I had been feeling super overwhelmed about going back to school. I've never taken a course online, yet I'm registered for 3 next semester. I'm 3 hours away from the school, so anything that requires me to be on campus is a hassle and a burden. I also didn't know what the future held as far as my courses go. I finally emailed my advisor (and she actually answered!) and set up a meeting for Monday. Plus, I really wanted to get a feel for the campus and decide if I felt comfortable there...even if I would never be a traditional student there.
So, Monday morning, Mom and I set off. We left bright and early and arrived on campus an hour before my appointment. We, of course, hit up the bookstore. I needed a tshirt with the school's name on it, right!? After that we set out to find the building with my advisor's office. We found it without a problem.
The school is beautiful. It's about 3 times the size of the college I attended for undergrad, but it didn't feel that way. Some things seemed a bit dated, but it's a public university, it's not like they're rolling in the dough. I felt nervous walking around, but it wasn't overwhelming. It was that normal feeling of being in a new place and not feeling totally comfortable. I felt like one day I could feel comfortable there.
Now, about my meeting. My advisor was kind of intimidating at first. I think she meant to be. She didn't really smile and she got down to business right away. She wanted to know my math background which is nothing since high school. At some point, though, she started to warm up. I don't know if she sized me up and decided she liked what she saw or if she realized that I'm serious about this program...whatever it was, she was smiling by the end. The long and short of the meeting is:
- I'm going to be working my @$$ off.
- I need to study and pass the content test before I can...
- ...take 9 hours of math classes in 5 weeks this summer while living on/near campus.
- If I pass that test and survive those 5 weeks, then I'll be student teaching Spring of 2012.
- That means I'll graduate in May 2012...only 18 months after starting the program.
I still can't get over how quickly I can finish my Master's degree. I thought it would take me at least 2 years. Shows you what I know! I just keep throwing up little prayers that everything works out and the timeline remains the same. I ordered a study guide for the content exam last night and hope to take the test early next month. One thing at a time and I'll make it.
The timing also couldn't be more perfect. I'll get a big chunk of the program out of the way while Brian's gone. Plus, we're kinda banking while he's deployed and I'm living at home, so I should be able to get through without anymore student loan debt. Gotta love that!
So, that's the update, my friends. Not much else going on here except that it was in the mid-80s yesterday. WTF?! It's mid-December!
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