my attempt at being a model 26-year-old fulltime college freshman while still working fulltime in "the real world"

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Class is cancelled. Boo-hoo.

Tonight is supposed to be my second English Comp II class... but since it is snowing, it has been cancelled.

:-( :-( :-(

On a lighter note, last night was my first "Introduction to Theatre" class, and I absolutely loved it. I'm loving college!

I just feel kind of gipped so far, class-wise. First, there was no class on Monday because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Second, my Intro to Theatre class had a substitute teacher on the very first day. And now a snow day?!

I just want to learn, people. That is all.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

I love American Government!!!


Seriously. I'm so happy with my Tuesday night class!

First of all, the age range of the students really put my mind at ease. There were students from 18 to 50 in there. I was happy to be right there in the middle. :-)
Plus, everyone seemed really eager to learn. There were questions being asked and answered, on the first night of class. It really made me feel comfortable being myself, asking questions myself and smiling throughout the class.

The professor is amazing. I am loving her!

Plus: the class itself is going to be a breeze. The syllabus was given out, and all of the material is things that I really am interested in. I want to learn all about our government, and why we do things the ways that we do.

The teacher says that all of the tests will be right in our text books, so there will be no surprises and if we do the reading, it should be relatively easy to get an A.

And that makes me happy. :-)

Monday, January 17, 2011

My School Supplies

I thought that I would be a total back-to-school dork and let you know exactly what I bought for supplies!

Here's a picture. From left to right, top to bottom:

1) weekly planner. This has enough space to write down all assignments, due dates, everything.

2) hilighters.
3) pens
4) mechanical pencils
5) messenger bag/laptop bag
6) 4 3-ring 1inch binders, one for each class
7) 4 folders, one for each class

Not pictured: paper, dividers

Tomorrow is my first day of on-campus classes! I start with American Government at 5:30, right after work.

At work, I'm not doing my best. Time to get back on the ball there, since I badly need this job if I'm going to keep doing fun things, like paying bills and eating.

no school today!

There are no classes today because of the Martin Luther King Jr. day "holiday". I think that this is crazy, because Dr. King was very into eductation. So into it, that he became a doctor. What better way to celebrate his life than to get to class?!

And of course, I have been frantically searching memphis.edu this morning to double check that there are no classes today, because missing my first "International Relations" class is my worst nightmare. And it does appear to be true. No classes today.

I can't wait until tomorrow, my first "American Government" class! Maybe there will be another non-conventional student or two in there. Maybe not. I don't really care, I just want to learn!!

Friday, January 14, 2011

English Comp II: the first class

First of all, I was so excited all day yesterday that I could barely function at work (or home, for that matter). I had GIANT butterflies in my stomache about this class.

Here's the scoop:

My English class, though a University of Memphis class, is taught off-campus at Cordova High School. Which is way closer to my job than the campus, so I was pretty happy to have one class held there!

The professor... I don't remember her name now, but she was pretty awesome. She is funny, and talks like a teenager.

Which seemed appropriate last night, since... I was basically the only student in there who wasn't a teenager. Seriously, I think that 90% of the class was made up of 2nd semester 18-19-year old freshmen.

The other 10% were me and the 21 year old who sat by me. He said that he was thrilled to see that he wasn't the only non-freshman in the class. I had to break it to him: I am a freshman, just an... uncoventional one! He also told me that I didn't look "that old" when I told him the year of my high school graduation (2003). What a relief to not look "that old".

I told him that I wasn't "that old" and that he'd find that out himself in 5 years. He laughed. But I was serious...

Anyway, the syllabus didn't intimidate me, which is a good thing. The entire class will be leading up to the final project, which is a 10-12 page paper that makes an argument. It's like a debate paper, which I think I will really enjoy writing.

She mentioned that since we only meet weekly that this will be more like a "web-enhanced" class. She says that some assignments will be due before the next class, through email. That we can find our assignments on the web page... I don't have internet access at home, so I began silently screaming when she said this.

Here's more good news: On Monday, the Comcast people are coming over to my apartment to install cable and internet!!! And I get DVR for free for a year, and HBO free for 6 months. I'm pretty stoked about this, since I've lived without cable and internet for years now. YAY!!!

So anyway, to sum up my first day: I feel old and wise. Which is fine with me (for now).

Thursday, January 13, 2011

time?

The thing that I was most worried about turned out to be just fine.

I got to school from work in plenty of time. Of course, Monday will be a lot of people's first day of school, so it's safe to assume that parking will be worse than it was last night. But I'm not worried about it anymore, and it feels great.

I can exhale...

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

photos from the test run!


Mom and me on a cold Memphis night...
I took this picture to see which planner looked best with my face. I went with the beige.



Pens are always fun to shop for!



I consider something from the drama board.




Outside Clements Hall (the political science building)





This is where I'll be taking American Government on Tuesdays!





My first collegiate sip of fountain water.





The other two pictures I used as permanent displays for this blog. The header picture is me on the steps inside of Clements hall, and the picture on the side is me upstairs in the same building.

the run...

Today is the test-run for going to class from work. Going to see exactly how good my chances for getting to class on time are.

I'm really excited to go check out the campus, knowing that next week, I will be a TIGER!!!

Pictures will be taken... something to look forward to!

Monday, January 10, 2011

This is it... (rants, things to do, etc.)


