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Friday, December 23, 2011

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?

5 comments:

  1. First of all, congrats on your straight-As!!! Reason to celebrate!

    I'm facing some medical challenges in the upcoming year, and know that continuing to write will be difficult. So thanks for sharing your story of overcoming odds--I think it will help me stop making excuses and dig in.

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  2. Thanks Laurel! It makes a 4.0 for my freshman year(which lasted 24 months).It's a new challenge every semester. I hope everything goes okay for you. I love to read what you write. I'll pray for you! Leah

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  3. I am dedicating myself to publishing my brains out. And writing my brains out. Although it would be nice if I had a wand and could just lift these stories from my brain and lay them on the page...like Dumbledore.

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  4. Congrats. You ARE dedicated and I think it's wonderful.

    Have a Merry Christmas. You've earned it. :)

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  5. Thanks! Here's to our facing our challenges in 2012!

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