Saturday, January 24, 2009

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Backto School I go!

I have a kid in college. It’s hard for me to believe that I could possibly be that old.

At the time my daughter was considering her college options, she was discussing it with me, her mom, who had never set foot in a college classroom.

How could I help her make her decisions when I had no experience in making them myself.? How could she rely on me for sage advice if I had no clue of what she was going through and I had never had to navigate those situations. It would be like an inexperienced driver trying to coach another inexperienced driver through the Indianapolis 500.

So, I decided to change that. I enrolled in my local community college.

Now, I can’t say that I have had the same college experience I would have if I were my daughter’s age. I will never fully understand the whole dorm experience - my husband might take offense to me moving out and into such close quarters to other co-eds.

The experience I can say I have had is that I now have an appreciation for the process. I understand the heavy course load, the working through the red tape and paper work of enrollment and the exposure to ideas, mindsets, and philosophies that are different than my own. I understand the challenges, the triumphs, and the growing she will do in the next few years.

I have since earned my A.A. and transferred to a university speech communications program. In a way, her search for answers set me on a course to have my own questions answered.

I am so proud of my daughter, now a sophomore in college. She is facing the challenges of university life with grace, dignity, success……and the occasional call home to mom.

To my beautiful daughter: Thank you for asking the questions that spurred me into action. I love you very much and I know you will be successful on whatever path life brings you!

5 comments:

  1. You sound like me two years ago, when I decided to just take one course and see how I felt.

    I fell in love with it.

    I'm thinking about taking a few more, but really can't afford to right now.

    Great post and congrats on finishing that homework.

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  2. My mom decided to go to college after my freshman year. I think that it inspired her to take the leap.

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  3. Congrats on getting into school. I also am a non-traditional student. I was out for 5 years and just started again last semester. My little boy was my inspiration for going back, although for different reasons than your inspiration from your daughter.

    It really is a completely different ballgame when you are older and going because you want to and not because it's something you're supposed to do. You appreciate it all so much more!

    I will graduate with my BA in December and will savor every minute of the time I have left in school!

    btw, thanks for displaying my EC advert today =)

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  4. That's great! I'm so glad you're able to understand your daughter better - and you're able to learn and grow personally as well!

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  5. Good for you! I, too, love creating new goals and dreams for myself, and then going for it. Keeps us vibrant. Keeps life exciting. BTW--I enjoy your Tweets and your posts.

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