I love school!

It's been a long time since I had a first day of school picture. Josh snapped this just before I walked out the door on my first day. I left an hour early. We'd been warned parking spots might be difficult to find and well I take those warnings very seriously. I, however, found a great parking spot right away and had 45 minutes to kill. I called my parents. I might be 32 but it's still nice to get some last minute reassurance from Mom and Dad. Armed with a few more "you can do it's!" I wandered the campus for a bit. First making a beeline for my class, just to make sure I knew where it was and then trying to act casual by wasting the last few minutes in the bookstore. I'm sure I looked like I needed to take a deep breath and relax a bit.

My first classroom was very unintimidating. It's half of a modular building. Tiny, with long narrow tables. It was surprising to me how easy it was to chat with the other students coming in. I thought I might stick out as the "old" person, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. I'm happily in the middle of the age range. There were three grandparents in that first class.

When it was time for the second class it was a pleasant surprise to find out that half a dozen people from my first class were also in my second class. There are lots and lots of people going for nursing right now. But the great thing is me and two other gals have already banded together. Now I can look forward to study sessions and knowing if I miss something I have someone to go to.

I told Josh last night that I felt like an old part of me was coming back. But then I realized that wasn't quite true. It's an entirely new part of me that I've never really experienced before. In three days I've grown in confidence. I've discovered that I can still learn and I really enjoy it. I don't think I ever sat through a class without daydreaming and staring at the clock. Now, I'm interested and excited to learn new things. Last night in my biology class we were learning about chemistry..atoms, nuetrons, protons, electrons, etc. My brain was exploding. I asked a lot of questions. My new friend Lindsay leaned over and said "you ask the best questions." I beamed inside. I love this!

The best part is I get to come home and share it with Josh. He's had three great nights with the boys and I'm so glad they get to have that father/sons time. His support and encouragement is what makes this such a wonderful experience.

I took that list to town!

I crossed them all off, every single thing. I took the test, where, by the way, I wrote a pretty nifty essay on cell phone technology and it's effect on our society. I went to First Step Advising. Then Second Step Advising, where I met a lovely woman from the nursing department. She told me that she doesn't always see the "nurse" in the students she meets, but that she sees it in me. It was a very cool moment that I won't forget. Then I came home and registered for my first two classes. Human Growth and Development and General College Biology Lab I. Then I finished my FAFSA application. Then I took a deep breath, followed by another. I've thought and planned for this for so long and it's finally happening.

Now I just wait it out until August 24th when my first class begins. They are both night classes. Monday and Wednesday nights I'll be in class from 5:30-8:50 and Tuesdays from 7-8:50. Cason will be in school on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30 to 3, so that will be a nice junk of study time each week.

Back to school at 32!

Cross that off the checklist

I just got back from taking my college placement test. I have a mild headache, but came through it okay. Actually I did great. Okay so I bombed the algebra section. Thankfully, algebra doesn't seem to play much of a role on my quest for a nursing degree, so I think I'm okay. Can we all just take a deep breath? There that feels better.

Next up, this afternoon I'll go to the first step in Advising. Then I'll have one on one advising, then I'll register for classes and well it's uphill from here. This test was probably the biggest hurdle for me and now I'm getting excited.

More deep breaths needed!

I'm that much closer to being a college student again. My petition for residency status was approved today. I've been working on that little piece of the puzzle for a while and now that it's worked out, I can move on to the next step. Which is really just a bunch of steps that I need to take at the same time...financial aid, assessment testing, advising, registering...yikes. I still haven't decided how many classes I want to take, but I think it'd be best to start small.