My blog exists to help working parents who have decided to return to school to earn their degree and not lose their sanity.
Working parents have enough to keep them busy. When they added school work to their task lists, they added more work, but the results can really, really, really help them in the long run.
My goals, as discussed in my blog, in no particular order, are as follows:
To help working parents
- Realize that though going to school is an additional task, they can do this.
- Develop the habits that can help them achieve their degree and their other goals.
- Establish a growth mindset that helps them earn their degrees.
- Develop confidence in themselves as they pursue their degrees.
- Establish good study and general academic habits.
- Realize how their behavior impacts their academic career
Why me?
I have two graduate degrees, one of which I earned online. I have a LOT of experience being a student. I am currently an online college instructor who has also taught in the traditional classroom.
I remember struggling with some classes. I have seen my students struggle with a variety of issues. I have learned a few things over the years that I think can help you be successful as you pursue your educational goals.
I have, I guess you could say, seen “both sides of the podium”. Many people who write about being successful in college have never taught a college class. I think that gives me a unique perspective that can be valuable to you.
I am, also, (cough, cough) “old”. Really. I can, therefore, give you thoughts and perspectives from someone who remembers being a student, from someone who teaches, and from someone who has lived a decade or so and acquired a little bit of wisdom about what seems to be important in life.
I am biased, of course, 
but I think I have some thoughts that can help you.
Have you ever lost points on an assignment because you forgot to do something?
My assignment checklist can help you remember the details.
Check it out! It is FREE!!!!
1. Though this is an additional task, you CAN do this.
You have made the decision to return to school and earn a degree. Do any of these seem familiar?
- After high school graduation, you swore you would never set foot in a classroom again.
- You have thought about returning to school, but you have been out of school for so long, you doubt you can get back into “school mode”.
- Maybe you think you can do the “school thing”, but you are concerned that you will be much older than your classmates.
To which I say, “Bah, humbug”.
Let me address the age issue first.
Yes, you may be older than many of your classmates, but after about two or three weeks, that will be irrelevant. At that time, all the students are concerned with passing tests, trying to figure out the assignment as well as figuring out what the instructor wants. If no one understands the assignment, no one is concerned one little bit about whether you are older or younger than anyone else.
If you, by chance, happen to understand what the instructor wants, your classmates will seek you out. Your age will be irrelevant. Your classmates want you to share what you know. That is all that matters.
You, as an older student, have a distinct advantage. You have experience. When the instructor discusses a point, you have a better chance of thinking “Oh, this is similar to …..”. The younger students do not have that thought, as a rule. Think of your children and how little they know about the rest of the world and how the world works. You can use your experience to see connections that your younger classmates do not understand.
Does that make sense?
I can help you get clearer on your skills and change your mindset.
2. Develop confidence in themselves as they pursue their degree
You ARE capable. Never forget that. Think for a moment about the hundreds of thousands of people over the years who have earned a degree. Think of some of the people you know who have earned a degree. I would be willing to bet that you know at least one person who you would never have thought would be able to earn a degree. If that person can do it, why can’t you?
I suspect you will realize that you are at least as capable of many of them; you might even be more capable. You can learn to use your talents and skills to get that degree.
Do you worry about your age? Again, think about this. I would bet you have experienced a lot of things in life. As an 18-year-old, did you expect to deal with crises, work issues, and all sorts of things that you have faced since then? You met those crises and survived; you are made of stern and strong material. You are surviving this thing called life. Why doubt your confidence now?
Yes, yes, I know. School is a different world and you have been out of school for a while. We can work on that together. I know you can do this.
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You can establish the mindset you need to earn your degree
Indeed, if you learn to develop a positive “I can do this” mindset, then you are well on your way to accomplishing any and/or all of your goals. I will be a bit wishy-washy on this because I do not know your goals and if you have really doable goals. Yes, you can accomplish just about anything you set your mind to do, but I also might wish to be twenty years younger, and, folks, that is simply not going to happen, no matter how good my mindset is!
