AnneOnCollege.net

As time allows and as the muse strikes, my lovely and talented daughter Megan will share her experiences on life as a freshman in college.






Day 1 of college classes:

**worst experience: Standing in the long line waiting to get lunch at Wendy's.

Never eat lunch at lunch time. Everyone still tries to eat every meal possible around the right time so eating right at noon is not the best thing to be doing... but if you're hungry then be prepared to wait forever! No lies here.

**best experience: Playing football in the dark with a bunch of people I had just met the day before.

College isn't just about studying and being cooped up in a dorm room all day. You still need time to play with your friends and just be a kid. So what if you're 18. This doesn't mean that you have to do boring adult stuff yet. So grab a bunch of friends and go play a game outside. It's good for you!


Day 2:

**worst experience: Going to math class and figuring out that your notes that you had just recently printed out for that class were missing the equations needed.

Always make sure that you have all necessary materials before you come to class. This also means making sure all of your notes print out right BEFORE you print them. I learned the hard way and wasted 20 sheets of paper. I’m still not too happy about that.

**best experience: Going out to dinner with friends.

It’s no fun to eat dinner alone so what my friends and I try to do is get together every night and eat dinner together. You need the break from homework and all the college stress so just go out and enjoy yourself. Now this doesn’t mean go out all night and not do your homework. It just simply means take a short break (depending on the work load) and come back to it later. Homework is a must. You can also do what I try to do and finish your homework in between classes so you don’t have to worry about it later.


Day 3:

**worst experience: Not being able to sing Do Re Mi backwards in front of the whole class on the 2nd day.

It happens... you get called on and you can’t perform the task given to you. Thankfully it was only the 2nd day of class and I wasn’t the only one who messed up. I just took it as a learning opportunity. (Now I know I need to work on being able to sing Do Re Mi in descending order)

**best experience: Being able to read and work on homework while sitting outside. (Without being looked at like a freak)

The great thing about college is the fact that the students that attend are paying to learn therefore they want to learn and get their work done. (Well most of them that is)

Today I reflected on my return to college. Actually, I do this a lot lately given my non-job status and accumulation of student loans. I am thankful I do not have to pay the majority of these back until after I graduate. Small consolation given my oldest will be graduating high school this year and starting her college career in the Fall. Sigh.

I am sure there are those of you lucky enough to be off until the middle of January. For those of you, like me, whose break ended yesterday, let us sharpen those pencils, break out those shiny new books, and get to it! Today is the start of my winter semester. Some of you may have fall, spring, and summer semesters only. That is cool. Then today is the start of your spring semester. My classes just keep rolling along one month at a time with short breaks in between.

Only one week left then break is over. I have been making the most of this break by spending quality time with my kids and baking lots of cookies. Sometimes doing both at the same time. I have finally cracked the code of delicious not burnt cookies. Trust me, for years I have struggled with either underdone or burnt on the bottom cookies. This causes me to want to bake bars instead of drop cookies. And you never get as many cookies with bars. Although they are good that way.

It is that time of year again. Those of you in school know exactly what I am talking about. Finals! Some of you may have already finished up your fall semester; congratulations to all of you. Many of you will finish the semester this week; I am among the latter. As the week winds down and the last day of class approaches take a moment to reflect on your courses taken over the past few months. Did anything particularly memorable happen this past fall? It does not matter if it was good or bad or neither. What matters is the experience and what you take from it.

I am finishing up my third statistics class of 2008. What I learned most is I have learned, or rather retained, very little from any of my statistics classes. I have opted to retake one of my tests in addition to my final for this week. And in between baking, dental appointments, and an attempt to re-engage my exercise schedule I have been studying.

Finals always seem harder given they are scheduled right before a break. Winter, spring, or summer, does not matter, we are ready to be done and get started on that all too welcoming break in classes. I get two glorious weeks free of tests and papers, free of thinking, free to spend the days with my children who are growing up way too fast.

Before the true festivities can start I must finish, thus final-ize, my class. I will be prepared. I will do well. I will pass. I will not let the holidays distract me from the task at hand. And my hope is no one else will either. Good luck on your finals and have a wonderfully happy holiday season!

This is something I asked myself on more than one occasion. After high school I enrolled at my local community college. I soon dropped out. After thirteen years of school my heart was not into it. Instead I got my first full time job as a bank teller and started a family, unexpectedly. I was 19.

Two kids later, I decided it was time to return to school. Again I went to my local community college and enrolled; this time I was ready. Deciding I like working with numbers Accounting was a logical choice for me. My mom's heart was set on my obtaining a Bachelor's and possibly becoming a CPA. My heart was set on making it through school and taking it one day at a time. After two and a half years I left school with my Associates and my third child.

Thirteen yeas later, in the summer of 2007, I decided once again it was time to finish what I started all those years ago. I now live in a rural area with the nearest school an hour away. This time going back to school was going to be a different kind of challenge.

The decision to return to school was not made lightly. There were certain criteria to be met: flexible schedule, accreditation (very important), and cost. Traditional college was not going to be an option for me. So I set my sights on online schools. This was not as simple as one might think.

I looked into University of Phoenix first, but never applied. Then Liberty University was mentioned to me. I am not religious but it is nearby, offers online courses, and I know it is a legitimate school. The only drawback was the number of biblical study courses I would have to take. I applied and was accepted. Then someone mentioned Keiser University out of Ft. Lauderdale. I checked them out. They are a brick and mortar school and offer online courses. But there was one twist; you take one course each month instead of multiple courses at the same time for several months at a time. This sounded perfect for me.

I had completed my FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) while deciding on my school. The FAFSA generates a number based on your income. The Financial Aid department uses this number to determine the type(s) of loans you are best suited for and if you qualify for any grants or scholarships. By having this completed I was able to enroll in school and set up my loans within thirty days.

Today I have one year to go until I finish with my Bachelor's in Accounting. This has not been an easy road. Commitment is key, as well as time. If you are not committed to the long term and time is something you are not willing to give up, then this may not be the best thing for you.

If you are ready to take the next step, then remember to do your homework on each school. Make sure your area of study is available and there is staff willing to assist you along the way. Check out my other blog articles for scholarship sites and the link to FAFSA. Good luck!

I notice when searching for online colleges the same ones come up time and time again: Kaplan, University of Phoenix, Everett. I am not saying these are not good schools. I do not know as I have not attended any of them. I change my search to colleges offering online classes and I still get these, but I also get some new yet familiar names as well: Liberty, University of Virginia, University of Maryland. Not once in any of these searches do I come across the college I do attend. That is the one I want to talk about today.

When one thinks of college they think of a two to four course load per semester. This can be a bit daunting for the full time employee, especially if you also have a full time family. I think my family mentioned this college to me as I can not seem to find it in any average search online. See, I am a full time student. I did have a full time job and still have a full time family. Oh, did I mention I am a 4.0 gpa full time student? The college I attend offers a unique way of attending school. One that lets you concentrate fully on the course at hand and not be divided by many classes at one time. I take one class every four weeks. This allows me the time to give my full attention to the particular subject I am taking each month.