Think Out Loud #5: My Little College Baby

Hey everyone! I'm now going to join the meme Think Out Loud hosted by Thinks Books. With this meme, you can post anything you want! Get to know other bloggers outside of the bookish realm. :)Click on the link to go to her blog and sign up. :) The posts go up on Thursdays. :D

Not many people know this about me, but I nearly was kicked out of college. I started skipping classes A LOT and ended up failing to complete some courses by not taking a final or not turning in a paper that was required to finish the course. I cringe when I think about the money I wasted having to take some of the same classes over again.

My husband and I met and our mutual friends all became friends my senior year of high school. It was his junior year. We were one colossal happy group, lol. The summer between my sophomore and junior years of college, my husband, Brady, and I began dating. From that moment on, we were inseparable.

In March of my junior year of college, we found out we were going to have a baby. I was working at a clothing store at the time with my husband. He worked full-time while I worked part-time due to going to school full-time. Well, you know, I was supposed to be going full-time, lol. I called off work one day, and they were worried about me because while I may have skipped classes, I never called off work. The manager asked me how I was feeling, and when I told her, she said it sounded like I was pregnant. That was the night I went home, and Brady and I took two pregnancy tests, finding out we were going to be parents.

I was a commuter student, and I'd take plastic bags, crackers and whatever else I thought would help keep the "morning" sickness away. I was so scared I was going to lose my lunch in the middle of class one day! I wasn't showing at all yet, so I always wonder if people wondered why I was munching on saltines and rattling plastic shopping bags in the middle of class. :p I write morning in quotation marks because calling it that is such b.s.! It was more like 24-hour sickness in my case. >.<

Pretty soon I began skipping my classes even more than I already had been. I was tired, sick all the time, and just generally wiped out. The thought of driving 45 minutes to class was not cool, to say the least, lol. I was placed on academic probation and dropped out halfway through spring quarter. I worked until my third trimester. I had my daughter, Janie, on December 12th. By the first week of January, I got a new job working as a receptionist, and they let me read when I wasn't busy. It was awesome!

I was determined to go back to school and finish. I fought all through January and February to be let back into school. Since I was on academic probation before I dropped out, I was told I'd have to see a guidance counselor before they'd let me back in. Even then it wasn't a guarantee. I also worked to get financial aid and any loans I could to pay the rest of my way. I spent everyday on the phone, pleading my case to various people until finally, I was let back in without having to see anyone.

At my new job, I did my homework and studied the five hours I was there everyday. It took me from spring quarter of 2003 to the end of summer quarter of 2005 to finish college, but I did it. Every class I took those two years I passed with flying colors. Straight A's all the way! I went back to college with a vengeance and kicked some major ass. :D

My daughter, my dad, and my husband went to my graduation. My daughter was almost three, and the ceremony was so long that she fell asleep before she could see me walk up and take my diploma, lol. But I had it! So many people, even some of my own family members did not think I could finish college while working and taking care of a baby, but I did it. See, when someone tells me I can't do something, it just makes me all the more determined to do it and shut him or her up, lol! ;)

I am the proud owner of a B.A. in Psychology. I've been a SAHP for the last four years, but I wouldn't have it any other way. A career can wait. Besides, I need to get my Master's degree in Mental Health Counseling before I can get a job that will fulfill me. That and becoming a published author. If I can overcome all the obstacles placed in front of me and graduate college, then I can definitely do anything else I set my mind to do. :D