Anything is possible

.....You can climb that mountain if you want to!

Start climbing......

     When I started my journey back to college in my (very) late thirties I questioned if I could do it. Could I measure up to all those shiny new 19 year old brains who just stepped off the high school education bus? What I learned my second semester was that older brains have more "synapses". It's a fancy word for brain connections - what does that matter? It means we older students have more previous experiences to connect the new knowledge to. It helps us recall new things we are learning. Like, "Oh, that explanation of the Korean War reminds me    of M*A*S*H!" Connect that to actual accurate history and you have a recall reminder vivid enough to pass exams!
     The other factor is dedication. When the instructor says read chapter 10 before Tuesday - you read ALL of it even if you have to read during your lunch and between classes. Why? Why not fake it? Because the class discussion will be about it and you will have zero input and will have a lot less connections going on in your brain. You probably won't remember what a classmate said as an answer to a question but you will remember what you said - and that's how you will pass your final.

That's how THIS happens:

Undergraduate - Semester Course work
CRN	Subject		Course		Section	Course Title	Campus	Final Grade	Attempted	Earned	GPA Hours	Quality Points
21592	BIOM		103IN		001	Unseen Universe: Microbes	MSU-Bozeman	A	3.000	3.000	3.000	12.00
22461	EDU		211D		003	Multicultural Education	MSU-Bozeman	A	3.000	3.000	3.000	12.00
23421	HSTR		102IH		001	Western Civilization II	MSU-Bozeman	A	4.000	4.000	4.000	16.00
23944	TE		250CS		002	Technology and Society	MSU-Bozeman	A	3.000	3.000	3.000	12.00

.....and take them along on your journey

     The dedication it took made people look at me funny, like I was crazy. During this semester, along with my husband - we parented four children including sports events, concerts and illnesses stretching 10 days. Sadly, we lost two dear pets and my father. I averaged 20 hrs of work - 4:30pm-1am shift. I toted along a 9 year old twice to class - including a 2 hour essay final (which he will probably never want to endure again!). Add the personal control it took NOT to pick up my fav's from my TBR(to be read) pile, ugh! Enduring is possible if you remember your goal - Mine is to have a career in the school system where I can align our schedules and hopefully  help provide for college, real family vacations and not have to live with them when they are adults!

So if you are out there wondering if you could do it - face a huge challenge or go to college, if your teenager doubts his or her ability -  the answer is in the question "Am I dedicated?"

What challenges are you considering?