My journey at Granite State

Marta SmithMy name is Marta Smith and I am a student at Granite State College. I work at the Fiske Free Library in Claremont, NH. I started working there in spring of 1988. At that time I didn't have any degree at all. My children were young and I had only recently returned to work after taking 10 years off to be a stay at home mom. We had just bought a new home and I needed to go back to work.

After working at the library for a few months my supervisor recommended that I take the Library Techniques classes at College for Lifelong Learning (the former name of Granite State College) It took me a few years working around my full time job and a husband and four sons. Luckily I was able to take some of the classes during my work day.

After I received my Library Techniques Certificate I took a break as the demands of my job and family took over. I did take a few computer classes through the years to improve skills needed for work, but that's all.

Fast forward several years to the day my youngest son graduated high school and I began to realize how much time I now had to concentrate on what I would do with the rest of my life. I began to look at how many classes I needed for my Associates Degree and it wasn't that many, so I went to the local Granite State office and talked to the advisor who helped me figure out where to  begin. It didn't take very long even taking only 1 or 2 classes a semester to reach my goal. But, while I was elated to finally have my degree, I was also sad at the idea of leaving the college, once again my advisor was very helpful in urging me to go for my Bachelors. The advisor even helped me create a self design that would give me a degree in the field of my choice-Literature and Creative Writing.
 
I am now only one semester away from my Bachelor's Degree and I am still not sure I am ready to leave. I think I may have to rethink graduating and go for another degree. I don't plan on leaving my job, which I love, so I don't have time to pursue my Master's, and I don't want to change schools. Granite State fits my needs so well. I can take all of my classes at night, on the weekend or even online; and the atmosphere at Granite State College is amazing, the professors are supportive and helpful and the students I have met have become good friends. All of them have such unique stories and backgrounds, and the age range makes for a great blend of perspectives in class.
I can't say  enough about the positive experiences I have enjoyed at Granite State College over the last 20 plus years-it's been amazing!


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Embrace the fear!

Thursday, July 22, 2010 by Marta Smith
I was 49 went I went back to school. I was excited, but a little apprehensive as well. I wanted to take as many writing courses as possible, and I did. Of course I also chose history, astronomy and art classes. In fact, I took a little bit of everything, except math.

I have to admit that I was a bit math phobic. I didn't have any good memories of math class after about 6th grade. Give me addition, subtraction and multiplication and I'm good to go -- even fractions, no worries --but algebra and geometry, not so good, and considering how long ago I had taken those classes I was terrified about passing the math class I would need to take to get my degree. Needless to say, I put it off as long as I could.

I took the Accuplacer and sailed through the reading comprehension part, but I didn't score high enough on the math portion to go directly into the regular college math class. I wasn't too enthused about taking the remedial math as I called it, but it turned out to be the best thing I ever did. I barely made it through my high school math classes and even repeated algebra to try to improve my grade, without success. However, my Granite State College experience was very different.

The Math teacher I had at Granite State College was wonderful; she didn't treat us like we were dense if we didn't get it right away and she explained everything in an a clear, understandable manner.  Even though many of my classmates were fresh out of high school and I was a late learner, I discovered that I had one skill that would make up for my years away from school -- I still knew my times tables! Who knew that all of that memorization would stick with me for so long and apparently it applies to all the other forms of math.  I not only passed the basic math course, I also went on to the Intro to College Math class and passed it with flying colors. 

My fear of math is not unusual in a student returning to school after years away from formal learning. One thing you should know is that even though you may have been out of school, chances are you have still been learning -- at your job, raising your kids, traveling, whatever your life has been will translate into life skills that will be useful in your return to school. There is even a class you can take to help you determine what life skills you have that may translate into credits. Any fear you have about returning to college life is exactly the same fear we have all had; you are not alone.

One of the amazing things about Granite State College is that they really want you to succeed and they provide you with all of the tools you need to do just that. They have supportive teachers and staff, tutors if you need extra help and even students who will help classmates when needed, if you are serious about putting in the work the support system won't let you down. The staff and advisors at the college will help through the process from financial aid to selecting the classes you need to reminding you when it's time to prepare for graduation.

One of the best things about Granite State College is the variety of offerings. I have enjoyed everything from creative writing to Astronomy to Sustainable Gardening, which was my last science class, and more fun than learning in the classroom from a textbook and I learned so much that I can actually use every year when I have a successful garden.

I once spent an amazing four days on the Isles of Shoals taking a creative writing course with a great group of writers. We all just clicked and ended up sharing stories with each other that we would never have shared under any other circumstances-that group, at that time in that place opened up all of the creative flow and it poured out. Even the reluctant writers produced the most amazing work, much to their surprise. But then, how  could anyone not be moved to write while sitting in a porch rocker on the deck of an old hotel on an island frozen in time? If you ever get the chance to take a class or participate in a retreat on the Isle of Shoals, Star Island -- go for it. You will never forget it, believe me.

Another non-traditional aspect of the Granite State College experience is the availability of online and Hybrid (half online, half face to face) courses which many people choose because it works around their job and family obligations. Just imagine a class that is available at 3 in the am or 11 pm and anytime in between! I personally prefer face to face or hybrid classes because I like the real time interaction and the instant response aspect, but that may just be my age-I'm more used to the traditional classroom. While I see the benefits of online, I hope the traditional classroom never goes away.

The most important thing I have learned since going back to school is that the learning process never ends. Whether a student is 18 or 80 Granite State has much to offer, they really are the perfect place for the lifelong student.


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