The Stress and Reward of Returning to School Essay

An experience in my life that influences my goals to go back to school is when I went to jail for the first time. Going to jail is an experience that changed my life forever, because it made me think of all the wrong things I was doing with my life. When I got out of jail, I attended church for the first time and asked Jesus Christ to come into my life. After asking Jesus to come into my life, I felt a change within myself and realized I can be a good person and that I am forgiven for the bad things I did in the past. Going back to school and taking my future seriously is what I am focused on right now. I want my children to know that I am doing this for them so they can have a secure future as well. I have 3 young children who look up to me and I do not want to let them down.

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

Growing up in an underserved community made me realize the blessing of a quality education and good physicians. Having faced an arduous medical diagnosis has given me the ability to look at things from a special perspective. Rocky beginnings in community college accompanied by time off from school allowed me to work fulltime

“Returning to school after so many years of not attending, to obtain a degree can be a struggle for many people throughout their life, but it also has its benefits, changes, challenges, and goals. Initially, I had planned to go to college right after high school, but due to many family problems I was unable to. It would be another eight years before I would make the decision to enroll in school. My reasons for returning to school are to higher my education, have a better career/ job, and to better my life, as well as the life of my daughter. Returning to school for me, has had its benefits, changes, challenges, and goals. In this paper, I plan to give you a brief

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.

In that time I was working a full and part time job to help my mother out while she was on disability. In those years I had no idea what I wanted to do and lacked the passion that now drives me. I knew I needed college to be successful but I also knew I was the only one bringing income in for my family. My academics took a backseat for extra shifts and taking care of mother when she was ill. As I left my exam, I remembered that mother from the accident and how I couldn’t of taken care of her if I hadn't taken of myself and emotions. I had failed to do that with my own mother and academics when I started college. I still work a full and part time job as an EMT while pursuing my prereqs for PA school but my passion to become a PA has transformed my lackluster grades into making the dean's

I went back to school with the simple goal of getting my degree and moving ahead in my career. School, education and obtaining my degree were always important to me, since my profession requires a bachelor degree to qualify for national certification, it was a better

I am forever grateful for this doctor who truly heard what I was saying and developed an actionable plan for improvement, rather than solely focusing on pain mitigation. Now, I am able to regularly attend school, and I worked hard to earn top marks in my science and mathematics classes. I know that I will need to work harder than ever to succeed moving forward, but I am eager to continue my pursuit of a Bachelor's degree in biology.

I contemplated taking a semester off to have my child and reprioritize my life. However, after speaking my faculty mentor, I received the encouragement I needed to pushed forward and complete my degree. Sadly, I made the ultimate decision to postpone my journey to medical school to care for my family. After graduation, I decided to join the workforce to support my family. As a recent college graduate, I experienced difficulties obtaining employment and this was very discouraging, especially since I was caring for two young individuals. Eventually, I obtained a full-time position at a local community college and have been there for about six years educating minds to achieve their educational

Going into the fall 2014 semester, my family was not in a good place financially, and I was not mentally. Our income had been reduced, meaning I had to step up to help my family. This caused my already weakened mental state to become even more strained and took a toll on me physically. I was not able to concentrate on anything at school, work, and home, it was almost in a blur. When I resigned from the fall 2014 semester, I knew it was something that was needed to make sure I stayed healthy, mentally and physically. Two years went by and I found myself in a better place. Going into the fall 2016 semester, I found the perfect balance between studying, work, and home life. In the end I exceeded all the expectations I had set for myself in every

Another great choice for those returning to school are vocational schools, sometimes referred to as trade schools, which offer training in specific skills. These skills can be added to a degree that has already been obtained or used by themselves. They are often times a good choice for those who do not wish to work an office or wish to further their abilities at a manual labor job. Vocational schools offer training in many different areas such as auto mechanic, or one can be trained in the technical field to become IT support personnel. These schools are not only geared toward those who wish to perfect their talents and find a job they will love, but those students who are gifted in a certain trade and would do better in life if they were able

Three years later I was unsatisfied and after having seen one of my sisters go back to school as an adult, I felt I had the drive and focus to do so too. I still was not certain what I had to offer the world but knew that I wanted to make a difference. I realized that I had been given an opportunity and getting an education was not only going to be an accomplishment for me, but for my family and friends that I had made along the way that were not dealt the same cards as I. I now look at my past experiences as the foundation for the woman I

   Today a college education can overload students with too many stressful situations. Not only does Stress overload today's college students, but it is also the leading cause of personality disorders. In her essay, Cathy Bell explains that major depressive disorder strikes 5-12% of men and 10-20% of women; half of these people will have more than one occurrence and 15% of them will commit suicide ("Depression for the young"). For instance, many depressives are first recognized and treated during their years in college. For a large amount of people, depression exposes itself because of traumatizing experiences, such as leaving home and/or academic stress. For other students alcohol and drugs become a

I began my first semester of school when my daughter was thirteen months old. Up to that point, I was a stay at home mom. I enrolled her into the college’s childcare and would drop her off before class. That was the first time I had ever left her with anyone outside of our family and she was also at the age where toddlers begin their separation anxiety phase. Every morning, I would have to pull her off of my leg and run out the door as she chased after me, completely devastated. Her screams and the look of utter betrayal on her face were the last memories I would have of her before going off to class. This made it extremely hard for me to focus on lectures or recall information and increased my stress levels, especially during exams.

Over the years many studies have been conducted to determine what creates stress and how college students can cope with stress. Stressors in a student’s life can be created through personal, educational and social experiences. A student faces many experiences while transitioning from high school, to college, and into adulthood. These experiences include: living arrangements, personal finances, important career decisions, experiences of failure, interpersonal relationships, and personal finances. These stressors involved with daily hassles can create an unhealthy high pressure environment which makes stress for college students inevitable. During one study, researchers found that physical activity throughout a student’s life can increase one’s stress tolerance and positively cope with stressors (Bland, Melton, Bigham, & Welle, 2012).