Those of you who know me irl (in real life) may or may not know about my checkered past - my less than auspicious college years and my (gasp!) inability to complete my college degree despite 4 consecutive years of beerdrinking, dancing and staying out much too late with boys. There were a few highs during those years, but there were far more lows. It wasn't lack of ability inhibiting my college success - but rather lack of maturity, focus, commitment and perhaps some good seratonin reuptake inhibitors. When I was going out every night, somehow I missed that fact that others were staying in to occasionally study, read and, oh I don't know, do the assigned work. The bottom line is that I wasn't particularly happy at that time, and I probably would have been much better off in the Peace Corps (seriously) or working in some Appalachian school. I squandered a lot of time, money and opportunity (sorry Mom and Dad), and spent the next 21 years regretting those mistakes.
Now - the rational part of me knows that I would never have met and married John had my life gone a more conventional route - and I am certain that that's the path I was meant to take. But the other part of me -- the now responsible adult version of me -- has regretted profoundly that I didn't finish college. I tried to go back several times - and in fact had a great experience at the College of Charleston right before and after our wedding. I was thrilled to be back in school, my grades were terrific, and I loved the learning. But before I could fill in the missing gaps in my degree plan, we were transferred again. Soon after, we had children and I was caught up in being the mom of one, then two then three children, so I put my plan on the back burner. When Cullen was in preschool and my big two were in elementary school, I was a teacher's aide at their small school. That job was a perfect fit for me - I loved the kids, the atmosphere, the teachers and the enthusiasm - and being on the same schedule as my children. I enjoyed it so much that I planned to go back to school and finish my degree - this time in elementary education rather than advertising.
We moved again - this time to Norfolk, and I entered school as John was beginning his command tour. He went to sea and I went to school. However - Hurricane Isabel, deployment, and the inability to get in-state tuition combined to convince me that the timing wasn't right. Add to that the fact that we were moved again - this time to Maine - a year into his command tour, and the college plan went back to the back burner again.
Last fall, I attended a Spouses To Teachers brief to learn more about this program that is product of the Department of Education and the Department of Defense. It is a subset of the Troops to Teachers program which is an effort to get retiring military members and their spouses into the classroom as teachers. I was so interested that I pulled out all of my transcripts (again) and looked at the colleges in my area to see if I could complete my undergrad degree and filter it through an Elementary Education degree plan so that I could be certified to teach. While colleges in my area provide a wonderful resource, they wouldn't work for me as the likelihood of our moving again in the next year to year and a half is very high. Disappointed, I again shelved the prospect of completing my degree and was resigned to the fact that it might be years before it was a possibility - if ever.
Then in a January Navy Times article discussing the expansion of the Spouses to Teachers program, Western Governors University was mentioned. I'd never heard of WGU and was intrigued by the description of this not-for-profit online university that was created by the governors of nineteen Western states to fill in the gap in the growing segment of distance learning. As I researched the school, its accreditation and its programs, I realized that it was a perfect fit for me. The education program is comprehensive - and when we have to move to our next duty station, it won't matter in terms of my degree plan at all.
Most of my foundation classes from my schools twenty -ahem- plus years ago, transferred in; and it won't be long before I'll be able to start my education curriculum classes. My semester opens tomorrow and I'll begin with an orientation course that will introduce WGU's version of distance learning, explain the resources available, and will prepare me to start the program. At the end of this journey I'll have a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies allowing me to teach at the k-8 grade levels.
I couldn't be more excited, anxious, eager and nervous to start this endeavor. For several months,I debated with myself about whether or not I should start this. After all, if it takes me two years to finish it I'll be 45 years old when I'm done. Then I realized that in two years, I'll be 45 years old regardless.
I expect to have to finetune my time management skills, but I envision that homework time at the kitchen table will expand to include me as well. Life will become a little more of a balancing act than it is already, and I may have to say "no" to things a little more frequently. I expect to become much better acquainted with my crock-pot, and to be a little more empathetic about my children's homework load. I can't wait to get started.
Now - if you'll excuse me; there are some school supplies with my name on them just waiting to be purchased.
Oh - and Mrs. G, I'm so sad that I'm not announcing that we'll be neighbors but perhaps someday I'll be able to teach sweet Miss J!!!
