I am taking two pre-requisite Education courses for my second Master's degree - a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology. My background is business, though, with a bit of science. More recently, I've been studying yoga and mindfulness, which is probably what triggered this late in life interest in going back to school to be a Counsellor. I'm not in yet... I'm actually an unlikely candidate with my background, but I'm going for it anyway.
This new venture is really baptism by fire. Both of my courses are online (I've never taken an online university course) and cover 12 weeks of material in 6 weeks (Intercession semester). That was probably the first unsmart thing I did.
So I'm trying to navigate through this online platform... oh... I need a student ID. Right. Oh right. I also need text books. OH... and an online profile??
The first 5 days entailed figuring out how to be a student again. I have to print everything to read it. Do 20-something year olds print everything? The library now has everything online. Seriously. You need never know the dewey decimal system! And reserved readings are at your fingertips - with a click of the mouse! No more going to the library five times hoping the last person returned the reserved readings.
Once I figured out how to actually be a student and download and print all the materials, then I had to actually do some work... read 4 chapters, about 7 articles and research papers, and make 5-7 intelligent posts on the discussion boards.... oh... and they had to be cited using 'APA format'. WTF? I haven't used that since 1988. Well, maybe I used it once in my MBA in the late 90s or early 2000s... still it's been over 10 years.... like maybe 15 years at the minimum. Gawd.
I stayed up late Sunday night. It takes me forever to read something. I got through it. Barely.
I'm in week 2. And I just figured out why I'm reading so slowly. I need new glasses. Those multi-focals I have are nothing but a pain in the a*se. When I find that exact point of 'I can see!', in seconds, I've read that sentence and I have to refocus. No wonder it takes me forever to read one article - afterall, I HAVE been reading non-fiction and learning resources my entire adult life. (It has nothing to do with the fact that I'm 47 and my brain just doesn't work the same way it did in my teens.. and 20s... and 30s.......)
It's not all crazy, though. When I was 18, I just wanted to finish and get good grades. Even when I did my Master's degree I just wanted the credential. I did learn stuff. I was interested in some courses. But now..... now I am eating up the material! I don't want to miss anything. I want to be involved with every discussion. I have something to say! But, it's impossible to be involved with all discussions... there just isn't enough time to... work... be a mom... and be a slow reading student doing full-time courses.
I am going to the drugstore over the next few days to check out those $20 reading glasses. Hopefully, it will speed up my reading.
#the47yearoldstudent
This new venture is really baptism by fire. Both of my courses are online (I've never taken an online university course) and cover 12 weeks of material in 6 weeks (Intercession semester). That was probably the first unsmart thing I did.
So I'm trying to navigate through this online platform... oh... I need a student ID. Right. Oh right. I also need text books. OH... and an online profile??
The first 5 days entailed figuring out how to be a student again. I have to print everything to read it. Do 20-something year olds print everything? The library now has everything online. Seriously. You need never know the dewey decimal system! And reserved readings are at your fingertips - with a click of the mouse! No more going to the library five times hoping the last person returned the reserved readings.
Once I figured out how to actually be a student and download and print all the materials, then I had to actually do some work... read 4 chapters, about 7 articles and research papers, and make 5-7 intelligent posts on the discussion boards.... oh... and they had to be cited using 'APA format'. WTF? I haven't used that since 1988. Well, maybe I used it once in my MBA in the late 90s or early 2000s... still it's been over 10 years.... like maybe 15 years at the minimum. Gawd.
I stayed up late Sunday night. It takes me forever to read something. I got through it. Barely.
I'm in week 2. And I just figured out why I'm reading so slowly. I need new glasses. Those multi-focals I have are nothing but a pain in the a*se. When I find that exact point of 'I can see!', in seconds, I've read that sentence and I have to refocus. No wonder it takes me forever to read one article - afterall, I HAVE been reading non-fiction and learning resources my entire adult life. (It has nothing to do with the fact that I'm 47 and my brain just doesn't work the same way it did in my teens.. and 20s... and 30s.......)
It's not all crazy, though. When I was 18, I just wanted to finish and get good grades. Even when I did my Master's degree I just wanted the credential. I did learn stuff. I was interested in some courses. But now..... now I am eating up the material! I don't want to miss anything. I want to be involved with every discussion. I have something to say! But, it's impossible to be involved with all discussions... there just isn't enough time to... work... be a mom... and be a slow reading student doing full-time courses.
I am going to the drugstore over the next few days to check out those $20 reading glasses. Hopefully, it will speed up my reading.
#the47yearoldstudent
love it ! I had to write a lengthy report for work using APA reference style- and I thought from there I would never be brave enough to do more courses at this point - but you are inspiring ! go girl !
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