Well, I have never written a “blog” before, so this is a first for me! I am not sure if there is a “right” or “wrong” way, so here I go. I am a little amazed at how much I have learned about myself in the past few weeks. First off, when I tell people I am working part time, sometimes full time and going to school full-time, I have been told “Oh, at least it’s online”. Um, yeah no….your ideas of online schooling being “easier” are wrong! My strength of determination and perseverance is what is getting me through the transition of being back in school. I have gotten better with note taking (highlighters for the win) and I always have my music going! It has helped me stay more focused, especially while doing ALL the reading. Trying to study while your husband and kid are up and about is kind of challenging( ear buds for the win). Come midterm week, we shall see if the changes help during study/prep time.
I completed my associates degree with some online courses but it was mostly in person classes. I do miss the “personal connections” I made in the classroom, but I have appreciated the supportiveness and positivity that have come from my online fellow student peers. It has been a few years since I’ve been in college, so the transition isn’t happening as quickly as I had hoped. Online classes are not easy and I think somewhere in the back of my mind I had hoped it at least wouldn’t be “harder”; but it is. I find time as my biggest “struggle”. I am a mom, wife, student, friend, sibling, employee and the list goes on and I just don’t have any time anymore. I work 6+ hours, come home and take care of needed home stuff, study/do school work until 12/1 am and the cycle continues. I am exhausted daily and a new level of exhaustion is constantly reached. My best friends lost their Mom and Grandma the beginning of my second week of this term and I had to sacrifice school time to help and support them the first few days. I then spent that next week and some of this week, playing catch up. I am by no means on here “complaining”, I am loving that I am back trying to complete my bachelors. I just wish I could add a few more hours into the day. It’s easy for people to say, well just try to have more “you time/family time” but that’s extremely hard to do without playing catch-up. I am thankful for the supporters I have in my life, I am not sure if I could add “student” to my full plate without them. I can’t imagine being a full time online student without a great support team. I hope all those who are reading have the support they need and if not “Keep doing it, you can do this!!”
I am not a writer and haven’t been the greatest at writing papers, but I will admit that it has been neat and somewhat therapeutic blogging. I have actually enjoyed the time I have spent writing this out. 🙂 Hope I have done this right! Have a good night and weekend everyone!
Kara Culpovic
I know how you feel…I get that a lot too. People are always talking about how because I am doing my degree online that somehow that makes it a lot easier. That is far from the truth…especially with a family and a full time job.
It does get a little frustrating, huh? I usually give them a smile, and say it’s a lot harder that when I attended college in person. Not sure if they believe, but I guess it doesn’t matter. Thanks for your post!
I am so sorry to hear about your freind’s Mom and Grandma. I can truly empathise with your situation in terms of school work family freinds and everything else that goes with it. I agree with you in that all of this combined is truly exhausting, but hang in there and you will be happy you did.
Thank you! Nothing in life is easy and I know when I graduate all this will be worth it! 🙂 Thank you for your response!
I can relate to not having time. One tip I find helpful, I actually schedule time for myself in my calendar or time for projects. I also try not to book up more than 50% of my day, because I’ve found that I have at least 50% in “urgent situations” that I have to deal with. Perhaps you will find that helpful. Good luck this term.
What is funny, is I have scheduled all my assignments and readings daily and haven’t scheduled “me” time. I honestly don’t know if that is possible. What I am trying to see if I can do is make sure I stick to a Monday-Sat school days after work and take “Sunday” off. This will be my first week trying, so I am hoping I can finish all this weeks work today. 🙂 If not, I will try scheduling a little “me” time daily. Thank you! Good luck to you too!