Losing Accrediation?

With talk of the president threatening to strip Columbia of its accreditation, it brings me back to when the school I earned my associate's degree from lost its accreditation. As a student who had worked for 5 years to earn a "2 year" degree, it sucks. I had to completely redo the education I already completed because the school was no longer recognized in the academic world, and I still owed my student loans until December of last year (a little over 9 years after the school was closed by the government).

In 2014, I finally earned by associate's degree in business management. This was a big accomplishment. I was not allowed to go to school until 2009 and almost quit several times. I only finished because of Chad's encouragement. Within a few months, I got a certified letter stating that the school had been closed, stripped of their accreditation, and all transcripts were being destroyed because of predatory recruiting practices. This happened to several for-profit schools around the country. There was a link to apply for student loans to be forgiven, but I was denied at that time because I started before 2010. 

In 2015, I started the Pathways program and matriculated into BYU-Idaho in 2016. At this time, they told me my previous education didn't count because of the reason the school was closed. I accepted this and retook all of the general education I had previously completed. The good part was that with more practice, I was better in these subjects. Also, I took it more seriously and retained more information. 

I am now getting close to graduating with my bachelor's degree in marriage and family studies. Counting my year in Pathways it will have taken me about 10 years to get to this point. Once again, I can credit my loving husband for helping me get to this point. I know I did the work, but his encouragement has been a big part of me doing things outside of my comfort zone. However, I can't help but think that it could have taken me a few less years had my credits from the previous school counted towards this degree as well. 

Now back to Columbia. I can't help but to feel bad for the students of this prestigious university. They are paying good money for top notch education that can be voided by the government if this dude gets his way. They won't be able to transfer their credits or apply to grad schools. I don't think any one thinks of how this kind of thing affects the students. 

Internship Coming Together

 I have been working hard at finding an internship so I can graduate in July. I believe I have found one that will be a perfect fit for me. As long as everything continues to go smoothly, I will be doing my internship at Catholic Charities helping people with navigating employment options. I am so excited! 

When I interviewed for this position last week and learned more about the organization, I knew that I wanted to be involved in any way that I can. The supervisor I spoke to is exactly the kind of person I could see looking up to as a mentor. Everything about being there with her felt right. 

The only obstacle I have left is for my application with the school to be approved. I am little worried about that part because I am not sure it is related enough to Marriage and Family Studies. Honestly, if it isn't I would be devastated because I don't have a backup plan, and I really want to do this. 

When the internship is done, I hope I will be able to work for an organization like Catholic Charities. I want to be the kind of person that makes a difference in other people's lives. It has always been my wish and is even more so now that I am so close to the goal of graduation. 

So Close

 I am very close to getting my Bachelor of Science in Marriage and Family Studies. How close? I only have to do the internship. I have been this close for almost a year now, and I have put off the internship because I'm scared to put myself out there and don't know where to start looking for it. Ideally, I would find an internship that I can work in the evenings after I get off work and would be paid as a part time job. Realistically, I know it is unlikely that I would be paid, but I may be able to find something that I could do after work and on Saturdays. I have just let the fear take over and keep me from achieving this dream. (I do this way too much!)

Over the last few days, I have had two calls from the university. The first one was from advising reminding me that I need to do the internship by the middle of April. (I don't know if that is even possible.) She gave me a few options that could extend that deadline, but I would have to take more classes because I have been in school for so long. One of the options was to switch to a professional general degree in which I would have to take a handful of classes, but I would not have to complete an internship (very appealing). After talking over these options with Chad, I decided that changing to the professional general degree from marriage and family studies would be the best option and emailed her back telling her so. Today, the director of the department called me to let me know that if I could get going on an internship, he would do everything he could to help me complete the degree without taking any more classes. He said that this would be the best option because the internship could help me network and possibly lead to a job in a humanitarian field. This was followed up with an email that gives me the email address to reach out to the internship coordinator. 

I think I am ready to do an internship. I am worried about being gone most evenings. I don't want my kids or husband to feel neglected. However, I do like the idea of being able to switch to a career in which I can actually help people. That has been my goal for a long time.

Teacher Appreciation

 

Last night, Noel participated in Teacher Appreciation Night at the church. She was able to nominate and honor any teacher she wanted. She chose her middle school band teacher, Ms. Romero. Noel gave a wonderful tribute, and Ms. Romero told her that this time of year is hard as a teacher. This was the pick-me-up she needed. I’m glad Noel could do that for this amazing teacher. She is truly the kind of teacher that kids deserve. 

