Learning for a Lifetime

Welcome to my blog!

Hi, my name is Erin Todd, and I play a dual role at Granite State College. I began working at the GSC Claremont Regional Center in June 2007. I provide administrative assistance to faculty, students and other staff. Our region also includes the GSC Lebanon Academic Site. I am also a student at GSC, taking classes towards a BS with a Major in Business Management, and a Minor in Health Care. I should also mention that I'm a mom of three kids, aged 23, 18 and 16. As a single parent with two teenagers to keep up with, it is definitely challenging to juggle work, college and family responsibilities, but GSC's flexible course delivery makes it doable. By taking a combination of evening classes, weekend classes and online classes, I am able to balance school, work and parenting.

Like many of my classmates, I bring a lifetime of experiences to each course I take, and benefit from the combined knowledge of all these other non-traditional students. I began my adult and continuing education over twenty years ago, by taking classes at a community college, when my son was at pre-school. It took seven years to earn my Associate Degree in Liberal Studies, and another four years to earn my BA in Literature and Women's Studies, because I was raising three young children by myself for most of that time. Shortly after my youngest child was born, I went through a divorce, and worked a series of part-time, temporary and seasonal jobs -- just to make ends meet.

After I earned my first Bachelor's Degree, I went on to work for Planned Parenthood, the Vermont Department of Health, and the Council on Aging for Southeastern Vermont. These various experiences have led me to a decision to pursue the degree I am currently working on at Granite State College. My goal is to one day run a community health center for low-income families and individuals.

In the meantime, I am thoroughly enjoying my time at GSC, and that's from my dual-perspective as employee and student. I'm ecstatic about my co-workers - they are amazing folks that go above and beyond for students because they are dedicated to Adult Higher Education. I've taken classes with some of the most knowledgeable and experienced, yet approachable instructors, here at GSC. As mentioned earlier, I have attended several other colleges over the years, and I can say that the quality of learning at GSC rates very high.

But don't just take my word for it ... take a class at Granite State College and experience it for yourself!

Those Long, Cold Days of Winter

Monday, November 29, 2010 by Erin Todd

If you're wondering what to do with yourself during the long, cold days of winter ... I have an idea ... take a course at Granite State College! Registration for Winter Term is in full swing.

Take a look at some of the courses running at GSC's Claremont NH College:

Modern America & the Movies
Readings in World Literature
American Sign Language I
Managing Conflict
Introduction to Anthropology

And here's a thumbnail sketch of GSC's Lebanon NH College course offerings:

Career Development and Life Planning
Survey of World Architecture
Autobiography as Literature
Comparative Religions
Observational Astronomy

If you'd prefer to take online classes for college, check out these highlights from GSC's online courses this Winter:

International Economics
Shakespeare
Principles of Marketing
Regions of the World: History & Current Issues, East Asia
Introduction to Philosophy
Investment Principles
The Media & It's Messages
Managing Diversity
Issues in Women's Health
Financial Management

At only $1,040 per four-credit course, Granite State College offers the lowest tuition in the University of New Hampshire System, and financial aid is available to eligible degree students - even if taking just one class a term!

Mixed Blessings

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 by Erin Todd

As a full-time Granite State College employee, a part-time GSC student, and a parent of two teenage daughters ... my life has been a blur these last twelve weeks. I can honestly say that I live up to my image on the billboard GSC put up in Newport, NH, in that I could be the poster child for adult and continuing education. As proof, here is a partial list of the parental responsibilities that have occupied my time & energy over the past several months:

Packing up and delivering my daughter, Jess, to college. It was one of those 98 degree days, she had a car FULL of stuff, and she's on the third floor of her dorm (no elevator). Whew!

Assuring, and reassuring, Jess that her financial aid situation WILL work out. Even if her FA package changes a dozen times before the semester is half over! It will all be ok. (and it is!)

Talking Jess through her 'first-year' anxieties ... will she make any friends, will she and her roommate get along, will she be able to keep up with the other students??? (Yes, yes & yes!)

Bringing Jess home for an extended break when she got Mono. Mm-hmm ... Mono. Washing three weeks worth of her laundry & germ-ridden bedding. Nursing her back to health. Returning her to school with a month's supply of provisions - because "the food at school is terrible!"

Cheering Jess on with all the positive encouragement I can muster (You can too write that Psych paper by tomorrow noon! Honey, 'B' is a GOOD grade, not something to lament about! I'm sorry you're tired and your head hurts ... take a nap, drink gallons of water, take an ibuprofen if you need to ... and then study for your Italian exam.)

