I had a bit of a meltdown on Mother’s Day. And my mom, being the mom she is, took it all in stride. She talked me down from the cliff. On the day where I should have been honoring her, she showed me the utmost support and devotion. (Even as I threw out f-bombs, cried, and freaked out over little things.)
And then I signed up for two more classes.
Basically, my story is that I haven’t taken my language classes yet. When I was an education major, the three years I took Spanish in middle and high school counted as a language credit. But with journalism, and now that I’m going for my B.A. degree (instead of the B.S., as education is), I need to take two college-level language classes. The only way to get out of them is to take an exemption test.
When I signed up for classes in March, I signed up for Spanish I in summer and Spanish II in fall. After seeing what my tuition would cost me for summer, I knew I couldn’t handle paying over $2,000. So I dropped the language class and told myself I would have to teach myself Spanish this summer.
But I freaked out on Sunday. I honestly don’t think it’s possible for me to be fluent in Spanish within a few months where I could pass an exemption test. I don’t even think I was fluent after taking three years of it!
So I signed back up for Spanish for summer. The good news and bad news is that it’s online. Good news because I think it’ll be easier online and bad news because online classes cost about $100 more in tuition. (The in-class version didn’t fit with my schedule.) Yes, it means there will most likely be no awesome vacation for my mom and me this summer. It means my crazy hair change is going to have to wait until late July or August. (And by then, my hair will probably be at my waist. Eek!) But it also means less stress and less worry. I’ve had this weight upon my shoulders about whether or not I’ll be able to graduate in December. And now it’s gone.
In addition, I have to take one exit course. I tried to sign up for an online one in the fall, but it would put me at 19 credit hours which isn’t allowed. So I had to sign up for one in the summer. And I’m not happy about it because it’s a 10-week course. And it’s a night class. And it’s two days a week. Sure, there are worse things in the world. Like job loss. And hunger. And bad haircuts.
I was looking forward to an easy summer. I was looking forward to putting a lot of money towards my credit cards and maybe taking a nice vacation. I was looking forward to sleeping in on Saturdays and spending my weekends doing “me” things. And now my summer will be consumed by school.
I’m holding tight to my December 11th graduation date. I’m going to make it to that date. It’s going to be a struggle. I’m going to fight it. And I might even whine more, just as I did in this post. Just stick with me.
As much as taking the classes over the summer will suck, being on track will feel good. Good luck in the classes and remember to enjoy yourself along the way!
Hi Stephany! Thanks for taking time to comment on my blog.
I have to agree with Holly on this one, it'll totally suck to take a class over summer, but at least you'll be one more step closer to your goal. But do something fun for yourself too. It'll give you some extra boost to carry on. Good luck!
I know the feeling when I was nearing my own graduation. But trust me, you'll feel that everything was worth it in the end. 🙂
Just keep smiling and know that God is with you through it all!
God bless!
I think you've made the right choice though: it's rarely easy to sacrifice the short term for the long term, as much as we would like to hope it would be. But unfortunately as we go through life we find ourselves doing it on an increasing basis. It'll all feel worthwhile when you end up writing for the Post or something 😀
I agree – remember that God is with you through all of this and everything pans out according to His plan for you 🙂 BEST of luck!! I've always wanted to be able to speak Spanish! I'm totally intrigued by your hair change (can I have your waist length hair? Pretty please??) 🙂
I can commiserate. I have a BA and ended up taking French, which I dreaded at the time. It turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened though. My french professor became one of my most trusted my mentors. As much as it seemingly sucks right now, maybe there is some unknown reason for it. And hold tight to that December graduation date. It will be here before you know it. (And we all have melt down days, I literally just went through it earlier this week.)
I think you made the right decision and in the long run you'll be happy to did.
And I LOVE online courses. Love love love.
Steph, Reading this I love you just a little but more, because I had a melt down with my Mom too…. on the day that I should of been honoring her. I guess that makes us epic daughters right? They did their job on their day. Lets check in with eachother next year?
You poor thing! Sometimes I think higher education is more pain than benefit. But just remember, it will all be worth it! You'll grow greater and stronger because of these pesky trials 🙂
Love ya,
Abbie
I can understand why you're so upset! It's really hard to sacrifice the only few months of freedom you get during the year- you need that to re-compose for the next semesters ahead. But you're so close to graduating, you can do it! By the way, kudos on the journalism major… I've wanted to be in that program for years now!
You deserve to whine! Good luck with the class!
Ugh, doesn't it just make you crazy that classes cost so much? I really dislike paying for things that don't make me happy- even if it's paying my mortgage or for food, my house and food make me happy. Frankly, classes do not make them that happy haha. I know they make me smarter but it almost feels like another job that I am paying for.
Anyway, I'm glad you signed up for the class. Sometimes its worth it for less stress!
Whine all you need–seriously. It can be cathartic.
I'm glad everything is on track (even if uncomfortably) for you. The end will feel so much better.
This brings me back to when I was struggling with my Italian classes to graduate. I hadn't taken Italian in awhile, and forgotten most of it…on top of that my last semester I became pretty sick with bronchitis, then had a case of vertigo. I was about to drop my Italian class and defer my graduation for a later date…but I stuck it out. My teacher noticed my determination and passed me. I got a C+. I was never so happy to get a C in my life. haha. And I graduated on time.
Stick it out!!! You'll be glad you didn't drag it out further in the end 🙂
It stinks to give up an easy summer, but it will definitely be worth it in the end to stay on track. Of course, a meltdown is totally acceptable, as is plenty of whining – I wouldn't have made it through college without breaking down a few times.