Diary of a Non-Traditional Student

Over the years, I've told my story to many who've crossed my path -- family members, friends, co-workers, strangers in the grocery store. And every time I tell it, I become re-inspired.

My journey started when I was 24 years old as an independent young woman with a full-time job, limited income, limited time, few resources, little college experience, scarce opportunities, and a drive to be a college graduate -- the first in my immediate family. How was I going to achieve my goals to attain affordable continuing education as an adult surviving and scraping by out in the real world, barely keeping my head above water? My circumstances became even more challenging three years later when I found myself to be a divorced single parent.

Today, 14 years later, my journey continues as, not only a lifelong learner, but a recipient of an Associates and Bachelors degrees and a full-time employee of Granite State College, one of the NH colleges of the University System of New Hampshire. On top of that, I'm planning on getting my Masters degree in the near future!

Want to learn more about my journey? Want to see how I achieved my dreams of higher education? Stay tuned as I tell my story -- a story only I can tell.
 

I have a tendency to complain. There's something comforting about it, especially when I can get others to commiserate with me. Then it's like I have permission to get all righteous about whatever I've decided is responsible for my discontent and that makes me feel better somehow. But I really do know that all of that is pointless and futile.

It takes me a while sometimes, but it's very refreshing when I remember that it's all a choice. Everything I do, except for involuntary actions like blinking and breathing of course, is my choice. There are no "have to's."

I don't "have to" wake up in the morning to go to work. I prefer living in a home and eating regularly because I want to be comfortable and live, so I choose to go to work. I don't "have to" suffer through traffic. I prefer to drive any long distances rather than walk or bike. I choose my routes because I want to get to my destination faster. I don't "have to" eat celery instead of that frosted doughnut. I choose to because I want to feel healthy. And I don't really "have to" write this post.

I am not a plastic bag buffeted about in the wind at the mercy of outside forces. I am the architect of my life. Of course there are the limitations of circumstances and opportunites that we all work with, but there is still always a choice. And I love when I remember that, because there's empowerment in knowing how much control I actually do have over the construction of my life.

Before enrolling at Granite State College, I complained quite a bit about how little money I made and about how unattainable certain opportunities were due to my lack of higher education. When someone suggested I go to college, I'd complain about how hard it would be, how expensive it would be, how I couldn't go to school because of my work hours, that it would be too big a load to bear while supporting myself.

I was lucky that someone told me about the affordability of Granite State College and that it offered accelerated studies and the flexibility of online and weekend college classes. But luck wouldn't have been enough. After talking myself into how it was ultimately up to me to change my life and that it was useless to just wait for something to happen that might make my whole life better, I made a choice.

I chose to get a degree. I chose to change my life.

My teen daughter says that she "hates" science. She won't believe me when I tell her that, as Kurt Vonnegut said, "Science is magic that works."

I didn't like science that much when I was in high school either. I think it was because of all the memorizing and rules. It seemed so disjointed and unconnected to my life. It wasn't until I was older that I could appreciate the field better. It's all about the context really and it's too bad more teachers don't present it that way.

Because science is really just a way of figuring out the world, the universe, and life itself-- the mysteries of everything we know. It's like science is Sherlock Holmes and we're the less capable Dr. Watson who serve as simultaneous bystanders and assistants. When you think about it that way, it sounds so much more fun! This is how I started to try to make science more interesting for my daughter, and it does help that Robert Downey, Jr. has made Holmes more current, but she still didn't really buy it.

She is a huge fan of the Harry Potter series though, so I tried to draw a correlation between wizardry and science. Potions class is like Chemistry, Herbology is Botany, Quiddich employs physics, broomstick-flying involves understanding gravity, genetics can be explored to create three-headed dogs and giant spiders, inventing flying cars involves engineering, learning about space took place in Hogwarts' Astronomy Tower, and you can't study the Care of Magical Creatures without Zoology.

Photo credit: http://memoirmode.com

She's starting to come around a little, but I still have some convincing to do. It doesn't help that as a teen, she's naturally inclined to doubt most of what I say.

Eventually though, I hope to foster her curiosity about the world so she continues to want to learn beyond high school and into college. I want her to be personally invested in taking college classes, not just because it's the next step in her life, but because higher education, whether it's through taking weekend college classes in science or online college English classes, connects everything around us and enriches our life experiences. In addition to career advancement education, I want her to be inspired by the joy of learning itself.

Who knows? Maybe she'll eventually find the value in learning science and find herself majoring in psychology or astrophysics. Or maybe she'll find her passion by pursuing a Masters degree in Project Management or English Literature. Whatever path she decides to take, hopefully she'll see it as magical.

The thing about lifelong learning is, even after you've acquired the formal education you might need for your career, as an inquisitive human being your brain continuously craves more information. That's why the Internet is so powerful, right? It's driven by information. How do things work? What events in history led to where you are? How do you accomplish certain things? Who else has written about, discovered, or invented the subject matter that you find fascinating?

There's a reason that Granite State College used to be called the College for Lifelong Learning. And that former title was one of the major factors that drew me to the school. I am a lifelong learner. Ever since high school when I first became able to pick my own classes, I've always gotten so excited over the new course schedules. So many amazing choices with so many possibilities to learn something new!

Now, since Granite State College's website has become more advanced, it's easy for me to explore the new class offerings online. And it doesn't matter that I've already graduated because you don't have to be enrolled in a degree program to take a class here or there.

Here are some Concord, NH classes that look promising for the Spring term in 2012:

"Modern America and the Movies"

"Society and the Individual"

"Nutrition Concepts and Controversies"

"Vietnam War: An Historical Perspective"

And if I wanted to take college classes online in July and August, these look really interesting:

"Interpersonal Communication"

"American Popular Culture"

"History of New England"

"Survey of World Architecture"

Here's the link to the full summer course schedule:

http://www.granite.edu/courseschedule/summer2012.html