Going Back to College as a Single Mom Essay

My decision to go back to school in the fall of 2012 was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I’m a stay at home mom of 4 boys with 2 of them being special needs. My oldest was born with a rare genetic condition called hereditary spastic paraplegia and my youngest son was born with a rare condition called Dravet Syndrome that requires 24/7 care. I was at a point in my life where I had lost my identity of who I was and I wanted to be me again. I made that important decision to go back to school for myself with the fear of how I was going to do it, but I knew that it was right. It took me 3 years to complete my AS but with the support of my husband and kids I was able to receive my degree. I worked hard and was able to juggle being

Adult students applying to college is more common than faculty thinks. Colleges are seeing more adults returning to college to complete a degree that they began when they were younger. The adult student is working longer in life and needs to keep up with their competition which is a younger group and better-qualified. The younger employee is technical savvy and has graduated from college with new ideas to share in the workforce. The research that will be included in this paper will focus on the conceptual framework.

Going back to college for the student is a way to earn credentials as well as exploring interests. Learning is an experience that a person can look forward to. Today the economy is competitive, the world is interconnected and it is impacted by global markets. Getting an education is one of the best investments a person can make. The student aspires to making a mark on the world. Getting an education puts people in a better position to being more qualified that only a college degree and program can provide. Finishing a degree demonstrate success. Experience together with education helps demonstrate motivation and the student expects to gain a competitive edge to securing a stable future. The ultimate goal of the student is improve their social

I recently found a list of goals that I had written 20 years ago. Most of the goals were realistic and I was able to achieve them. While I was checking the items off my list that I accomplished, there was one that I have debated about for many years—returning to school to earn a degree. Returning to school has always been achievable; however, as each year of my life sped by and I got older, I always came up with more and more excuses as to why I should not return to school. One day I received a course catalog in the mail showing online classes at the college. I decide that an online class would be the first step to my future. I am so grateful for the first day of that class. All the excuses and delays regarding returning to school

Coming to college as an adult, we have many expectations and preconceptions of what college will or will not be. The expectations we have can influence our college life for the better or the worse. My experience since starting college has been an interesting one. People have misconceptions about college because they do not know what to expect. After doing some research, I have concluded that there are three major factors that are often misunderstood about college life. The first is the financial aspect of college. Second, is the relationship between the professors and students. Third is time management. These three factors play an important role in why people are afraid to go down the path to college.

Returning back to school was a very natural decision for me. It seemed to be the next logical step in my personal and career goals. My ultimate goal is to be happy and healthy and be a good provider and role model. With that set aside for now, my next goal is to be financially stable and able to provide for my family in ways that my family was not able to provide for me. I definitely expect to work for what I want and earn every bit of it. The most recent motivator was that my company was willing to contribute a huge chunk of the yearly tuition, therefore removing some financial burden. This makes me feel like they truly care about my future and they really want to see me succeed.

I am in my mid-thirties and going back to school. I would have to say that my children are the primary reason behind this decision. I am their role model and teacher and I intend to be the best one possible. I want to show my children the endless possibilities of hard honest work. I want to send them to college and live comfortably. Throughout my personal experience, I have learned that anything is possible even while I am balancing a family, multi jobs and school.

I do not believe the universe only knocks once, I believe it starts as a whisper and goes round and round till you get it. It is usually the quiet or the unexpected moments you hear it best, though still sometimes you might need several of those moments and a few reminders after that. It was in my most recent semester at school where I heard how imbalanced I truly was, and if I made it my mission to live my life in balance, to relax more and trust more, I will be more.

This lady always sweating me. “Where is your lanyard”? I quickly pull it out and start jetting for the stairs praying to god i get to put my things in my locker and make it to my seat before the bell. We had to be in our seats or we’ll get a tardy demerit that nobody wants. Demerits added up. If you had 4 demerits, it ended up with you in a 3 hour detention. I walk with a sense of urgency passed all teachers and students since we cannot run in the hallway or that ends in getting a demerit. Only if you get caught. I skip past all students trying to at least put my bag and jacket away. It’s 7:26am and I’m still trying to rush. Just in time I made it to my seat “Ding”. Saved by the bell. I go to school just looking forward to new knowledge, and my boys. The twins are my homies. The call them that cause they so identical you really could not tell them apart at all. Their real names was Demacio and Demario. Demario was the oldest by one whole minute. They were humble kids. They were only sophomores. Today I learnt more on the Trayvon Martin case. Y’all do not know about that unless i’m assuming. My boy was shot and killed because he looked suspicious. That’s very crazy how people think because we’re black that they should be scared. My guy only hand

Going back to college was a huge decision for me. I was nervous about what classes were to come and how hard they may be. I had to decide to take the high road and better my future for my family. Juggling work, school, and being a single mom of a two-year old has been tough, but I have enjoyed learning to reach my ultimate goal of graduation.

After graduating high school, no one prepares you for college. Most kids when they are finished with high school don’t even fantasize about going back to school. I have always wanted to go to college ever since I was a young kid. I also had dreams of myself going to college, but in my dreams, everything was picture perfect. In reality, college has been very challenging for me. No one tells you about the adjustments and complications that you would have to face to become a successful college student.

In my experiences, I have often talked with many people who do not believe they could be successful in returning to school later in life. This is not true and many people are even better learners as they mature. A person in this situation could

Due to the continuing increase of living it’s nearly impossible to be able to live alone. Since the demand of a higher education for better paying jobs is at an all time high trying to juggle a full-time job and returning to college is more than difficult at times. Frank, a full-time employee decided that he’d better himself by returning to college. Never considering that times have changed, he still continued to work and go to school. He stretched himself to the max; he worked late hours and then stayed up doing homework until the early morning only to have to get up and return to class to repeat the long days over. Several weeks passed, he realized that he was never going to be able to get ahead to matter how hard to tried. He was very aware that if he stopped taking classes his chances of being something in the world were even slimmer than if he continued and somehow managed to do both. Frank decided that no matter how tough these next few months were going to be he wasn’t going to let it stop him from meeting his goals.

Moving away from home has been one of the biggest challenges that I have had to face so far in the eighteen years of my life. Moving from my home town to the collge dorm was a difficult transition that was necessary for growing up both mentally and physically as an individual. The little more than five hundred miles that separates me from my friends and family has allowed me to become the person I am today, and the distance allows me to grow and become more familiar with things that are a whole new experience for me. One of the many new things that I have had to deal with was making new friends in my environment.

Within the growing number of women in higher education, there is a growing population of students who are also mothers. Mothers attempting to obtain a degree contend with home and family demands that affect their degree completion rates (Carney-Crompton & Tan, 2002; Home, 1998). These postsecondary education students, unlike their traditional peers, are not developing into adult identities that are supported by a traditional college setting (Arnett, Ramos & Jensen, 2001; Arnett, 2000) but instead already have an adult identity as a mother (Wilsey, 2013) with a different set of needs and because of the familial responsibility motherhood brings with it these women are no longer “traditional” students (Cross, 1981; Bean & Metzer, 1985, 1987;