So it's been 3 months since my last post. No, I have not quit school! I am still enrolled in the University of Phoenix. The reason for my delay in posting, though, is because I've made some changes to my academic journey. No longer am I a Human Services major, but rather, a PSYCHOLOGY major! Yes, I have switched from service to fiddling with people minds! Ooooh!
I guess my reason for the change is because after my first class, I realized that I am more interested in learning about human behavior and their thought processes than I am in giving actual service. While we learned about the many injustices of the world in my human service class, I found myself wondering: WHY do these people do such things? WHY do people engage in slave trading or HOW would one treat post-traumatic stress disorder? I am more of a listener than a doer. Psychology can still be used in the human service field. I can become a counselor or therapist. And I have always been interested in the subject of psychology. I've got the collection of self-help books to prove it. And speaking of which, I also thought that perhaps the reason I want to major in psychology is so I can "psychologize" myself!
Because campus psychology classes aren't available in Hawaii, I had to switch to completely online. I just finished my first online class yesterday (Monday 2/13/12) which started on Jan. 10. I had a long break from my first class so I really had nothing to write about.
My very first online class went well. I actually like it much better because I can control the flow of the class to some extent, like logging in at my convenience. But like a ground class, I still needed to use my time wisely. And I still had a learning team (which UoPx is most known for). That's the only part that truly sucked - my learning team. I had two people in my group who would work on and turn in their portions of the assignment on the day that it's due! And we end up scrambling to put it all together to turn it in! I am just so annoyed with that! I turned in our group paper late because they gave me their sections so late! But oh well, I can only learn from this experience and pray to God that I never have them in my group or class again!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
First Class Review
Three weeks ago, I started this blog with anxiety and excitement. I had planned on posting something each week, eager to share my experience of being a new student once again. However, it did not quite work out that way.
Let me just start with this: I SURVIVED MY VERY FIRST CLASS!!! Yay me! I earned a B+ for my Introduction to Human Services class. I think that's pretty good, don't you think?
Yes, it is. It's a big accomplishment for me. But I kind of suffered along the way to adjusting to this school life. My husband said that I seemed to be handling the stress really well, that he didn't see me getting frustrated and flustered with the work and time spent studying. Well, I am very good at concealing my true feelings. I tend to internalize my stress and I think that's what happened. Because I wasn't voicing my frustrations and concerns, I held them all in. This affected my health instead. I contracted tonsillitis so I had difficulty speaking, my allergies came back full-blown, and although I no longer have tonsillitis, there still feels like a glob of phlegm stuck in my throat that just won't go away. I became so exhausted that I fell asleep a few nights on the living room couch while studying on the computer. And I was just not in the mood to do anything, even play with my four-year-old.
This may not sound like such a big deal, but it was to me because it affected my daily functioning. At one point, I thought I was way in over my head. I thought that it would be a smooth transition. Not as smooth as I hoped.
Fortunately, I survived my first five weeks. Now that I think back on my first reactions to this transition, I realize that I suck at adjusting to new situations! I'm excited before the occurrence. Then when my life engages in the new change, that's when I start to feel uncomfortable and awkward and my insecurities and self-doubts come creeping out. And being the introvert that I am, I don't express my feelings to people because I try to cope with them on my own. I have always known this about myself, but I guess it became even more apparent to me because it affected my health.
I am glad, though, that I went through this. It gave me a better understanding of myself. I know that it won't get any easier, but at least I know how much work, time, effort, and commitment is expected of me. Most importantly, I proved to myself that I CAN do this. I CAN be a school girl once again!
Oh yes, and I seriously think that I could have gotten an A for the class if I had turned in my first assignment correctly! I didn't save it under the right file name and didn't use the correct format! Dang those small mistakes! Oh well, lesson learned! I am just fine with a B+!
Let me just start with this: I SURVIVED MY VERY FIRST CLASS!!! Yay me! I earned a B+ for my Introduction to Human Services class. I think that's pretty good, don't you think?
Yes, it is. It's a big accomplishment for me. But I kind of suffered along the way to adjusting to this school life. My husband said that I seemed to be handling the stress really well, that he didn't see me getting frustrated and flustered with the work and time spent studying. Well, I am very good at concealing my true feelings. I tend to internalize my stress and I think that's what happened. Because I wasn't voicing my frustrations and concerns, I held them all in. This affected my health instead. I contracted tonsillitis so I had difficulty speaking, my allergies came back full-blown, and although I no longer have tonsillitis, there still feels like a glob of phlegm stuck in my throat that just won't go away. I became so exhausted that I fell asleep a few nights on the living room couch while studying on the computer. And I was just not in the mood to do anything, even play with my four-year-old.
