Day 6...

I learned a bit about myself.  In one class we took the Colors personality test.  It was a simplified, watered down version, but it did the job of showing college kids why people work or don't work together very well.


I took this test about 5 years ago and the outcome was a bit different this time.  When tested last time, I was in a job that I hated, working with people that I didn't respect, and I wasn't expanding my mind at all.  I was almost exactly half Orange and half Blue. Thursday, my personality was more Blue than anything else, with equal parts Orange & Green as a close second. Gold was a very distant third. 

This was proof to me that when you are living the life YOU choose- you are happier, more content and at peace.  Exactly what the Blue personality really values. Although, I have added stress to my life since then (school, blogging, photos) I am living a much more harmonious life, because I am more in line with my core principals.  I am still partly that out-going, balls-out, late as hell Orange, and I have turned a bit more curious, inquisitive, and intellectual which explains my new Greenness.  Really, a pretty good blend of things.

I know that a balance of the 4 colors is what you are shooting, but I don't see a lot more Gold in my near future. My experiences with Gold personalities is that they take life, and the JOBS that come with life, a bit too seriously for me.  I suppose a bit more structure would be fine, but I think I am always going to be a person that leaves her dirty house to hang out with her friends, or plays with her kids on the beach without a thought of the sand or pond water that will be on my floor later.  Made beds and empty laundry rooms will never be more important to me than sleeping in and grass-stained blue jeans.

Maybe in 5 years all of this will change, but for now I am a creative, unworried wonderer with no apologies for my lack of organization or efficiency.

Fair warning... if lateness is a problem for you, you should probably not wear your watch when I am around.

Day 5...

gave me the opportunity to share one of my Personal Theories with a bunch of college kids.  This was not a hard assignment for me for a couple of reasons.
1) I am full of theories.
2) I enjoy writing about my crazy ideas.
3) I am over a decade older than all of the people in my class...what are they going to do...disagree with me? Seriously!?!

So I type my Personal Theory paper without much trouble, printed it off, stuck it in my folder and I am ready to go.  As I walk into class and notice the "kids" papers, I panic!  It has been soooo effing long since I have written a paper that I forgot what a paper, that I am supposed to hand in for a grade, should look like.  Really, I didn't even have my name typed on the paper.  It was in "blog" format...short little paragraphs, single spaced.  Jesus BlogWriting Christ, I am an idiot!

I carefully and legibly write my name on the top of my paper along with the class name and the title of my paper...Yeah...I forgot the title.  Apparently, if I don't have a box at the top of the screen that says "Title:", I forget that I need one.

My professor enjoyed my paper a lot (although, he hadn't seen it), but I'm not so sure the "kids" felt the same way.  You'll know why after reading my Personal Theory.  Enjoy!

My Advice to Future Parents    

I have a personal theory about parenting.  I believe that if parents baby, dumb things down or rescue their children, they are doing them, and anyone that has to deal with them, a huge disservice.

One of the worst things parents can do to their children is to never let them struggle. Of course, I am not talking about abandoning your baby or traumatizing your toddler.  I am referring to age appropriate expectations given with a loving, kind and positive approach.

In my experience, children learn much like adults do.  By making mistakes.  At all ages children, should be given opportunities to try new and challenging tasks.  At the same time, they should also be given the chance to crash a bit.  Minor accomplishments such as sleeping alone or using a spoon can be the beginning of a lifelong ability to figure things out.  So what if the baby cries for a few minutes or more peas end up on the floor than in their mouth?

Allowing your baby these tiny setbacks will most likely result in a confident and self-reliant child.  A child with the ability to accept failure a time or two without damaging his poor, over-coddled psyche.  A child that will be able to lose a race, blow their own nose, and not start whining the second things aren’t going their way.  A child that people enjoy being around and interacting with.