Mindset is important. Your belief in yourself is important. Do not listen to what other people tell you that you can or cannot do. They do not know your strength. Then again, maybe they do not want you to be successful because then you would show them their weaknesses.
Do not worry about that. You just need to keep on moving toward your goals.
Think of your children when they were small. They probably had a lot of confidence to do things that were a bit beyond them. How many times did they prove to you that they could do something you did not think they could? You can do that as well.
4. You can develop the habits that help you achieve your degree and your other goals.
You probably think that you need to have exceptionally great motivation and drive to finish school or any other goal. I will guess that you think about the New Year’s Resolutions that you have made and never finished. That is the past. What is done is done. You cannot change it.
You have a future. I can teach you how to develop little habits, little teeny, tiny habits that will allow you to make big changes in your life over time.
Have you ever lost points on an assignment because you forgot to do something?
My assignment checklist can help you remember the details.
Check it out! It is FREE!!!!
Tiny habits?
I will guess that you think this is useless as a tiny habit does not make a “big deal”. I can understand that thought, but I will, however, ask you how often those big, grandiose habits that you have declared have actually worked? Tiny works. Tiny gets you started on a habit. Once you get started, you can grow and develop the habit.
Think in terms of weight loss. I know this is not a goal for a lot of you, but just consider this for my example.
A goal of losing 50 pounds in three months seems, well, large. That is a lot of weight.
On the other hand, losing a pound in a week seems more doable, right? If you have a birthday celebration, or it just happens to be Thanksgiving week, you can always return to your goal next week. If you were still thinking of losing 50 pounds and that did not work for two or even three weeks, I suspect you would think you could not do it and give up on your goal, right?
Your goal was too big. If you set it tiny, you are much more likely to be successful.
Does this make sense to you?
Making changes by starting tiny habits is actually easier, at least I think so, than you might expect.
B. J. Fogg wrote a book about this concept. If you want to try it, he has a free 5 – day program you can try. You can learn more about it at https://tinyhabits.com/join/
You do not have to get really deep into his work if you do not want to. Let’s work together and see what happens.
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Establish good study habits – yes, you can learn these.
This is the last point and it is last for a reason. Study habits are good to have if you want to earn a college degree or some kind of certificate that is important in your field. Study habits, however, are not the prime issue. A lot of people, you might be one of them, state that “I am not motivated to study”.
If you have been on your feet for 20 hours, you are sick, your children are sick, you are trying to home school and work from home, or something else is totally disrupting your day and that is not typical, not being motivated is understandable. You have a problem, however, if you can NEVER generate the motivation until the assignment is due.
I would argue, and convincingly, I think, that if you think you do your best work under pressure, you are simply procrastinating and have a fixed mindset about your abilities. You will produce better work and develop better study habits when your mindset is positive, and you have an “I can do this” belief.
Conclusion
I know you enrolled in school because you have a dream and a goal. Now that you are in school, you have doubts and wonder why you did this. You CAN do this. You can earn your degree, start a new career, and begin to live the life you would like to live. Have faith in yourself. You can do this. I can help you.
I know that many students struggle with getting all the details in when they start submitting assignments. I have developed an assignment checklist that can help you literally check the boxes to help you cover those details so you do not lose points because you forgot to do something.
I can tell you that, as an instructor, this covers the points *I* look for when I grade an assignment. A lot of my students have lost points unnecessarily because they did not notice the details. You do not need to be one of those students!
Have you ever lost points on an assignment because you forgot to do something?
My assignment checklist can help you remember the details.
Check it out! It is FREE!!!!
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Are you interested in APA or academic writing help? If so, hit reply and let me know what kind of help you need.
If there is something you would like me to discuss, or a question about college or study tips, hit that reply button and ask me. Let me know what information you would like to help you get closer to your academic goal. I may not know the answer, but I just might have the information you want and need.
Remember that you are supported, and you can do this!
Until next week,
Valerie
Providing information and tools to help harried adult college students earn their degrees without losing their sanity.
Updated 3 August 2023