This may not sound like such a big deal, but it was to me because it affected my daily functioning. At one point, I thought I was way in over my head. I thought that it would be a smooth transition. Not as smooth as I hoped.
Fortunately, I survived my first five weeks. Now that I think back on my first reactions to this transition, I realize that I suck at adjusting to new situations! I'm excited before the occurrence. Then when my life engages in the new change, that's when I start to feel uncomfortable and awkward and my insecurities and self-doubts come creeping out. And being the introvert that I am, I don't express my feelings to people because I try to cope with them on my own. I have always known this about myself, but I guess it became even more apparent to me because it affected my health.
I am glad, though, that I went through this. It gave me a better understanding of myself. I know that it won't get any easier, but at least I know how much work, time, effort, and commitment is expected of me. Most importantly, I proved to myself that I CAN do this. I CAN be a school girl once again!
Oh yes, and I seriously think that I could have gotten an A for the class if I had turned in my first assignment correctly! I didn't save it under the right file name and didn't use the correct format! Dang those small mistakes! Oh well, lesson learned! I am just fine with a B+!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
I'm a School-Girl Mom
I recently started a new journey in my life.
After almost ten years of being out, I have gone back to school. Hence, the name of this blog. Yes, at thirty-six-years-old as of this writing, I have become a School Girl once again. Only this time, I am a wife and a mother of three. I am only in my second week, and I am already thinking: What the heck have I gotten myself into?
Well, I think it's because I want to finish what I started all those years ago when I was a young fool. I want to finally earn my bachelor's degree. I am in the the Bachelor's of Science Human Services Program at the University of Phoenix Kapolei Learning Center. It's a great school and a wonderful program, but let me tell you this, and current students and alumnae will resound it, that you don't only spend once a week doing school work! Uh-uh! No freakin' way! There's like a hundred pages of readings, PLUS an individual assignment PLUS a Learning Team assignment that are all due in A WEEK!!! So sure, you spend one night a week in class for four hours, but you also spend countless hours during the week reading, preparing, and working on papers or projects. Am I complaining? No, I'd just like to call it venting.
No, really, I'm just venting because it's been so long for me. I am still pretty much getting adjusted to all of this, and so is my family. University of Phoenix is a great school, and I do plan to finish this! No matter how much hair I pull out along the way. Speaking of family, my husband and kids have been the greatest! My hubby is so supportive of all of this as he is willing to care for and entertain our four-year-old daughter. And she is the best because she now understands that "mommy has homework too". And my two tweens are very respectful of my time as well. So I'm not in this alone.
So the purpose of this blog is to record my journey, my journey as a School-Girl Mom. I just know it'll be a wonderful, crazy, stressful, rocky, stressful, intense, but most of all, rewarding one! Hopefully I will follow through with this blog all the way to GRADUATION, which is in about three years! But, hey, who's counting?
After almost ten years of being out, I have gone back to school. Hence, the name of this blog. Yes, at thirty-six-years-old as of this writing, I have become a School Girl once again. Only this time, I am a wife and a mother of three. I am only in my second week, and I am already thinking: What the heck have I gotten myself into?
Well, I think it's because I want to finish what I started all those years ago when I was a young fool. I want to finally earn my bachelor's degree. I am in the the Bachelor's of Science Human Services Program at the University of Phoenix Kapolei Learning Center. It's a great school and a wonderful program, but let me tell you this, and current students and alumnae will resound it, that you don't only spend once a week doing school work! Uh-uh! No freakin' way! There's like a hundred pages of readings, PLUS an individual assignment PLUS a Learning Team assignment that are all due in A WEEK!!! So sure, you spend one night a week in class for four hours, but you also spend countless hours during the week reading, preparing, and working on papers or projects. Am I complaining? No, I'd just like to call it venting.
No, really, I'm just venting because it's been so long for me. I am still pretty much getting adjusted to all of this, and so is my family. University of Phoenix is a great school, and I do plan to finish this! No matter how much hair I pull out along the way. Speaking of family, my husband and kids have been the greatest! My hubby is so supportive of all of this as he is willing to care for and entertain our four-year-old daughter. And she is the best because she now understands that "mommy has homework too". And my two tweens are very respectful of my time as well. So I'm not in this alone.
So the purpose of this blog is to record my journey, my journey as a School-Girl Mom. I just know it'll be a wonderful, crazy, stressful, rocky, stressful, intense, but most of all, rewarding one! Hopefully I will follow through with this blog all the way to GRADUATION, which is in about three years! But, hey, who's counting?
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