***

Cell phones & computers have made it possible to stay in CONSTANT communication with each other. Texting, Calling, Emailing, Facebook messaging ... there's no escape! I've barely had a chance to start missing my kid. But I do. Of course I do. There are certain things that cannot be conveyed in a text message.

There's nothing like the spontaneous discussions that spring forth when Jess bounds into my bedroom at midnight to enlighten me of her latest philosophical revelation. I miss my daughter's energy, her joi de vivre, the excitement that emanates from her very pores, when she is following the thread of an idea. I miss her pensive, deep-in-thought facial expression when she's reading a book or writing a paper. I miss Jess' light-up-a-room smile.

Fortunately, my daughter will be home over (aptly enough) Thanksgiving break, and I look forward to spending some face-to-face time with her. I think this is what people mean when they say they are enjoying the rewards of the hard work of parenting. Here's wishing all my classmates and colleagues at GSC's Claremont NH College a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you each get to take a break from the hectic pace of work and school to count your blessings - mixed though they may be.

GSC Instructor Sara Poisson Publishes 'Silent Voices'

Thursday, November 18, 2010 by Erin Todd

Here at Granite State College - Connecticut Valley Region, we are thrilled to share the news that another of our talented faculty members has recently published a book.

Sara Poisson, who is a mental health and substance abuse clinician for a half-way house, authored Silent Voices of the Past: A Chronicle of the Almshouse of Sullivan County.

"I noticed a small cemetery on the grounds at the county jail where I work ... The reason it caught my eye was because each of the stones in the back half of it were uniform in size and not buried according to family but by chronology. This became the beginning of a research project that lasted about 18 months. [It] was a joint project between the inmates at the jail and myself to find out who these people were and why they were buried here. What we learned was this spot was the location of the almshouse for the county. We discovered who was here, why and how the institution evolved and ended. There is a strong parallel between the throw away members of society during the almshouse era and the inmates in the county jail today. The challenges are greater, the stigma more negative and the stakes higher for both populations. My plan was to impart a sense of self-worth for the inmates by seeing that the almshouse population mattered. It matters who is buried here and why. They are entitled to the same dignity as any other member of the society. The same is true for the inmates. If they don't understand that, if they don't respect themselves, they are doomed to repeat their mistakes. I have long since been a champion for the underdog. My career has been working with underprivileged children and families, domestic violence survivors and the incarcerated population. My husband and I have a rescue center for abandoned and abused farm animals."

Poisson will be teaching Theories of Personality at GSC's Claremont NH College Campus and Abnormal Psychology at GSC's Lebanon NH College Campus this Winter Term.

What a Whirlwind of a Fall!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 by Erin Todd

I don't know about you, but I have been unbelievably busy for the past several months! Fall Term at Granite State College is winding down and registration for Winter Term is less than a week away! It's hard to believe how many things have happened in such a brief span of time.

A huge amount of my time and energy has gone towards getting my daughter settled into her freshman year at college. Unlike me, Jess has opted for the traditional academic route, with all the triumphs and tribulations that those very intense four years entail. She is attending a small, residential college here in New England. She studied like crazy all last year because she was intent on getting into an elite school - and she did it! I'm ecstatic for her! And so very proud of her!

Even so, the meandering educational path I took - that many Granite State College students take - is equally valid. We just have a different set of accomplishments and adversities. We may not have to deal with communal living or eat cafeteria food ... our challenges are often more to do with finding child care in order to attend college evening courses ... or waiting until after the kids go to bed in order to focus on our online classes for adults.

Neither pathway to a college degree is without challenges. Both routes offer opportunities for success. And while having a destination in mind, such as the attainment of a college degree, the really meaningful stuff is the learning that takes place along the way. As impatient as we might be to reach that goal, we have to travel some distance to get there, and we might just find that the journey is as precious - perhaps even more than - than reaching the destination.

Whichever path you're on, don't forget to stop and look around along the way to enjoy the view!

Family Weekend - Smith College - Anna, Me & Jess (L to R) - Enjoying the View from the Bridge

Here I am with my daughters Anna (L) and Jess (R) on Family Weekend at her college - enjoying the view from the bridge across the babbling brook that runs through campus.

First Week of Classes!

Monday, September 13, 2010 by Erin Todd

So here we are beginning the first week of classes of Fall Term at Granite State College!