My Reading Life

 I have realized that my life has become engulfed in reading. I don’t mind. I read different things for different reasons, and the more I do it, the more I enjoy it. 

I read for spiritual reasons. I have been trying to read from the Book of Mormon for 15 minutes a day for the past few weeks. I’m not perfect at it. There are days when I still forget like when I dive deep into my work first thing in the morning. I like how I feel when I start my day this way though. It gives me a sense of clarity that I don’t get from anywhere else. 

I read for school. I am in my last class, and I have about two chapters a week to read. I fell behind a bit and have been reading a lot this week to try to catch up. It is really good information that I will use to make my final project and hopefully as I navigate my way into this field of work. 

I read to better my financial future. Chad’s brother gave the kids books to try to help them be more successful than their parents. They are all books he has recently read and told Chad they could help as well. I am about halfway through the first one with Noel waiting for me to finish. It has already changed how we invest. I’m hoping to finish it soon, pass it on to my daughter, and start the next book. With only 20 to 25 years before we retire, we know we need to step up our financial game. 

I read for pleasure. When I go to bed at night, I read fiction on my Kindle to calm my brain. I’m currently reading book 5 in the Vampire Knitting Club series. It’s a mindless murder mystery series that has just enough intrigue to keep me reading but not so much that it keeps me up. I read in the Kindle at night because the light isn’t too bright for Chad to fall asleep. I can also open it and read in the middle of the night when the dogs wake me up. 

The best thing that ever happened to my mind was the strikes in Hollywood. There is so little new on tv which gives me the time to sharpen my mind. 

Feel Like Quitting

I have been in school way to long. I have assignments that I have procrastinated for far too long. The original due dates were Saturday, but they were bumped out until today because of the holiday week. I don't like having to work this hard for the class. It is more work than I have done for any other class which I know is kind of the point of school. I know the class that I dropped earlier this semester will be even more work. The thing is I just want to be done with school. I don't want to drop out because I am so close to graduated. At the same time, I just don't want to do this anymore. I know I can accomplish almost anything if I put my nose to the grindstone and just do it. I have been doing this in so many areas of my like that I am exhausted. I just need to tell myself that this time next year I will not have to do this anymore as long as I put my best foot forward and pass my classes. Wish me luck!  

Should I Drop It?

I am in week 4 of 14 for this semester. I have two classes that are very hard (Social Psychology and Teaching Family Life Ed) and one easy 1 credit elective. I have an A in the easy class, a C in the psychology class, and an F in the other one. I can redeem the psychology grade. I missed one assignment a few weeks ago, and I know that the grade will go up the as I turn in more work. I don’t know if I can redeem the other class, though. I need to make a decision if I should drop it and take it next semester which would push back my graduation until July. Honestly, this is what I’m learning towards. There are only two things keeping me from doing it: I can’t drop under 6 credits without having to pay student loans from my first degree, and I don’t want to ouch back my graduation again. I just don’t know if it is worth trying to figure out. 

The Week

This past week has been a bit hectic. I’m not sure I can pin down all of the reasons but I know some of it has been school related. I have three classes this semester. Two are intense. The other is a class I can din in one or two hours. Noel’s school stuff feels intense, too. Taking her to and from school takes a lot out of me. I need to get her and Sean another appointment for their driving tests. I really need them to be able to drive so I can stop being a taxi. I know that things will be difficult for the rest of the school year as she gets closer to completing high school and I get close to finishing my degree. I am starting to see a glimpse of the bigger picture. I am sure this will all be worth the struggles. 

Class Meeting

My new semester started this week. I am taking my last three classes before my internship. That means of course that I am going to have another difficult semester. I will be taking Abnormal Psychology, Teaching Family Life Ed, and a devotional class (a one credit class). 

Last night, I attended a Zoom meeting for the teaching class, and I am both intimidated and excited for this class. I learned about the huge project involved to complete the class and a bit about how it is broken up. I will need to either design a workshop and present it in my community alone or create online learning materials including video presentations with a partner. I am hoping I can find a partner because doing a workshop in front of people I don’t really know sounds like torture to me. I know either one will be a lot of work, and I think I am ready for that. I guess it is a good thing that I was released from my calling so I can concentrate on this better. 

School Transportation

Taking my daughter to and from school can be a nightmare. It isn’t necessarily driving to and from. It is the actual pick up and drop off. It gets so congested that it is frustrating. 

