Plans are always going awry in my world. There are never enough hours in a day, and yet continually I try to convince myself that if I plan it out correctly, I can surely fit everything in. Well, okay not everything, but all the essentials. Plan it out, even in a vague sense, and something will always come up. It’s inevitable. I am a single mother of two beautiful children. You may have seen them in a previous issue of the Activist or you may have even seen them hanging out near the Student Government office. They are great kids, and boy are they troopers! They have made it through a divorce and custody trial that lasted about four years, and through three years of mom being in college full time. Needless to say, they are growing up learning how important education is, how homework comes before play, and how being efficient and setting priorities are how you get to the extra stuff.
My first year back in college, I had this great plan. I would go to class during the school day, have my two-year-old in the day care at the college only when I was in class, be home after school for my nine-year-old, take care of the kids, the house, the yard, dinner, baths, helping with homework and projects, and then, after the kids were snuggly tucked in to bed for the night, I would do my homework. Going back to college would not interfere with my family life in the least. Great idea, but a total fantasy not based in any reality!
The first something that threw a wrench in my plan was Intro to Physics at 7:30 a.m. when public school does not start until 8:30 a.m. Childcare at the elementary school is not even open until 7:00 a.m. and it’s a 30-minute drive to RWC. The RWC daycare should not really open until 8:00 a.m., but if arranged, they do come in early for those poor students who have to be in class at 7:30 a.m.
This was just the beginning. There have been the somethings all along the way that keep things from going as planned, or make things easy in the least. There have been the ex-husband and court battles that have found a way to interfere in every aspect of my life from all the way across the country, and grandparents passing away. There have been snow storms and flooded basements and a skiing accident that required surgery.
There have also been many wonderful somethings along the way. In my first year, I got an award for doing well in the 7:30 a.m. Intro to Physics class and decided I would major in Physics. That was until I took an American Suburbs class and learned that History was also very analytical and not nearly as boring as my high school teachers had made it seem! Now I plan to get my BA in History, but haven’t quite given up on that Physics thing yet. Who knows, I may end up with a Ph.D. in both when I’m done!
Somewhere along the way, with the help of my very dearest friend (who incidentally still hasn’t asked us to leave after four years), I gained some self-confidence that had been drained out of me over my 10 year marriage. I also gained some self-respect. I learned to scuba dive and have become a much better cook!
I have had the honor to serve as President of Student Government and a UC Student Senator for nearly two years now. I have gotten to know and learn from many of our amazing faculty and staff here at RWC and have gotten to study and work with some truly wonderful students along the way.
I took on the additional roles and responsibilities with Student Government, knowing that, in the end, the things that I do to make RWC a better place also make me a better person and a great role model for my kids. My daughter is, for the most part, a straight A student (two B’s in two years just keep her motivated to try harder), and my son is more than ready to take on kindergarten next year. They also have a sense of security and confidence that lets them know we can handle anything, and the realistic knowledge that there will always be something that comes up! In My World, I stopped saying I didn’t have enough time and that things were too hard and I just started doing them because there will always be something that makes life tough, but it is so worth it!