I think that a parent’s job is to raise their offspring to be kind, empathic adults that are able to thrive in our fickle world.  Most normal adults have had all the minor (and some major) mishaps that you could have in the first couple decades of life.  No, parent should allow their child to reach the age of 18 without hearing things like..."Ouch! That looked like it hurt!, Maybe you should’ve studied!, Are you hungry? I noticed you forgot your lunch box on the counter today., or I don’t care if you don’t like it...just DO IT!"

Parents who coddle and hover over their children would rather raise smiling, carefree grown-ups as opposed to self-assured, well equipped young adults.  These parents have taken the easy way out and sadly, their children are going to pay for it.  It sucks to be the parent that watches your child fall of her bike again & again or that makes her son put his own clothes away.

Instead of standing over them, I’d rather stand behind them during the hard times. I want to be able to encourage and guide them as they come across tough situations. I also want to be the person to praise them when they’ve used their resources to conquer these battles, or to encourage and guide again if the first attempt didn’t pan out the way it should have.

Phrases like “failure is not an option” should be left to scientists at NASA or brain surgeons. I believe if parents want their bouncing baby to become a competent child, who will grow to be a tolerable teen before becoming an anchored adult...failure is the ONLY option.

Day 4...

I received the following email from one of my professors on Wednesday.


"Wow!  You're postings are fantastic!  You really do a great job of clearly articulating your arguments, engaging with the texts, and asking provocative questions.  Keep your online discussion at this caliber, and you'll be on your way to a fantastic posting and responses grade!"



Seeing this email was a little strange.  First of all, I was a little freaked out when I saw that I had an email from a professor; then when I realized it was only written to me, I panicked a bit more.

Really, could I  be put on another watch-list?

After reading his feedback, I was relieved, but more than anything happy.  It was great to know that my instincts were right.  The writings I've been doing were completely and totally on my own.

In the past, when I prepared a letter, resume, speech, presentation...whatever, I needed constant feedback and approval.  I needed my friends, and co-worker's (queen toady) opinions about whatever I was working on.  Just to make sure that I am on the right track.

Yes, I am happy to see that the professor appreciates my writings.   More than that though, I am thrilled to hear, from someone other than my friends or co-workers, that my instincts are right.  Maybe now Muffy, the queen toady, will get some other work done. ☺☺

Day 3...

made it official, I am, by far, the dorkiest student on campus.  


First of all, I never wear or carry one item that says UGG, North Face, or Hurley.  So unlike most college girls, I will never be trendy enough to wear UGG boots, while sporting a North Face jacket, and carrying a Hurley backpack.  


I, on the other hand wear granny panties, while sporting stretch marks (that come from carrying two fat babies), and carry around half of a college girl worth of extra weight. And yet all of these things are not what makes me the dorkiest student at UWP... 

this does.  Yep, I use a thermos.  I don't really carry it, I keep it in my vehicle so that in between classes I can have a lovely cup of (luke warm) coffee.  I think the part that really dorks it up a notch is,  the fact, that my thermos is not North Face or some other trendy cold weather type brand...it is Goulds Pumps.  

I mean, I am a plumber's wife who went to prom with Mike Gould so I thought it was fitting...but mostly sad.

The  cool thing about being the biggest dork on campus when you are 32 years old is that...you don't give a shit...not even a little.     I wonder if the women that got laid off from Advance Transformer, that went to SWTC when I did, felt this way? Did they not give a single crap about how they looked or what they wore. Were they saddened when they heard stuff like this:

Yesterday, when a girl said that Asian Americans Studies Department should "get the F over" being confused with the Asian Studies Department, because "I mean we don't have American Studies classes." 

I bet they were saddened. I bet these adults heard things that kids said, myself included, and thought "WOW, you just wait until you spend like 5 minutes in the real world."

This girl's comments provoked a few thoughts in me...

1. There is a big difference between studying Asia...the largest continent on the planet, and studying American citizens who have Asian descent. 

2. The fact that her high school didn't give her the tools to understand the difference, without the help of an "old lady" sitting next to her in class, is pathetic.

3.  We don't have American Studies?????!?!?  Everything you were ever taught is American Studies, spun just enough that you thought you received an unbiased, accurate account of what really happened in our country.  

