Since I originally started this blog for my sister (you know I love you & Congratulations on your marriage once again), this post is directed at her and the rest of my family that is too busy to keep up with me in person (aka phone, although with the 2 hour time difference I understand and please no more texts at 6am my time) or via Facebook or Myspace. :p haha
As of late, I've been going through quite an ordeal of stress that was typically attributed to my horrible part-time retail management position at the local mall. The stressful situation came to a boiling point just before my recent trip to be in the above mentioned wedding. (I didn't say much while in town because who am I to take the spotlight off the beauty of two people who will actually stay in a marriage?) So... I've already done the venting about this particular situation to my mother and to my diary. It's out and done. However, what I failed to mention to my venting sources is that I intended to DO something about the stress.
With a little push from one of my roommates, I was encouraged to look into going back to college for the Fall Semester. Having just done my taxes and having that information in hand made the FAFSA all that much easier to complete. After talking to Roomie who has been and done all this, I was feeling anxious and excited (little did I know what was to come).
FAFSA information was sent to my e-mail in as little as 2 days and the GREAT news is that I am HIGHLY qualified to attend college with full financial support from grants. Yay for our government! Roomie adds "good thing you are over 24 so you no longer need parent financial information". Yeah, thanks for reminding me of that...
So now I'm doing the math, literally. I graduated in 2001 from high school. I'm just now starting college (damn that procrastinating teenaged mentality of mine)! I'm inches away from my 10 year high school reunion and sweating about trying to remember all the ins and outs of school again. Not only that, (as I reminded my best friend today) now when asked to hang out after school, my immediate response will be "how old are you"?
The upside of being asked out by an Eighteen or Nineteen year old is that it makes you feel young(?) perhaps, but it has this strange way of making you feel old as well. :( If you don't believe me, picture this. You are 18 or 19, see me (I'm not bad looking in my opinion) and ask me out... I say "really? I'm almost 30 years old, and you're too little to even dream of being able to buy drinks." :( See? Now I'm an old lady. Bleh!
The BEST part of my story is this: I am going back to school. I am going to succeed at accomplishing my dreams in life and I'm going to do it with government help since I deserve it! :) (Trust me, I truly do with all I've been through if you don't know me.)
AND... because I learned how to pinch even the thinnest pennies thanks to my mom being the single parent equivalent of Super(wo)Man, I should be fine to do it full-time and no longer need my crummy, stressful, piece of... work, job! :)
Not only that, but I have a plan. I have my future all mapped out, already. (I've had 10 years to daydream and fantasize about what I wanted to be when I finally decided to grow up.) I'm getting my Associates at Community College (laugh all you want, I'm going for free!) The college I'm going to has a program that will transfer to my nearby state school (Arizona State) and there I can accomplish obtaining my BA in Education.
Arizona has this silly rule about needing your AA before you substitute teach or become a teacher's aide, so I can be teaching my way through my BA if need be... and since State School will be more expensive, the need may indeed be there. :) However, I still don't see this as a bad thing.
I am thoroughly excited, filled with pride and this indescribable energy that I never knew I had to succeed and accomplish something that I've been wanting for so long now. I can't help but see this as the best step forward I have ever made.
The bad news is, classes don't start for another 3 months (more math) which means I'm stuck putting up with my current stress and wages until then, but with a smile on my face at what will be coming up in no time... surely extending the time I wanted to work there won't seem too bad.
And of course, after taking re-entry exams today and testing out of reading courses, I'm even more excited. When the lady at the testing facility handed me my results and said "you tested exempt for reading courses", I think I nearly choked. Not that I doubted my reading ability, but after nearly 10 years, it's nice to feel smart even if only for brief seconds. :)
So that is what is going on in my life. Now it's out there for everyone to know... and suddenly I am the (unofficial) spokesperson for continuing education. Don't believe me, ask my 15 year old sister who got an ear full today about how important it is that she NOT "take a year off". My big sister words of wisdom were "If I can do it, you can do it... and I AM doing it"!
I suspect my little sister may grow to dislike phone conversations with me over the next few years while I am "doing it", she seemed to not want to discuss it at all today. I suspect it will only get worse the older and "wiser" she thinks she is. :)
In closing, remember, "If I can do it, you can do it". Think about it.
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