunning, just stunning! I was wondering the school pause and transfer so thanks for sharing your story. And so good to hear that Janis is doing well What a huge sacrifice--the scholarship and all. I'm still so impressed that you're going to college and thriving! I couldn't be prouder. And the engagement, congrats to the cute couple. Anatomy was always a class I heard about, but because I wasn't in the medical or science focus, I never took it. The coloring book sure looked fun. Have fun with that class.
I was so interested in your post this month. I am pretty much following your path and didn't finish my college degree yet. My youngest is still only two but i really want to go back to school when she is a bit older. I have always had a bit of anxiety about this, but your post has renewed my hope that i can do it! Congrats on the engagement!
Good luck on school! I loved seeing all your pictures. They are fun!!
That's exciting that you got accepted to UVU. I dream of going back to school someday too. I admire you for putting your goal and dreams on hold so that you could focus on your daughter. You sound like a great and caring mom. Way to go!
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