We are offering some very interesting courses here at our Claremont NH College: Psychology of Occupational Stress, Short Fiction and Natural History of Northern New England - to name a few. At our Lebanon NH College, we're offering Law and Society, Principles of Marketing and American Popular Culture - just for starters. I often find myself wanting to take several classes at each location, but alas, there just aren't enough hours in the day to do EVERYTHING I want to do.

I'm taking a couple online courses: Principles of Economics and Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Care. Woot! I'm excited because my daughter is also taking an Economics course - at her high school. Maybe we can be study buddies! We'll see how that goes...

BTW, our new catalog is now available online, here's the direct link: GSC 2010-11 Catalog. You can find out about all of our Majors and Minors, our Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Certification Program and read Course Descriptions for all the courses we offer.

Give Me a 'G' - Give Me an 'S' - Give Me a 'C' ... What's that spell?

Saturday, August 21, 2010 by Erin Todd

A prospective student finished her accuplacer assessment and was anxious to know the results. The scores were not easily interpretable. At a quick glance, however, I noticed that the placement recommendation was for Contemporary College Math -- which is one of the required courses for a degree at Granite State College. I pointed this out to her and we both practically cheered because she was so pleased to discover that she knows more than she thought she knew!

This particular student, let's call her Miranda, works in a local elementary school. While she enjoys her role as a para-educator, she really wants to pursue Teacher Training Education. As a former high school dropout, Miranda didn't think she was equipped to go to college, but once she attained her G.E.D., she realized that she was thirsty for more. She decided to apply to GSC, the New Hampshire State College that offers Affordable College Study, and she's eager to start her Childhood Education Courses this fall.

Miranda wants to work with children that have special needs. At GSC, she will pursue a B.S. in Individualized Studies: English Language Arts -- which will enable her to meet the federal Highly Qualified Teacher requirement, and the Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Certification in General Special Education. The reason Miranda chose GSC, she told me, was because she could continue to work in her chosen field while taking Evening College Classes. I'm willing to bet that she will also find, as I have found, that taking classes with other adults of all ages provides a rich educational experience. GSC is the college in the University of New Hampshire System that specializes in Adult Higher Education.

The excitement Miranda expressed -- when she saw evidence that her abilities are indeed college-level -- is one of the reasons I love working at Granite State College. It's such a great feeling to watch someone's face light up at the realization of their possibilities! Our students are so invested in their education, because many of them already have real-world experience, and they are incredibly motivated to do well in their studies. They want the most out of their education. And we at GSC are here to cheer them on!

Fostering Learning at Granite State College

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 by Erin Todd

Recent experiences have led me to consider becoming a foster parent. Without going into specifics, I have become painfully aware of the obstacles children face when home is not a safe place for them to be, but their parents still have all the legal rights. A young person I know was forced to navigate "the system" in order to escape a harmful environment. If not for her friends, and her friends' parents, it is likely that this teen may have been left in an unsafe home or become a runaway. Fortunately, she is now living with a great foster family.

I don't know if it was a coincidence, or serendipity, but this is the front page article that greeted me at work one morning in the midst of the aforementioned ordeal: "Teaching from the Experience," by Angel Roy, Eagle Times Newspaper, August 14, 2010. Keith Marsh, the instructor for many of the Foster Parent Classes that meet at GSC's Claremont, NH College, was featured. As the article mentions, Granite State College is "the school through which all foster care and adoptive training is conducted in the state, in partnership with the NH Department of Children, Youth and Families."

If I didn't live in Vermont, I'd sign up for one of Marsh's foster parent classes in a heartbeat, but as a Vermont resident I have to take classes through my state's equivalent agency. Not only would it be more convenient for me to take these classes at GSC, because they are held where I work, but I have a very positive impression of the instructors I've encountered. Although my interactions with Marsh have been few and brief, my overall impression leads me to believe he's a fantastic teacher, and a wonderful foster parent. Case in point:

One evening last spring, we lost electricity just before one of Marsh's foster parent classes. I was the only GSC staff left at our Claremont NH College for the day. The epitome of calm, cool and collected, Keith asked if there was a pizza place nearby. I pointed him in the direction of Ramuntos. He thanked me and led his class down the sidewalk to the restaurant. I was so impressed by Keith's "go-with-the-flow" demeanor. While many instructors might have gotten flustered and/or cancelled the class, Marsh didn't let this obstacle stand in the way of continuing with his foster care class, he simply moved it to another locale for the night. What a terrific role model for his students!

If you want to learn more about Foster Parent Training at Granite State College -- I encourage you to check out that page on our website.