4. Life experience has been good for me.  I can totally picture myself saying something that stupid years ago, but then I got a life, and a job and met real people with real problems.....

People that don't consider Uggs, North Face and Hurley important.  People that understand that a college education is important for knowledge, but that life experience is important for wisdom.  

Julie

P.S.  I know that not all college kids think like this person, value things more than people, or weigh 80 pounds.......some of them weigh at least 100. 

Day 2...

was pretty uneventful.  Probably because I'm being watched.  Hello Big Brother ;)

I completed my first assignment in the computer lab, and put it in the d2l dropbox.

I have no idea really what that is, but I am assuming it is the electronic equivalent to the old-school wire basket that sat on the corner of your teacher's desk.  Sadly, this dropbox doesn't allow for my high school  technique of handing in work.

Step 1...erase the name Amy Sonsalla off of "your" Algebra homework.

Step 2...write your name on "your" Algebra homework using your best impression of Amy Sonsalla's penmanship.

Step 3...drop "your" homework into Mr. Acherman's wire basket.

This technique provides a sure fire way to receive consistent A's on homework assignments, as well as, consistent F's on quizzes, tests, final exams, and report cards.

I think that one of my recent blog posts proves that this a really, really well thought out plan.

This weekend will be full of reading--philosophy, ethnic studies, speech, philosophy and did I mention philosophy?  But really what is homework?


Julie

Day 1...

So, age was mentioned during my Fitness Assessment lecture today. We listened to the risk factors of people in different age groups.  First it was the 18-24 year olds, they die most often in automobile accidents.  I could hardly wait to hear what my most likely demise would be - heart attack, cancer, stroke...you know some old person disease.  Well, it turns out that 25-34 year olds are also most likely to die in car crashes.


Which came as quite a relief, as I got ready to drive home after 11 hours of school, with a flat tire and freezing fog to contend with.  Oh, I feel like a kid again....if only I could learn to text, under a desk, without looking for 2 straight hours…click.click.click.click.

I think "texting thumb" may be the reason these younger people die in car accidents so often.  It is hard to keep your hands at 10 and 2 without using your thumbs. 

In another class, we had to give a bit of information about ourselves that would help the professor remember our names.  I said Hi, my name is Julie and I have a mortgage.  Seriously, like I was attending a Homeowners Anonymous meeting.  The professor said "that is a real example of getting older", having a mortgage.  

I am hoping dementia is another true sign of getting older, 'cause that's the excuse I am going to give when my homework isn't done.  


The ride home was a bit more dramatic than I expected.  Jay Z's song New York came on, so I cranked it up. I love this song. (in case you didn't know...this 32 year old, mother of two, philosophy major - has an affection for rap)


As I jammed with this song, I started to cry.  Not just crying, bawling.  I can't pin-point exactly what part of the song made me react in such a way, but I think the "where dreams are made of" & "ain't nothing you can't do"verses hit a nerve. I sobbed the rest of the way home.  


I'm not really sure how to even describe how I am feeling.  I think grateful is one word I could use. Grateful for the lessons I've learned and the life I've lived up to this point.  Some good and bad, some things came easy while others were buried under layers of self-doubt and fear. 


I think excited sums up another feeling.  I'm excited for the future, the learning, the experiences I am going to have on this crazy adventure.  I am excited about the personal growth that this new challenge is going to inspire within me and possibly others.  


I'm also feeling really loved.  Loved by my supportive family, friends and co-workers who are helping me with the day to day challenges of going back to school.  I feel support with every text message and phone call encouraging me.  Your belief in me gives me the confidence and self-assurance that I am indeed doing the right thing.  


I feel content.  I am at peace with the whole old college student thing, because it feels right.  I believe that things will happen when they are supposed to. Although, I think you have to follow the directions you are given along the way.  I've been thinking positive, dreaming big, and believing that the world is conspiring in my favor.  That is why I trust that I will end up right where I am supposed to be.  


For now that is UWP.