There are over 1000 students. (I’m guessing between 1500 and 2000 kids.) Until today, there was only one door unlocked for students to enter. The busses drop off there, the students park by there, and all parents dropping off kids. Needless to say, this caused a lot of traffic congestion. They announced that they will be opening one more door for students only that will be locked during school hours with the hope that this will reduce traffic throughout the neighborhood. I hope it does. I drop her off during my work break, and it is taking too much time. 

Finals

 I took my final for my advocacy class yesterday, and it sucked. First, I had to watch a really boring movie I had never heard of for two hours and try to not fall asleep. Then, I had to answer a bunch of essay questions about each ewe’s lesson and relate them to the movie. Other than the fact that an abolitionist was an advocate, I could not see how it related to advocating for children and families. All I could think of was that slaves were separated from their families against their will. I was able to identify each level of Bronfenbrenner’s theory, though. I guess that is a win. I honestly prefer essay questions with open book, but it was still hard. It probably would have been so bad though if I didn’t have to watch that boring movie first. 

Speech Done

I had to write and give a speech for my Child and Family Advocacy class. We were told to write a persuasive speech about a social issue affecting children and families along with laws or policies involving that issue. I chose to write about mental illness using my experience with my mom as an example. I talked about the importance of yearly mental health screenings for children and adolescents. I talked about the need to have conversations about it to help people be more willing to seek help.

This was a hard speech to write because I had to make sure I used enough research from reputable research in a way that was easy to understand. Peer review articles can be hard to read though and even harder to incorporate in this type of writing. Once I get going on something like this, it is even harder to narrow down what needs to be included. It was only supposed to be 3 to 5 minutes. I had to cut out two entire paragraphs as well smaller sections here and there. Finding policies and laws in my state was probably the easiest part of the process. 

This was also a hard speech to give. I was able to read the entire speech, but it is hard to talk about certain aspects of growing up without getting emotional. I love my mom, and I know she was a good mom when her mental illness did not get in the way. Her hospitalizations and leaving the family are not topics I enjoy talking about. I almost cried once, but I was able to gain my composure and finish the speech. 

After I performed the speech and my class meeting was over, I read it for my husband. He got emotional hearing details he hadn’t heard before this. 

I am thankful for the opportunity to do this speech. I was able to learn more about myself and my family in he process. If all I learn from this education process is how to process my past and be a better functioning person, it will all be worth it. 

Dropping the Class

I am dropping my social media marketing class. I hate it, and am doing horrible in it. This class is torture for me. I have until June 11 to drop it with a W. It’s better than failing it. I will have to find another elective and won’t get my money back for the class, but that’s fine. I’ll make it work. I just can’t survive this class. 

Class Meeting

As an online student, I know there will be occasional Zoom meetings for one reason or another with classmates. Sometimes it is for group work, sometimes it is for studying for tests, and sometimes it is for intellectual conversation based on the weekly content. I have never been in a group that I blatantly don’t fit in until now. In my Child and Family Advocacy class, I am in a group of extremely right winged gals plus myself and one girl about Eric’s age who sees the possibility of many things being a societal norm. 

One big part of this class is studying both sides of controversial topics. Out of the four weeks we have met so far, there has only been one week in which I completely agreed with the others. This week, I was able to go into the topic with a different point of view. Being a class in which we are pushed out of our bubble and into uncomfortable topics, there is bound to be disagreement. The this is, my ideas were completely dismissed. I didn’t give up just because my opinion was pushed to the side. I actually became more assertive through the hour. I feel that my point of view can teach others something different. I feel like they can learn they don’t have to be as extreme in their political persuasion to love God and fight for truth. Since I know that will probably not happen, I will have to settle for just counting down h til I can be done with this group. 

I just wish that those from the extreme right and extreme left would listen to other points of view. Some of us don’t fit into either category and are treated horribly for having a different opinion. Opinions are not facts!

A Bit Over My Head

Yesterday and today, I dove into my classes. Child and Family Advocacy seems to be what I had thought it would be for the most part. It is a 400 level class with a lot of reading and research. Social Media Marketing does not seem to be the simple elective that I had planned, though. I know very little about marketing, and some of the terms are foreign to me. I am hoping that I will catch on as I go considering it is a entry level class. I don't know what else I would take if I decided to drop it, so I am going to stick it out. Wish me luck!