Accepted!

The highlight of my week (besides my boss being out on a two week vacation) was receiving my acceptance letter from the university I applied to. I also decided to start early (I was accepted as a student, starting Winter term) by applying for non-acceptance student for Fall. So, I start a class September 30th.

It feels really good to do this. I’m doing this for me, to finally put in action a goal I had in my twenties-not to pursue a new career path. Because I refuse to take out more student loans (I still have a 6k balance when I attended trade school U), I’ll only take one class per term-or even 1 class every other term. I can’t afford to do more.

As usual, I can’t quite commit to a major. I prefer Psychology, but this requires a good score in statistics (not the easiest course for me), but might end up with history but if that bores me-English literature. I do believe I’d like an anthropology minor, but another possibility is native American studies.

This feels so different. I can see me actually completing this last round of schooling. So much of it has been piecemeal-courses to fulfill some work-related requirement. I want to be better educated, not necessarily fulfill an employer’s idea of what I need. Because my work is so unfulfilling, I really have the need to be working towards something. This bit of good news certainly makes this goal easier to see completed. Finally!

Why College Now?

I wrote up my first post, but the darn publishing button spun for days, and timed out.

So, about me:

Turned 50 last year

Experienced a very minor stroke this year (migraine-induced)

Live near the pacific northwest, originally from the southwest. Terribly homesick! Would move back, but we (hubby and I) are still recovering (slowly) from the 2008 economy dump (I was laid off from a great writing job). I’d move back in a heartbeat, but hubby is happy here. So, we are staying. Not much high-tech where we live, so I’ve “downgraded” to an office job at a major university.

I’ve decided to finish my college degree (why I lazed about getting one in the first place is for another posting), as most of my colleagues here at the U have their Masters degrees. Although I realize I’m intelligent, this doesn’t count within the Ivory Tower. The more degrees, the more you count. Did I mention I don’t care for the pretension there?  Oh, you will!

My loss of the work I loved (but didn’t realize it at the time how much I loved/would miss it) has created a real “blank spot” in my life: I need deadlines, a project. What better way to remedy this in a constructive way than go back to college and accomplish a goal I thought I’d complete at 30?

So, this is what I am doing, and I have a few tasks to do before I start next year:

1. Upgrade my slumbering math skills. I shouldn’t say “slumbering,” because this leads one to think I had some math skills to begin with. Nope!  I love the alphabet. Give me words, words, words! Numbers turn me into a nervous idiot, forgetting steps and procedures that most ten year olds yawn through. So I’ve bought a basic math book geared for college students, and I’m slowly working my way through. Slowly is the key word! One or two pages per day, so I don’t get overwhelmed or forget what I’ve learned. So far, this method is working, and I’m enjoying it. Wish my mom was still around to share this with. (My parents will get many more posts-I miss them very much).

2. Saving for a class.  The economic down turn has leveled me and my husband in very scary ways. We had quite a bit saved before we moved but the job losses, medical issues, and keeping our head above water has left us with zilch. Knowing we aren’t alone dealing in this mess (see the Booming series in the New York Times. Many articles deal with this topic). I can’t take out loans, nor do I want additional debt when I’m 70. So, one class at a time. Perhaps only two classes per year. Need to replenish our savings account. This will occur slowly, too.

3. Searching for scholarships. Certainly, there’s gotta be a few for aging boomers, no?

4. Making sure my transcripts get to my school of choice.

So, this is it for me. I’m writing this because diary-writing no longer interests me, but I want to document my path to a Bachelor’s Degree at Online U (yes, it’s accredited-a real college in the Pacific Northwest that offers degrees I’m interested (history, English literature, and Psychology). Ironically, although I work at a University, there are very few classes offered in the evening. So, off to Online U I go (if I’m accepted!).