Forty Days Until School Starts, um, FOR ME!

Well, school starts for me in forty days!  Interesting.  I'm forty years old, and in forty days I will be starting school again. :)  Ha!  Things like that always seem to happen when I'm writing this blog!  Did I ever tell you my class schedule?  I don't think so.  I'm taking Computers for Learning, American Democracy and Citizenship, The Language of Music, Introduction to Multicultural Education and Diversity, Introduction to Elementary Education and Clinical/Field Experience (where I will actually go into the classroom twice a week, and I will be in Branson, by the way!) and Development of the Early Childhood and Elementary School Student.  Seventeen hours!  My adviser recommended that I start out with a light load.  Yeah, sometimes I'm not that great at following advice. :) But, on the other hand, if I take 17 hours this semester, and 16 hours each semester after that, I can student teach in just 2 1/2 years, so I think it's worth it.

Going back to school.  It's interesting the comments I get about it.  Let me share a few. 

"Whew!  I'm glad it's you and not me!"
"I sure wouldn't want to have to study again!"
"How long did you say it's going to take again?"
"That sounds like quite a load you're going to be taking."
"You sure are going to get tired of that drive from Branson to Springfield each day!"

And, here's the thing.  I agree with all that!  I'll think, "Do I really want to do this?  Do I really want to go back to school and study and take tests again?  Do I really want to do that?"  Truthfully, it doesn't sound like much fun doing all the WORK of it.  And I'll think, "I could just get a job and actually earn money now that all my kids are in school."  But, the problem is, the job that I want to get requires a teaching degree.  Because, what I really, really want to do is teach.  So....

I'm going to go back to school and study and take tests and write papers.  I'm going to drive an hour or so one way each day Monday through Friday so that I can take 17 hours of classes.  While my five kids are doing their homework, I will be doing mine also.  And, most importantly, I believe it is what the Lord wants me to do, so I know His grace is going to be there each and every step of the way.  I know that I really can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, because I do have the greater One living on the inside of me, and He's helping me.  Every step of the way, He is helping me!  I'm so thankful for that!  I'm so thankful to HIM!

And, one thing that excites me is that I get to learn all of these things now.  I will be an up-to-date teacher, learning all the things that college students right out of high school are learning.  But, I will also have twenty years of life experience on top of that.  I think that actually puts me a step ahead, even if I don't know how to make a power point presentation on the computer, at least not yet. 

And, I'm learning that I don't have to be perfect.  My older son and I have a lot of similarities.  When he was three years old, he could make basket after basket in a full-size basketball goal.  I am not exaggerating.  He seriously would make more baskets than he would miss.  Three years old!  And, we didn't even work with him.  It just came natural.  So, what did Jeremy and I do?  We signed him up to play basketball!  Well, he hated it!  We would get to the game, and he would actually stand in the middle of the court and not move.  It was crazy!  Week after week, the same thing.  He would not play! 

When we asked him why he wouldn't play and shoot the basket, he told us it was because he was nervous he would miss, and he didn't want to let his team down.  Three years old, and that is what he is thinking!  The thing that he couldn't see was that if he didn't try to make a basket, he missed every time.  The whole "You can never make a shot if you never take a shot" thing.  His second grade teacher really nailed it when she told me, "The thing I notice about Daniel is that he never wants to answer a question until he is 100% sure that he is right." 

I can be a lot like that.  When I take a test, for example, I want to get every question on the test correct.  I don't even want to miss one!  Well, let me tell you, I just had to take this huge College Base Test in order to enter the elementary education program at MSU, and I did not get every question correct.  Not even close.  I may not have even passed part of it.  But that's OK, because even if I didn't pass this time, I will pass it.  I'll just have to take it again, and do better. :)

Jeremy likes to watch NBA Basketball, and I may have this wrong, but I think a team called The Heat won the playoffs this year.  I watched with him, but now I can't quite remember all the details (Imagine that!).  Anyway, their coach says something neat sometimes when they lose a game, "Losing is just practicing for winning the next time," or something like that.  I like that, because every time you lose, you know a little better what to do the next time to help you win.  You know how to play just a little better, because you saw what you did wrong the last time.  But, you've got to get out there and play the game.  You can never win a game that you don't play.  And, you can never pass a test that you don't take.

So, these are some of my thoughts forty days before I start college again.  When it all comes down, here's the thing.  I've looked at the cost of going back to college (and when I say cost, I am not talking about financially, though of course, there is that aspect of going back to college as well), and this is what I've decided.  It's worth it.