Big things happening here!

Category: Let's talk

Post 1 by Smiling Sunshine (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Thursday, 01-May-2014 22:01:26

Hi yall!
I've been away for a while but am back for a bit. I'll finish my first semester back at school next week so I'll have more time to Zone after that.
My first semester back as an older student surpassed my expectations. I am actually going to pull a 4.0 this semester which I've never done. I've officially because that older student study freak who actually wants to learn that I hated the first time through college.
Taking a cojple of on campus classes as well as one online class has given me the confidence booster I needed after being a stay at home mom for several years, and extremely isolated for the past 2 and a half.
I was originally going for a Medically billing and coding certification but after only a month or so back in the land of the living, I realized that sitting in my house doing what ammounts to data entry wasn't what I really wanted to do. I found that I really enjoyed the business class and the communication class I took so I started trying to figure out what I might like to do. Low and behold, I've figured it out.
I'm going to take another year of classes at the Community College to complete the under graduate level business courses I need. Then, next fall, I will begin graduate school at Tarleton State and work toward my MS in Human Resource Management. I was always intimidated by graduate school because of the GRE. I don't test well and it's been way too long since I've done advanced math to even think about it. lol My GPA will be high enough though that I won't be required to take that exam. Woohoo! Since my under graduate degree is in Social Work, I need several more business classes so I'll have a good foundation. I'm taking one this summer and then will take more next year.
I don't know why it took me so long to arive at this goal. I was actually in line for a promotion to become a Human Resource Development Specialist when I got pregnant with my son. I couldn't see having to move and start a new career while also become a new mom and I was blessed with the opportunity to stay at home with my son. Everyone I've told about my plans is super supportive. I'm super excited so I thought I'd share it with my fellow Zoners. I know I've been absent but it's been a very busy semester.
Oh yeah, they're also beginning construction on the land that will connect our neighborhood to the rest of the town we live in. If things continue to go the way I expect, I should have the opportunity and ability to again travel relatively independently by the end of next school year. I'll go get a guide dog next summer if the construction is completed like it should be.
Excuse the typoes but I'm in a hurry. Gotta get the kidlet to bed.

Post 2 by UniqueOne (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Thursday, 01-May-2014 22:16:42

Congrats! It's an awesome wonderful feeling knowing what path to take!

Post 3 by Blue Velvet (I've got the platinum golden silver bronze poster award.) on Friday, 02-May-2014 7:02:10

Congrats and good luck in the future.

Post 4 by Imprecator (The Zone's Spelling Nazi) on Friday, 02-May-2014 7:07:07

Ditto to that. Huggles!

Post 5 by Dolce Eleganza (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Friday, 02-May-2014 11:22:10

Congratulations! I sincerely hope all your plans work out. I can relate to your
feeling of knowing what you'll be taking. Wonderful! yea! :)

Post 6 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Friday, 02-May-2014 12:32:34

Really happy for you out here.
Seriously. People say the older we get the slower we learn. I will admit I cannot absorb like I used to. But I think we know how to learn better, and we know what to pay attention to more, and we're less cholerically spastic and immature so we can get there from here. I have nothing but respect for you for going back to school. The wife did a 3 year program out here and I saw someone such as us go through this. Not sure I'm up for that kind of thing, but still.
And, how awesome they will get your area connected so you are not isolated anymore! I know your son is young, and you were looking at many more years of isolation. So very happy this will probably not be the case for you! IT's really hard making the sacrifices you have had to, and you have my respect for doing so. So glad they are changing things so you can feel alive again. I can see from your post you are feeling more alive. It is a beautiful thing indeed!

Post 7 by Smiling Sunshine (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Friday, 02-May-2014 12:47:22

Thanks, yall! I do feel very alive. Its strange how different it is to enjoy school. I think allot of it has to do with the fact that I'm studying subjects of interest and I'm going because I want to. The first time, I went because I had to and I wasn't overly passionate about what I was studying. Having technology is helping tremendously! At the risk of sounding like an old fart, yall young folks have no idea how much more opportunities you have with the increased independence that advances in technology have brought. Now that we have online databases that are accessible research is actually fun.

Post 8 by forereel (Just posting.) on Friday, 02-May-2014 14:03:24

Coolness! Smile.

Post 9 by Voyager (I just keep on posting!) on Friday, 02-May-2014 15:03:37

DG, congrats!

Sometimes I think that maybe most of us should wait and go to college when we're at least a few years out of high school and we actually know what we're supposed to be doing.

Post 10 by CrazyMusician (If I don't post to your topic, it's cuz I don't give a rip about it!) on Friday, 02-May-2014 16:27:36

Good on ya, DG!

Voyager, I agree with you wholeheartedly. I did a one-year college certificate program right out of high school. While I don't regret the things I learned, the course wasn't really for me. I think having college entrance a year or two or more after high school graduation will enable young people to gain work experience and decide whether or not they want college at all... which is why such a thing wouldn't work. Colleges need money to stay afloat, and ultimately it doesn't matter if students are successfully employed or happy with their choice of school.

Kate

Post 11 by gizmobear (move over school!) on Tuesday, 13-May-2014 18:30:53

happy for you! congrat's!

Post 12 by hardyboy09 (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Wednesday, 14-May-2014 8:12:30

Congratulations, hope everything works out. I've never liked research, and think it's difficult to do with Jaws.

Post 13 by Smiling Sunshine (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Wednesday, 14-May-2014 15:33:34

Oh man, you would have really hated research back in the days before the internet etc.

Post 14 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Wednesday, 14-May-2014 15:37:30

Never mind them, DomesticGoddess. Hipsters crying, is all. I live in a neighborhood full of them. To many of 'em, you'd think a hangnail was nuclear war. Don't expect to understand it: I gave up at least.
Many are fine, and I've sat at pub with many interesting ones, but the ones like this, well, yunnowaddamean.