As a full time college student, my education is extremely important to me. I don't just want to get my Bachelor's, I have to. It's something I not only want for myself, it is something that I expect for myself. I won't settle for being well read and high school educated. I want to be extremely well read and college educated. I ultimately plan on getting my Ph.D. but since first things are always first, I am currently working on my B.A. in History. Being a Navy wife and a formerly very rebellious young person has presented me with some unique challenges in regards to my college education.
First, it took me quite a while to get my head on my shoulders and start taking college seriously. I am proud to say that, after a tumultuous couple of years, I have been doing well for about 3 years now. Secondly, I initially did not think that I could make a career as anything but a teacher with a History degree and therefore chose two different majors that really didn't mean anything to me. I finally decided two years ago that I would rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate, and I changed my major to History. At that point, I really thought that I was on the right track and that I would surely graduate within the next couple of years and in a timely manner.
However, life had different plans for me. I found out that I was pregnant with Archer and got married to Dave. Dave then enlisted in the Navy and eventually we had to move. When we got to Washington, I immediately started the process of getting enrolled at my local community college. Soon I found out that while my classes and credits did transfer over, I was going to lose 1 credit here and 1 credit there as a part of the process. This was really hard for me to swallow as I had worked so hard to earn those credits and now I was going to have to take extra classes to basically fill the void. However, I squared my shoulders and trudged forward.
Now, here were are almost two years later and I am facing another impending move to a new state. I know now that another move will cost me more credits and that it will be another set back. The more I thought about this, the more depressed I got. I started searching for a way that I could just transfer one last time to a college where I could complete my degree fully online. If this was possible, I would only have to transfer one last time and then I could really just get my butt in gear and finish out my degree.
It didn't take me long, for my answer to come to me in the form of Ashford University. I had always been skeptical of online schools. I was afraid that I would put in a bunch of work and then find out that my degree was from a school that was not appropriately accredited and I would never be able to get a job or get into a Master's degree program. However, I have checked into Ashford and read a lot of information about accreditation as well as read reviews of the college. I have finally made the decision to transfer to Ashford University and finish my education.
I am really excited to take this step. For one thing, I think that it means that there is a clear end in sight for me. I can finally see the end and the degree and that feels really good. For another, it will take a lot of stress off of my shoulders. I won't have to worry anymore that I am going to have to transfer or where I will go next. I will also not have to fiddle around with community colleges anymore. I will be working a specific degree program and doing exactly what I need, as opposed to taking classes that may or may not end up being necessary for my major. I am so glad that I made this decision. I just want to fulfill my goal of having a B.A. that way I can be proud of myself and see myself as someone my children should be proud of.
Here's to the future!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Going? Going. Gone!
Most anyone who is or has been affiliated with the military knows how military life is. It is very unpredictable. There are lots of ups and downs and a great deal of uncertainty. We have been pretty fortunate up to this point. My husband has been on shore duty for most of his 2 years in the Navy and we will spend our last 2.5 years of Navy life on Sea Duty. Most people do not go to shore duty first, which was lucky. On top of that, my husband is assigned to a squadron which, although shore duty, goes on various 'detachments' for varying amounts of time quite frequently. Even for shore duty, members of his squadron tend to be gone a lot. However, we have been here for almost two years and today marks only the 2nd time he has had to leave us.
The first time was just over a year ago and he was gone for 4 weeks. This time, he left today and as of now he should be gone for about 3 weeks. It doesn't seem like too long, 3 weeks is a time frame that I can handle. However, this whole thing has been the 3-ring circus from hell. A month ago, we knew that he was leaving for a month starting on January 10th. We were ready for it and had childcare arranged so that I could go to school, worry-free. Then he came home from work one day, right before he was supposed to leave and said that due to some circumstances, he was only going to be going for 7 days from January 20th-27th. Ok, great. Less childcare to pay for, less time away from the family. So then, within the two weeks of having this info, the dates must have changed 3 or 4 times. That was annoying, but it was fine because it was still just a short amount of time. Fast forward to the day before yesterday...he calls me from work and says, "Well I asked like four times last week and was told no but now I was just told that I am staying the remainder after the 27th. So, I won't be back until February 12th.
That was the beginning of my real frustration. I mean, like I said, I can handle three weeks. But, I cannot come to grips with him having asked repetitively for a week if his only being gone for a week was set in stone and then them changing it on him with less than 24 hours notice. And it gets worse, we then said our goodbyes and prepared ourselves. After school yesterday, I was ready to take on my first solo day. I get home, walk through the door, and about have a heart attack. He is sitting on the couch in his sweats. Apparently they couldn't get out of here and to where they needed to be and so he was supposed to be back at 7 a.m. today. And now, I get a phone call that "If I haven't heard from him by 1:30 he's gone, otherwise he might not be leaving til Sunday." This is a freaking circus and I really really don't like it.
I sat here and totaled everything up and I came to the number 7. If he leaves today as he is supposed to, then his plans were changed 7 times. If not, the number becomes 8. This is getting ridiculous. And to make matters worse, I am extremely sick of hearing, 'Well that's the Navy,' and other similar comments. I know that is how Navy life is, it doesn't mean that I am not allowed to be annoyed, frustrated, sad, upset, angry, or whatever other emotion I feel. I am entitled to my feelings regardless of how typical the situation is.