Diversity

Monday, August 16, 2010 by Erin Todd

In my Managing Diversity weekend intensive class, there is a 38-year-old Nigerian-born U.S. citizen, a 50-year-old Korean-American, a 28-year-old veteran of the Iraq War, a 20-year-old recent high school graduate, a 32-year-old state trooper, a 44-year-old executive and a 42-year-old UNH police officer. And me. Six of us are white. There are more men than women in this class -- a fact that is statistically atypical for Granite State College. Gender aside, the age, occupational and racial/ethnic differences of the students that make up this class are typical of GSC. Such diversity is one of my favorite aspects of taking classes at this NH State College.

Our first assignment for this class was to ask ten random people what they think "Diversity" means. The people I asked gave responses using the words "understanding, respecting, accepting, appreciating, embracing, honoring and celebrating" those "different from ourselves." That is how I feel in a GSC class, because my classmates and I come from all walks of life, from all over the state, even from different parts of the world. Some of us are just out of high school, some are stay-at-home parents and some are parents who also work outside the home, some of us are mid-career or mid-life, and some are older adults. And those differences always result in students coming away from any given class with a new understanding of someone else's perspective.

One of the people I asked responded that diversity is an opportunity that helps us grow as human beings. Another declared that there is strength in diversity. Several expressed how boring the world would be if everyone was the same. I agree with all of these statements. As a student, I have witnessed and experienced the really transformative learning that takes place in a GSC classroom. Part of that learning is intellectual, part is social, part is even growth on an emotional level. One of the greatest strengths of adult and continuing education at GSC is the opportunity to glean knowledge from the broad life experiences of our classmates.

How appealing would it be to sit down to a meal of, say, unseasoned white rice and plain boiled potatoes and white bread? Bland and boring are two adjectives that come to mind. On the other hand, partaking of a meal made up of butternut squash and flame-broiled steak and green beans seasoned with fresh herbs is a more vibrant and flavorful culinary experience. It's also more interesting.

My classmates are very interesting people. They come from all age groups, income brackets, occupations and geographic areas. A lot of my classmates are taking part time classes, though some have a full time course load; some prefer evening college classes and many also take college classes online. Many are looking for a career advancement education and some are fulfilling a goal of getting their college degree through GSC's continuing education degree programs.

The students that make up my classes are hard-working folks. They're focused. They're driven. They're probably not getting enough sleep. But. They know how important it is to have a college degree in this work climate. Many employers are expecting their employees to have, or be working on, a four-year college degree. At GSC my classmates and I are getting a truly affordable bachelor degree. No matter our age, our past work experiences, our income levels or our geographic background.

Testing the waters

Thursday, July 29, 2010 by Erin Todd

So, here I am writing my first blog post. It's a little intimidating because I've never blogged before. But there's a first time for everything and I'm excited about this new endeavor. Of course the challenge will be finding the time, between working and classes and family responsibilities.

It helps that I am surrounded by other adult college students, many of whom can relate to my balancing act, because they are also working full-time while taking part time classes. In fact, many of my classmates are only able to afford their adult college classes because at GSC taking just one class a term means that they are eligible to apply for financial aid. Another huge incentive is that the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at GSC is only $15 per credit! Offering the lowest tuition of all four institutions in the University of New Hampshire System, GSC is a NH state college where my classmates and I can earn an affordable bachelor degree, associate degree or even teacher certification.

I suppose I sound like I'm going for a hard-sell. But that's only because I have such a positive impression of Granite State College. One of the best aspects of my job at GSC is being a point-of-contact for prospective and new students because I want so much to help people see their potential become reality. If a student calls our Claremont NH College, needing to know how to post a comment to the discussion board in Blackboard for their online class, I can walk them through it over the phone, because I've been in their shoes.

When a potential student calls or walks into our center for the first time, they are often worried about how they'll handle taking adult college courses on top of their work and family responsibilities, and I can relate. But it really is doable! For me, taking online classes is one way I have been able to manage to keep all the balls in the air, so to speak. Sure, my first online class was a little scary in the beginning, but my classmates were incredibly helpful - explaining where to find resources and how to submit assignments. It was a great feeling to learn some new technology along with the actual course material. That's just one of the perks of taking online classes for college!

Because I really enjoy the occasional human interaction, I also take face-to-face evening college classes, as well as weekend intensive classes. I find that I can fit these into my hectic schedule quite nicely. Currently, I'm taking Managing Diversity as a weekend intensive, and The Emerging U.S. Health Care System online. It's a splendid combination of formats and learning!

Well, I better get back to the books, because I want to make sure I get my assignment in before the deadline tomorrow.