I Can See the Light: Faint, Tiny, Speck of a Light

Now that I have Reggie, I tend to revert all my thoughts and posts back to him. I want to say I am sorry but I'm not. As I sit here late at night, home alone with Reggie, I am tired. I am tired because I worked all day, came home and played with Reggie until it was time to put him to bed, and since then, I have been doing school. But it is okay that I am tired. It is okay, because the more I study, the sooner I will be done. When I think about finishing school this year, a little bit of stress is lifted off my shoulders. The more I think about finishing, the more I think about my free nights to be care free (not teenager carefree cause that doesn't exist anymore) but carefree in the sense that I can come home, cook dinner (or go buy dinner), play with Reggie, watch a TV show, workout, read a book and know that I do not have to study for a test or worry about a paper. I am ready for that. 

I am currently going to school at Western Governor's University and what a blessing it has been. Each semester is 6 months long and you have to take a minimum of 12CU's (most universities just call them credits). You pay your tuition for the semester and you have the full 6 months to get those 12 CU's done. The most incredible part though is that you can add additional classes to that same semester without paying a penny more. I have not been super successful in this because of all the things that have been going on in my life since I started with Western Governors last fall but since the new year, things are different. A fire started within me that has really got me going. I have one class left to complete my 12CU's for the semester which ends March 31st. Yeah, I should have had it done weeks ago but my first two classes were science and I loathe science. My performance assessment was cake so that was completed within the first two weeks of the semester. The objective assessment was the absolute hardest worst class ever. Every science possible was combined into this one class; earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, geology etc. And yes, you had to know what things belonged with what, what was a joule, etc etc. Annoying to say the least. But I am done with science forever and I am FOREVER grateful. 

Just to sidetrack: a little bit about the performance and objective assessments; Each class is either a performance assessment or objective assessment. If the class is a performance assessment then it includes a project/paper of some sort. Most of them are just papers which could have just one task or five tasks for that class. You have as long as you want to get it done. You then submit those tasks(papers) and if they pass, then you are done with the class. Just like that. But if there is something wrong with the tasks, then the graders send it back and ask you to change what was wrong. You don't have to redo the paper, just change the mistakes. Once you have done so, you submit it again. If there are more errors, it gets sent back and you just keep fixing mistakes and submitting until you pass. There is no failing at WGU. The objective assessments are tests. If a class is an objective assessment class, then you just study your heart out, take the pre-assessment and if you pass, schedule the test. There are no weekly assignments, quizzes, tests…nothing. If you are ready, take the test. If you pass… you are done with the class. 

I have failed over half of my objective assessments but passed them the second time around. You have up to three free tries until you have to start paying. But, you go until you pass. If you keep failing, you get help from course mentors. People are there to help. They want you to gain a knowledge and not base your education off of just assignments, tests, passing and failing. They want you to pass and they want you to understand. 

My next class I have to complete for the end of the semester is an Econ class which is an objective assessment. I took the pre-assessment before starting the class to see what my knowledge was like before diving in head first. Yeah, I definitely need to study. While I have been studying and during slow times at work, I have been working ahead. I have another ECON class that is a performance assessment. I had to have my mentor add that class to my semester because I completed the four tasks which were four papers within three days. Three days! That means for the first time in three semesters, I will be getting more classes done then just the minimum. 

Right now, my brain is hurting from my Quantitative Analysis for Business tasks I am working on. (Sidenote: If anyone is good at probability, business statistics and all the gross stuff, let me know! I could use your help) Which is why I am now sitting here letting my fingers type and mind unwind. When I look up from my computer, I can see the baby monitor and Reggie's cute little face sleeping like an angel. He is my motivation to keep going. He is the reason why I want to finish this year instead of my projected 2016. The amazing part about this whole thing, WGU let's me do that. It is up to me and my dedication and commitment to finish. My brother-in-law worked graveyards, slept three to four hours a day, watched his three kids, detailed cars, and managed to finish I wanna say 92 CU's in one year. If he can do it, so can I! I have about nine classes left and I am starting to see a light. It's not a big light and actually a very tiny one at that, but I can see it. I can see it because my motivation has kicked into high gear. 

What an awesome opportunity we have to get an education to better ourselves, our future, our families etc. I am excited to finish. I am excited to be able to tell Reggie that I stuck with it. That I am the only one in my family that got their degree. I am excited to give all my school time that I spent, directly to my family. I am excited for tomorrow.