BACK TO SCHOOL I GO!

I went back to school today for the first time in 11 years. Some might think I am off to get a Md, or PhD or even a BA but no, I just need to get an AA (which currently stands for Associates of Arts, but by the time I am finished it will probably be Alcoholics Anonymous!) I want my kids to know how important a college education is, but I don't want them to not go because I didn't go, or rather because I did go but dropped my classes many many times because it interfered with my social life so I never actually got a degree.

Last April I prayed to Heavenly Father and basically broke it down like this, if you want me to go to school then I need help, I can't retake the classes I have already taken and I cant have a whole bunch of new ones that are now required, I went to the advisor and it was meant to be, I only needed 4 classes and they were even a tad bit easier than I thought I needed. There were a few hic-ups in the process between registering and actually starting school, but not a big deal.

The day finally came and I got on my new outfit, backpack from way back in the day and my mom came over to watch my boys as I headed off to school, but not before taking my first day of school picture, ha ha!I got to school, circled in the parking lot for a few minutes and watched as some people looked at me, they probably thought I borrowed my mom's SUV to come to school, little did they know I was the mom, ha ha! We had to get in groups and meet each other and introduce each other. In the front of the classroom was all the old people - you know the parents, then scattered throughout the room was the nerds, the cool skater boys, the boy with his laptop who was playing video games on it and some dirty girls, then there was me. My partner who graduated in 2007 (after I had given birth a couple of times) introduced me and told them I had 4 kids, there was a gasp and then heads moving around trying to catch a glimpse of me, then I am sure the skater boys were thinking, "hey old lady, get out of our section and go up with the old parents over there!"

Class proceeded and what I thought was going to be an easy breezy class turns out not so much. I signed up for a lecture and lab in GEOGRAPHY...what does that sound like to you? A class that you will learn about the 7 continents and perhaps where Columbia and Rome are located? Ya, I thought so too. It's not. Its about weather, how rocks were formed, how volcanoes are on certain continents and fault lines and crap like that oh yes and if I hear the word HABOOB one more time in there, yikes! Oh and it gets better. I hate math, can't stand it, can't do it, don't use it (other than the basics) and can't pass it (dropped it 4 times already). Um, I had to use MATH in GEOGRAPHY?!?!?! Does anyone else see a problem with this besides me?

We had to convert meters to centimeters, to feet to inches to Celsius to Fahrenheit, etc. The boys in my group who I totally prejudged as being dumb boys were super smart and sailed right through it and I did what I do best, I just sat there and smiled and copied. My group was the first group done and left early. I went up to the teacher afterwards and asked if she had an extra packet I could take home (we had to turn ours in) so I could practice at home with my husband, she said no. Then I asked if we were going to use this all year and she quickly informed me that yes, we would be using it all year and that's why we are learning it now. So like a butt kisser or nerd or whatever it is she is thinking I am, I stayed after and had to learn it. I still don't understand it but I can only hang out with the teacher for so long. The old man in the classroom with the long fingernails and gray hair who wants to be a musician, told me I could join his group because they move at a much slower pace :/

Oh wait, school gets even better. My family vacation is next week and I need to miss 2 days of school and my class final is on Dec 7th and I need to miss that day as well (no biggie though, I can take the test with her other class the following week) but that is already 3 days missed. She has a rule and if you miss more than 4 days, she fails you. Since when did college classes start caring when you attend or not and keep track of your attendance?! That means I am left with 1 random day to miss between now and Dec 7th. Wow. School blows.

I did just find out that a Dairy Queen opened up across the street from CGCC so I took my defeated self over there for a blizzard while I thought about what to do now...