I just wish that this organization that is responsible for our nation's safety and well being, this organization that people idolize and depend on, this organization that stands behind these slogans about how important and great they are, I wish that this organization would display some professionalism. Is that too much to ask?
The first time was just over a year ago and he was gone for 4 weeks. This time, he left today and as of now he should be gone for about 3 weeks. It doesn't seem like too long, 3 weeks is a time frame that I can handle. However, this whole thing has been the 3-ring circus from hell. A month ago, we knew that he was leaving for a month starting on January 10th. We were ready for it and had childcare arranged so that I could go to school, worry-free. Then he came home from work one day, right before he was supposed to leave and said that due to some circumstances, he was only going to be going for 7 days from January 20th-27th. Ok, great. Less childcare to pay for, less time away from the family. So then, within the two weeks of having this info, the dates must have changed 3 or 4 times. That was annoying, but it was fine because it was still just a short amount of time. Fast forward to the day before yesterday...he calls me from work and says, "Well I asked like four times last week and was told no but now I was just told that I am staying the remainder after the 27th. So, I won't be back until February 12th.
That was the beginning of my real frustration. I mean, like I said, I can handle three weeks. But, I cannot come to grips with him having asked repetitively for a week if his only being gone for a week was set in stone and then them changing it on him with less than 24 hours notice. And it gets worse, we then said our goodbyes and prepared ourselves. After school yesterday, I was ready to take on my first solo day. I get home, walk through the door, and about have a heart attack. He is sitting on the couch in his sweats. Apparently they couldn't get out of here and to where they needed to be and so he was supposed to be back at 7 a.m. today. And now, I get a phone call that "If I haven't heard from him by 1:30 he's gone, otherwise he might not be leaving til Sunday." This is a freaking circus and I really really don't like it.
I sat here and totaled everything up and I came to the number 7. If he leaves today as he is supposed to, then his plans were changed 7 times. If not, the number becomes 8. This is getting ridiculous. And to make matters worse, I am extremely sick of hearing, 'Well that's the Navy,' and other similar comments. I know that is how Navy life is, it doesn't mean that I am not allowed to be annoyed, frustrated, sad, upset, angry, or whatever other emotion I feel. I am entitled to my feelings regardless of how typical the situation is.
I just wish that this organization that is responsible for our nation's safety and well being, this organization that people idolize and depend on, this organization that stands behind these slogans about how important and great they are, I wish that this organization would display some professionalism. Is that too much to ask?
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Resolve.
It happens every year. We, the well meaning people of Earth, greet a new year at midnight on January 1st. Many of us, make resolutions. Some resolutions are common and easy, some are personal and difficult. Some of us keep them. Some of us smash them to ribbons within a month. I tend to fall into the category of people who do not make resolutions because I do not want to feel badly about myself when I break them. There are a lot of things that I would like to do this year but not all of them would actually be fitting to be called resolutions for the new year. However this year I decided to make 2 resolutions for the new year, although personally, I would rather think of them as goals.
The first is to workout 4 days a week for the entire year. I would definitely like to lose weight. However that is not the reason for this goal. I truly believe that in combination with vitamin B12 and 5HTP, if I work out regularly I could conquer my depression and have a great year. 5 days per week would be amazing but I want to set a realistic goal. Especially considering that we are facing a move in May and that I will be attending school full time throughout the year, I think that 4 seems more reasonable and definitely much more achievable.
The second is to read 100 books this calendar year. I recently finished The Shack but since I started it in 2009, I have decided not to count it. The book that I started today, Beautiful Boy, will be my first book of the 100 that I plan to read. Wish me luck, as I think that this one is the loftier of my two goals. If I have to read any books (not textbooks) for school, I will be counting those toward my 100 as I almost always enjoy every book that I read. I blog about the books that I read here and I will be blogging about all of the ones that I read in 2010. Since I have the titles in my book blog numbered, I am going to start this project by resetting the numbers and indicating which number each book was for me in 2010.
So, folks, these are my resolutions for 2010. Among them are other goals that I have for the year. However, these are the two that I wish to call my resolutions and these two will be given special emphasis in 2010. Lofty goals? Maybe. Achievable goals? I believe so. Wish me luck. And I hope that at least one or two people will follow my progress.
The first is to workout 4 days a week for the entire year. I would definitely like to lose weight. However that is not the reason for this goal. I truly believe that in combination with vitamin B12 and 5HTP, if I work out regularly I could conquer my depression and have a great year. 5 days per week would be amazing but I want to set a realistic goal. Especially considering that we are facing a move in May and that I will be attending school full time throughout the year, I think that 4 seems more reasonable and definitely much more achievable.
The second is to read 100 books this calendar year. I recently finished The Shack but since I started it in 2009, I have decided not to count it. The book that I started today, Beautiful Boy, will be my first book of the 100 that I plan to read. Wish me luck, as I think that this one is the loftier of my two goals. If I have to read any books (not textbooks) for school, I will be counting those toward my 100 as I almost always enjoy every book that I read. I blog about the books that I read here and I will be blogging about all of the ones that I read in 2010. Since I have the titles in my book blog numbered, I am going to start this project by resetting the numbers and indicating which number each book was for me in 2010.
So, folks, these are my resolutions for 2010. Among them are other goals that I have for the year. However, these are the two that I wish to call my resolutions and these two will be given special emphasis in 2010. Lofty goals? Maybe. Achievable goals? I believe so. Wish me luck. And I hope that at least one or two people will follow my progress.
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