Writing papers, taking tests, studying at the library and partying a bit (red solo cup anyone?) are usually what make up the largest portion of a college student's life. That is if they go to college straight out of high school or not too long after that.
In my case more than just a few years went by before heading back to school. At age 18 I was set on a course to be a kindergarten teacher and went straight to the beautiful community college in our town. Then the first setback happened, my parents announced at the Thanksgiving dinner table that our family would be moving in just a month to another state clear in the middle of the U.S. Being the oldest and an adult in age I was the only one given the opportunity to stay. My options were to stay in sunny California without any financial assistance from my family or move to the flat plains of Kansas with my family. So I did what any teen would do and stayed. I slept on a pull out couch for $119 a month for three months and tried to survive on my own. I got a job working retail full time and attempted to make it all work. At then 19 years old I was not prepared to work full-time, go to school full-time and succeed without any family support system nearby. So I dropped out of school after going on academic probation.
A few years went by and I tried again, this time, I was a little older and wiser I knew how to support myself and surely I would be able to conquer work and school and anything else that would be thrown my way. I made it a bit further along and then I got married. Young, working full-time, married, and school. I changed jobs and then realized I should change my major since I was so focused on the world of business and a teaching degree wouldn't be of help. That worked until I started climbing the corporate ladder. So now I was working 60 plus hours a week, trying to maintain a home, and relationship with my husband and go to school. Well, that just seemed to be too much. Then add to it we decided to try to expand our family. So fertility treatments were added in and driving to L.A. three times a week. So, you guessed it I quit school, again.
Here I am now on my third, possibly fourth attempt to complete that degree, the ever dangling carrot in front of me. I'm older, married, have a child, work full time, and volunteer for several organizations and I am still going after that ever elusive degree. The difference now is that my motivation is to be a role model for my daughter and to make an impact in the adoption community that I have found myself in.
Is there a moral to this story? I'm not sure. Of course having gotten my degree right out of high school would have been great, but I would have had to move to Kansas. I would not have had the same experiences that have shaped who I am today. In the end, I am just glad that my quitting has never been the end in my education, I just keep getting back on that horse and I know that I will eventually get that long sought after degree.
