Friday, October 14, 2011

The Countdown Has Begun!

T-3 days and counting!

Yesterday, I was able to log into my classroom for the first time and print out the syllabus and have a look around.  I wouldn't say I'm the most tech-savvy person on the planet, but I can usually figure out what I'm doing and this on-line setup doesn't look too bad.  Over the weekend, I'll be working on the WSRO--Walden Student Readiness Orientation so when class starts Monday, I should be ready to go.

Can I make a confession?

I'm a wee bit nervous.  What on earth am I doing?!

Do I really have it in me to devote the next 96 weeks (yes, I did the math) to school plus work?  Yes, I did it before--I worked on my Associates degree while working full time in an office, but I was a good 20 years younger and I actually physically went to a school.  This is all on-line.  When I'm physically accountable to someone, I most always come through.  This is different...yes, there is accountability, but it's different and I'm not sure how it's going to go.  My optimist side, which, admittedly, is bigger than my pessimist side, says I can do it, but there's still that voice from the pessimist asking if I've really got what it takes.  I believe I do, so I guess only time will tell.

I have plenty of people cheering me on...my family and friends and co-workers, so I guess I'm accountable to them as well.  Their encouragement will do a lot to keep me going.  I really have only two problems. One is funding.  I'm looking into scholarships, but I'm also resigning myself to the fact that I'll need to get student loans.  The entire cost of my education is estimated around $25,000 (that's the BA & the Teaching Certification).  Not exactly chump change but not as bad as the loans some people are taking out to finance their education.  I'd hate to tell you the amount my sister had to take out to get her BA & MA.

My other problem is the cat.  Meet Willow.


That's my Kaplan Scholarships book she's laying on.  She also likes to lay on my laptop and/or the exact spot I need to put my keyboard so I can type.  Right now, in fact, she's laying on my laptop so I have my wireless keyboard is in my lap so I can type this.  When I started spreading out my papers to organize my SRO syllabus and checklist, she had to sit right in the middle of them.  She's going to be a problem.  Well, we'll work it out.  It may mean doing the bulk of my homework from the dining room table, but at least it'll get done.

Okay, enough bellyaching.  I need to get to the gym, the store, have lunch, then a little SRO before going to work.  Enjoy your day!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Hello?

Hello?      Hello?     Hello?      Hello?

Is anybody there?

I'm still here, I promise!


Yeah, it has been a while since I've updated this blog.  Truth be told, I've focused so much of my attention to my other blog, A(nother) Year in Reviews and on the other things going on in my life (job, working out, writing) that this blog has kinda (okay, for sure) fallen to the wayside.  But I have plans to rectify that situation.  For starters, I'm adding something to the Things Keeping Me Busy list.  That list consists of:
  1. Job
  2. Working Out (I've lost 100 lb since May 2010!  I've got 40 or so more to go, so keep cheering for me.)
  3. The "other" blog
  4. Writing (NaNoWriMo is coming up!)
  5. "Time Wasters," namely games from Big Fish and on Facebook...Zynga, you make some great games but they sure do make time disappear!

So I'm going to work on reducing the amount of time I spend on #5 and replace it with a new #5, namely...

            Working on my Bachelor's degree.

Yep, I'm going back to college, specifically Walden University Online (since I don't live in Minneapolis, it kinda has to be online). I've finally figured out what I want to do with my life.  I've always been told I'd make a great teacher, and I enjoy English so why don't I finally get off my lazy duff and go back to school so I can become an English teacher which is something I've secretly wanted to do for, oh, maybe twenty years now? Plus, I feel I have a God-given directive to teach, an instruction I received when I was agonizing over whether or not I should teach Sunday School (let's just say God made it pretty clear that He wanted me to do it...if you ask nicely, I'll give you my testimony someday.)

HIPPA laws prevent me from giving any kind of detail about the residents at the nursing home where I work, so I really can't talk about the things that go on there except in very general detail, and what fun is that?  And though I know you'll cheer me on, how much blogging can I do regarding my work outs?  Some, but not much.  I can blog about my NaNo progress, but that's only one month out of twelve...what about the other eleven months?  And do you really want me to blog about the games I'm playing?  If you want that kind of fun, log on and start playing.

So college blogging it is...at least, I'm going to attempt it.  Like many other adults, I'm going back to school to finish my degree and change my career path.  Let's hope you find this journey as interesting and exciting as I hope I will!  


Um...and now that I look at it, I'll work on the layout of this blog...it needs some serious help!