School starts on Thursday. I have English Comp II from 5:30-8:30.

Will the entire class be filled with 18-19 year old who make me feel old and wise?
Will the teacher like me?
What if everyone else has already bought their book/s?
Will I even understand what the teacher tries to teach me?
What if, what if, what if???

I'm kind of nervous about this whole "going back to school" thing, despite how excited I am about it all. It's good butterflies, ya know?

Today was supposed to be the practice run to school after work... but it snowed last night, so I'm rescheduling the run for Wednesday, hoping that things will have cleared up by then. If I miss it, then I guess there won't be a practice run at all. Which would make me WAY MORE NERVOUS than I already am.

This week, the only class that I have is English Comp, and that class is "off-campus". It's actually at a local high school, which I think is closer to my job than the actual campus. So I'm not worried about this week.

Next week is the REAL back-to-school week. Monday is International Relations. Tuesday is American Government. Wednesday is Introduction to Theatre. And Thursday will be my second week of English Comp.

I'm very worried about getting to class on time next Monday-Wednesday. But there isn't anything that I can do about that! I will just have to tell my professors that I work full time through the week and may be late. We shall see...


Things that I really want to get accomplished by next week:


  1. Get entire apartment cleaned from head to toe. This includes picking up, vaccuuming, dusting, bleaching, laundry, etc. (and also includes putting up xmas decorations that are still out.... yes, that includes the blasted tree)

  2. Get the Nordic Track out of the living room and into the guest room/gym. Go get borrowed TV from Mom's house, also to go in guest room/gym.
  3. Donate all clothes that are sitting in guest room/gym to either Goodwill or Disabled Vets

  4. Spend lots of quality time with Mom, and try to help her figure out how she is going to spend her evenings (without me! and without Dad, who is also taking some night classes)

  5. Make that test-run to school from work.

  6. Buy school supplies (everything but my text books, which I will buy after I go to class)

Can I do all of this? Yes I can. Will I? We'll see.

P.S. This is a picture of me with my dog, Diva.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Doing better at work already!


Okay, so I did NOT stick to that immaculate schedule yesterday, but I did do a lot more work than I would have had I not made that list.

Today, I just have a few papers left to file, which makes me so happy. I need to get it done this morning, because it's very possible that around 11 or 12 a brand new stack of papers to file will wind up on my desk. It's always nice to have the old stuff filed before the new stuff arrives.

The back-to-school shopping and test-run have both been rescheduled to Monday after work. I'm pretty stoked about it! I'm looking forward to getting to the campus and walking around, taking pictures for this blog, all with the best mom in the world. :-)

After the run to the school (this is to test how long it will actually take me in Monday traffic to get to class), we are going to go buy me some binders, pens, pencils, hilighters, erasers... oh, folders, paper, notebooks... I'm excited to go "back to school" shopping with my mom.

Even though going back to school is a step to further my adulthood, it's nice to feel like a kid again sometimes.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Improve my Job Performance: Day 1

Today I got some things done at work. Or at least I started several things. Tomorrow, I have a plan in place that should help me to accomplish my tasks:

7:45-8:15- Prepare all paper filing

8:15-10:15- File all paper filing

10:15- take 15 minute break (check my blogs, ww.com, facebook, etc.)

10:30-12:00- Start all computer filing

12:00-1:30- Lunch/post office run

1:30-3:30- Finish all computer filing

3:30-4:00- SHRED!!! (big stack of papers to shred has been piling up all week)

4:00-4:45- miscelaneous office work/relax

If you see me on Facebook, on weightwatchers.com, or blogging at any time other than 10:15 or 4, please kindly tell me to get back to work. Thanks!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The bad thing about having good self-esteem...

...is that when I think that I'm doing badly at something, I probably am.

I can no longer assume that I probably am doing a good job, and that it's just my bad self esteem making me feel inadequate.

Nope, I've actually become a pretty miserable assistant.

It's time to focus, and to improve my job performance before everyone else catches on to me.

First Work-School Victory...


My boss has changed my schedule, effective IMMEDIATELY (bolded in the company-wide email for emphasis) to 7:45-4:45 (formally 8-5).

This is entirely because I finally got up the courage to just ask him if I could change my schedule a bit to help me get to class by 5:30. I still am unsure if 15 extra minutes is enough. I have to get from work to class in 45 minutes, including rush hour traffic and potentially bad parking scenarios...

But it should definately help. Thanks, Boss! Maybe this year I'll get you a present on Boss Day, instead of my usual $0.99 card signed by everyone.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Back to School


After taking a brief hiatus*, I am going back to school.

I hope against hope that I haven't forgotten how to learn. School starts up on the 13th, which is only ten days away now.

I'm starting this blog to chronicle my life as an unconventional college freshman. I'm 26, and have about 20 credit hours to my name, so I am prepared to be about 8 years older than most of my peers.

Also, I will be working full-time while going to school full-time. I have read about adults who have done this. I have never been one, so this should be an interesting ride!

Next up: School supplies shopping! That should be a fun blog entry, be sure to stay tuned.
P.S. I will be changing the big self-photo as soon as I get a good "back to school" shot. Probably some time this week! My mom wants to go with me on a test-drive to school from work. I will bring my camera, and there will be some great grown-up "back to school" shots of me on campus for you to enjoy.

*this is a joke. It has been 5 years since I've tried to be a full time student.