My view every morning when I get up early and work on college stuff. I don't turn the tv on while I"m working. It's on only because I'm on Spring Break.
What is rough is the time spent on all of it. Hours and hours of time on top of an already decently busy life.
I have to give ALL the credit to Eric for literally taking care of everything from the house to the laundry to the cooking to the kids to me. He is taking this on like a true hero. I try to help out, but I never quite feel like I am doing enough. The extra time spent reading, writing papers, and physical time in class is just a lot for all of us, and there is no way I could do it without help from my family.
It's taken me a few months to figure out, but what seems to be working best for me is getting up at my normal 4 a.m. time and working on the reading and paper writing until 5 a.m. This is taking the place of what used to be my personal pleasure reading time, but I had to make a sacrifice with something. I am pretty worthless in the evenings, so working in the morning is helping me get stuff done.
One of the seven(!) books we are reading for Wednesday night's class. I am internally struggling because we haven't yet read any one book in its entirety! What?! I keep telling myself I am going to go back and finish up these books...because I really like them. These types of books are right in my wheelhouse. I'm just not sure when I'll have the time to do this...this year, anyhow.
The classes are every Wednesday and every other Monday. They are in Visalia from 5:15 to 8:45ish. That is rough for someone who is worthless in the evenings and who goes to bed in the 8 o'clock hour! I'm somehow making it though. Thursday used to be my favorite school day because I like my schedule that day. Now it's my most tired day!
This is the second book we are reading for Monday night's class. I'm working on the paper for this class that is due on Monday.
The program is one year. I'll be done before Christmas next year. I'm not sure what I'll do with the credential after I get it, but it will allow me to have options should I want them.
The toughest part (besides the time spent) was teaching myself how to "write" again. Writing a blog post or a letter or a lesson plan or even an accreditation document is very different than writing papers for school. And I've had to write papers EVERY SINGLE WEEK! I've also had to learn to be less wordy. We generally read 1-2 chapters out of a book and then need to summarize and reflect on the reading in 1-2 pages! One to two pages?! I have so much more to say! It has been a learning process to cut through the junk and get to the point in a concise and clear way.
We are less than a month from finishing our first semester. We take one class in the summer and then finish up with two more classes in the fall. I know I'll look back next year and be proud of doing this. Right now, it's a struggle to keep up with life!
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