A New Start

Mr and I took some time off school, recently, due to a variety of reasons. We recently sat down to talk about heading back for the fall semester, but started running into all kinds of issues. Apparently, I had been sent too much grant money last fall, and they waited until now to let me know I have to pay that before I can get any financial aid. Then, I have to jump through a bunch of other hoops. On top of that, the availability for evening classes seems to have diminished. Most of the classes I need are either available only during the day, or online. I’ve tried the online classes before, and I simply don’t do well. I learn much better from sitting in lecture, taking notes, and skimming the important parts of the book instead of being told to read 120 pages each week and then do an assignment. The Mr himself was running into similar Financial aid issues.  He decided to start looking around at the various options available, and decided on this private Christian university. Our family isn’t really religious, and we’re certainly not Christians in the areas where we might be considered religious, but this university has an outstanding reputation.

Years ago, when I was a junior in high school, my Anatomy and Physiology class took a field trip to this university. I was so wonderfully impressed and very desperately wanted to attend. At the time, freshmen were required to live on campus, and attend weekly church services, two things I really didn’t want to do. Add that to the fact that it was a private university (meaning higher tuition costs), and I chose to look elsewhere.

After finding out more information regarding this Uni, Mr decided it was the place for him. I hadn’t quite made up my mind, until I actually heard a bit about their nursing program. The things I learned, combined with what I already knew, solidified it for me, and on Monday, 7/8, I applied.

At this point, Mr and I are scurrying to get all our appropriate paperwork together in time. We’re both hoping to start this fall, and can, if everything gets done on time. One of the best parts is, because this is a private and competitive Uni, I don’t have a 3-4 year wait, like I do with the community colleges. If my scores are high enough, and I start my classes this fall, I could start the nursing program in fall, 2014, and could be done as early as fall 2015, if I chose the accelerated program. I’d really like to go that route, if we can make it work with the kids. If it doesn’t, then I’ll be done spring 2016. Either way, my dream is within my reach. With the community colleges, I didn’t have a definitive graduation date, so this is definitely a big plus.

Now, it’s just a game of paperwork, waiting for everything to be processed and passed on to the next stage.