So I got thinking, the school mascot for Weber State University is a wildcat. How often in a woman's life does one get to go from being a Cougar to a Wildcat! The transformation usually goes the other way around!
This week shall be quite formative, Monday transcripts situated which will allow me to complete the rest of the tasks I have in line, Thursday is orientation, I suspect I require much orienting, but I'm so looking forward to it.
Today I took my Accuplacer test. I did about as I expected, better than I expected on the English portion, I placed into the highest English class allowed. The math portion wasn't quite as bad as I thought, but I will have to take probably 2-3 developmental math classes, starting with Pre-Algebra. My 13 yr old daughter is taking Pre-Algebra, so yay I'll have someone to help me with my homework! I am hoping with a bit more life experience gained wisdom I'll accept instruction on algebra this time around. Last time around I knew I was going into beauty school, and could not think of any practical reason for me to need to know it, it seemed arbitrary. And really for the past 23 years since I've been out of school I was correct in that assessment, so I got quite a lot of mileage out of that justification. Even still I don't necessarily see it's relevance in the field I've chosen. However it has now become this dragon to slay. A mental barrier I erected at a young age, that said outwardly "I don't need this, so screw it!" but really meant "I don't think I'm smart enough to learn this." So now I must slay this algebra dragon for my own self esteem if for nothing else. It probably would have been wiser to do it earlier so I could have helped my children with their Algebra homework rather than to tell them, in the words of my parents, "Sorry kid, you're on your own, this is beyond me" But, perhaps I'll be able to inspire them to tackle it while they are young and bright so they will pass it along to theirs.
Interesting thing about going back to school at 40, I'll be attending with my eldest daughter, and taking similar english classes, although I'll be about two semesters behind her, and I'm taking the same math classes as my youngest, I'll be about 1 semester behind her. It's a little sad that I'll be having to "catch up" to my kids, but I'm hoping this will be helpful to keep them motivated to continue college. I was the second woman on my mom's side of the family to complete high school. When Paisley and I graduate we'll be the first women in our family to complete college. I will have graduated or be close to graduation by the time Diana graduates high school, and I'll be able to offer support to her for her college career she otherwise would not have had. I feel guilty I did not do that for Paisley, but perhaps her path was to learn it on her own in order to gain empowerment, and maybe I needed her to guide me through the process, so I could guide Diana.
Over all I'm very excited to be taking this step for the next few years of my life, at most points in my life 5-6 years of school seemed an eternity, but as I get older those years fly by fast, and with a new positive outlook of this being a grand adventure, and gaining as much from the experience as I can, I think I will look back on this time with pride. Hell I am feeling pride in the fact that I've even begun the process! From damned near bedridden with illness a few years back to taking on this monumental task is a huge step.
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