What's Taken So Long?

I have returned to school after 22 years of being a housewife and mother. I don’t know why I didn’t finish my degree when I had originally set out to do it. Now I am in a quandary as to what career I should choose. I know that I can be anything when I grow up but, what a decision to make. I did choose to be a Christian, wife and mother. So now where do I see myself? I had originally wanted to become a nurse or a teacher. I took all those wonderful science classes for nursing but, now I am told I will have to repeat them. Yuck. So, I am deciding on a Nursing career or becoming a Teacher. I am taking an English class now because my counselor recommended getting brushed up on both English and Math. So my math classes will follow in the next few quarters. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to handle more than one class a quarter because of taking care of my family and working part time. I am going to have to take my time as I continue with my classes.

This College Writing class has been a good one for me. I have found that I am not a good writer. It’s hard to understand that I run a successful business and I have parented for all these years and can’t be a good writer. I guess I haven’t had to have anyone critique my mothering skills or how I ran my business. I know what I want to say in my head but, I have a hard time getting it down on paper properly. I enjoyed the topics we had to read and write about. I particularly enjoyed the unit on community. I loved the readings we had and the movie I chose. I now look at all the things I am involved with as a community. This is actually funny to me because I try to figure out what communities are within different communities and who is involved in that particular community. Just a little quirky, I know. With the traditions unit I enjoyed reading our blogs. It was great to see how diverse they all were. The same holiday meal can be celebrated in so many different ways and be called a “tradition”. The identity unit brought me to an understanding that there is so much more to an individual than meets the eye. It is hard not to prejudge someone and this unit just confirmed this for me.

I guess I really did enjoy the community unit. I have chosen three pieces from this unit. I did my timed writing on “Akeelah and the Bee”; I chose this for my critical thinking piece. My revision piece will be on the paper #2. I’ve also included “The Ending Poem”, by Morales and Levins Morales for my voice and audience piece. My writer’s choice is from my blog about tradition.

The Intermission was a great break. I enjoyed being able to take apart the movies and see what it is actually all about. I saw something new with each time I viewed the movie. I have a teenage son who liked taking apart "The Whale Rider". It was great to see how he saw some of the great symbolism in this movie. I probably watched the movie ten times. "Akeelah and the Bee" was as enjoyable. To see how her community came together and made her feel safe as she learned how to spell and become a success. I also watched this movie at least ten times.

I have enjoyed the convenience of the on-line class. It is great to sit and do your work at anytime of the night or morning. I’ve also enjoyed the fact that I was able to travel while in this class. I have learned about identity, community and traditions and I am able to “read” between the lines on essays, poems and be able to find the true meaning in films.