The journey started in Aug 2009...

In going back to the beginning of this process, I'd forgotten that I had started a blog for this particular purpose. It was called Non-Profitation. Kinda snazzy, eh? I started school at the end of August 2009 and went up to Prescott for the 3-day orientation. I wrote about it on my author site:

Orientation: Day One

Orientation Day Three

Smell The Learn

Smell The Learn Part Two

Smell The Learn Part 3 - with a mention of the previous blog that no longer exists.

Dang it! I'm almost wishing I had those posts back. Just to remember what it was like when I first started out and had such a hard time adjusting after not being in school for 17 years!

Fall 2009 was a defining moment for me. In a post on Sept 28, 2009 I'd written:

I’ll be taking 3 classes next semester and I’ve lined up mentors for two of them. Because the third class will be taken online at Rio Solado. A Modern Fiction class. This first semester has been overwhelming for me and I think it’s because I haven’t been in school for a long time. Unlike Stella, I’m trying to find my groove. Not get it back. Because I’m pretty sure I never had one in the first place when it came to the whole school thing.

I’ve had little breakdowns along the way and have had to get pep talks from people. Not to mention a comforting “you-can-do-it-everything’s-going-to-be-all-right” hug from Mr. Maul. There’s required reading for my Math class (yeah, I know that sounds weird), and simultaneously I’m scouring the Net for articles to read for the paper that’s due for my EIS class. To make time for both, I came up with this: two chapters a day for Math, look up articles the rest of the time for EIS. It’s working so far. It was really hard to finish two chapters on Friday, but I rewarded myself by reading a fun book when I was done. And by fun, I mean an adult romance book.

It’s probably going to kill me. By the end of this semester I imagine I’ll have less hair (from all the pulling), possibly even a few gray hairs to pluck, and high blood pressure (from all the overwhelming-ness), but here’s to hoping I’ll have a groove.

And yes, that second semester really did almost kill me. LOL.

Here's the School Daze post that still makes me laugh.

I found some other posts about my EIS course and the Math Explorations class. This one, too.

My grad date has since been pushed back, of course, but by the end the semester, quite the impression had been imbedded:

Math Explorations self-eval:

This course allowed me to readjust my perception on the subject of Math. Based on my responses to the Math Therapy Exercise, my mentor understood my initial opinion on a subject that has always eluded me. I found it interesting that a teacher would want to know when and why a subject became difficult, or how they could make it better.

Through material written by Bill Bryson, and Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, I discovered the inter-related fields of math, cosmology and general scientific knowledge. In completing the Math Exercises, I had to set aside my prejudices regarding word problems and develop reasoning skills. As a result of the material in this course, I was able to create mock-up floor plans for my future business. This gave me an opportunity to visualize what I hope my business will look like and provide an actual blueprint. Overall, this unconventional course deprogrammed my view of this subject and helped me understand that math is not always about numbers.

EIS (Explorations in Interdiscplinary Studies) self-eval:

As someone who has not been to school in 17 years, I am very glad I was required to take this class. As a participant, I learned how to access and successfully navigate research sources, contact the Writing Center for assistance, and interact with my fellow peers. As a result, this crash course in college has allowed me to create a plan that will guide me in my educational future, write a 10-page research paper, and complete a social literacy activity that involved me journaling about my time as a mentor for a nonprofit organization.

This course has helped me ease into and adjust to being in school again. Jill was very patient, supportive, and kind mentor. She's even good with the pep talks when I started to feel a little overwhelmed. With the skills I learned in this course, I feel that I can now move forward and enjoy working towards my goal.

I want to thank Gary Stogsdill and Jill Young (former core faculty) for being such great teachers. I can't wait to honor them in my graduation speech next year.