I just celebrated my 50th birthday and I'm a college student! I am a non-traditional student, and my path to college has been a long and winding road. I graduated high school back in 1992 and tried colleges for a year but I had too many other things going on in my life so it didn't work out. I finally got the courage to go back while I was out of work because of the pandemic. I wasn't sure if I could do it but my kids convinced me to do it. They have been my biggest cheerleaders. My career goal is to work with other adult students who have decided to return to college! My dream is to support students as they continue their educational journey. Thankfully I have two amazing kids who keep me going. My oldest just graduated high school and my youngest just finished elementary school and is off to middle school in the fall. They have been more amazing than I could ever dream. They cheer me on each step of the way! Many adults do not have a support system to encourage them to return to college, I am lucky to have my kids fill this role. As a mom, it is the best feeling to know your kids are proud of you, especially during the pre-teen and teen years because those are so often rough years between parent and child. This has been hard, not only mentally and financially, but also emotionally. Some days I feel like I am slacking as a mom. Being a single parent makes things even tougher. Every day there are reminders that I am doing ok as a mom. When I see the pride in their eyes with each of my accomplishments I know everything is just as it should be. I will graduate from Missouri State University this spring and will continue there in the Student Affairs in Higher Education program. I want to help other adult students navigate the entire journey of returning to school! That might include earning their high school equivalency so that they can enroll in college, how to apply to college, how to navigate college courses, or even supporting the emotions of juggling outside responsibilities while in college. In every class I have taken I have been the oldest student, in many classes I was the only nontraditional student. Most people do not have the slightest idea how to interact with people of other generations as peers. This can be frightening and intimidating. I want to make a difference in the education of other adult students, I want to be one of the reasons they succeed! During my time in college, I have had to overcome many obstacles that caused me to consider dropping out. I returned to college during the pandemic, I faced financial problems, I faced health problems, and my kids and I even spent several months homeless living out of our car. The last one is where I came the closest to giving up. My kids wouldn't let me. We have a roof over our heads, but it's not ideal as it is a shared house with very limited space. This is temporary and things will get better! I can't say for sure what has given me the strength to keep going but I'm so glad I did! I do have to give a large part of the credit to my kids. I hope someday when another adult student is thinking of how they graduated and did not give up my name is included in their list!

I am a non-traditional student, and my path to college has been a long and winding road. I graduated high school back in 1992 and tried colleges for a year but I had too many other things going on in my life so it didn't work out. I finally got the courage to go back while I was out of work because of the pandemic. I wasn't sure if I could do it but my kids convinced me to do it. They have been my biggest cheerleaders. My career goal is to work with other adult students who have made the decision to return to college! My dream is to support students as they continue their educational journey. Thankfully I have two amazing kids who keep me going. My oldest just graduated high school and my youngest just finished elementary school and is off to middle school in the fall. They have been more amazing than I could ever dream. They cheer me on each step of the way! Many adults do not have a support system to encourage them to return to college, I am lucky to have my kids fill this role. As a mom, it is the best feeling to know your kids are proud of you, especially during the pre-teen and teen years because those are so often rough years between parent and child. This has been hard, not only mentally and financially, but also emotionally. Some days I feel like I am slacking as a mom. Being a single parent makes things even tougher. Every day there are reminders that I am doing ok as a mom. When I see the pride in their eyes with each of my accomplishments I know everything is just as it should be. I will graduate from Missouri State University this spring and will continue there in the Student Affairs in Higher Education program. I want to help other adult students navigate the entire journey of returning to school! That might include earning their high school equivalency so that they can enroll in college, how to apply to college, how to navigate college courses, or even supporting the emotions of juggling outside responsibilities while in college. In every class I have taken I have been the oldest student, in many classes I was the only nontraditional student. Most people do not have the slightest idea how to interact with people of other generations as peers. This can be frightening and intimidating. I want to make a difference in the education of other adult students, I want to be one of the reasons they succeed! During my time in college, I have had to overcome many obstacles that caused me to consider dropping out. I returned to college during the pandemic, I faced financial problems, I faced health problems, and my kids and I even spent several months homeless living out of our car. The last one is where I came the closest to giving up. My kids wouldn't let me. We have a roof over our heads, but it's not ideal as it is a shared house with very limited space. This is temporary and things will get better! I can't say for sure what has given me the strength to keep going but I'm so glad I did! I do have to give a large part of the credit to my kids. I hope someday when another adult student is thinking of how they graduated and did not give up that my name is included in their list!

I am a non-traditional student, and my path to college has been a long and winding road. I graduated high school back in 1992 and tried colleges for a year but I had too many other things going on in my life so it didn't work out. I finally got the courage to go back while I was out of work because of the pandemic. I wasn't sure if I could do it but my kids convinced me to do it. They have been my biggest cheerleaders. My career goal is to work with other adult students who have made the decision to return to college! Not necessarily a teacher but my dream is to support teachers and students as they continue their educational journey. Thankfully I have two amazing kids who keep me going. My oldest just graduated high school and my youngest just finished elementary school and is off to middle school in the fall. They have been more amazing than I could ever dream. They understand when I am exhausted from studying. When I am too busy with homework to cook they take care of it. They help me around the house so that I have more time to devote to my classes. They cheer me on each step of the way! Many adults do not have a support system to encourage them to return to college, I am lucky to have my kids fill this role. My kids are the best! When my youngest tells his friends how smart I am or when my oldest asks my advice as she begins to navigate adulthood it fills me with pride. It's the little things they do that keep me going. When I am studying or working on homework my youngest will occasionally ask if I need anything like a drink or a snack because he doesn't want me to have to stop to get it. Or when my oldest knows I'm getting stressed so she offers to drive me to school so she can stop and buy me a coffee on the way. These are just a couple of examples of the little things they do that tell me they are proud of me. As a mom, it is the best feeling to know your kids are proud of you, especially during the pre-teen and teen years because those are so often rough years between parent and child. This has been hard, not only mentally and financially, but also emotionally. Some days I feel like I am slacking as a mom. Being a single parent makes things even tougher. Every day there are reminders that I am doing ok as a mom. When I see the pride in their eyes with each of my accomplishments I know everything is just as it should be. I will graduate from Missouri State University this spring and will continue there in the Student Affairs in Higher Education program. I want to help other adult students navigate the entire journey of returning to school! That might include earning their high school equivalency so that they can enroll in college, how to apply to college, how to navigate college courses, or even supporting the emotions of juggling outside responsibilities while in college. In every class I have taken I have been the oldest student, in many classes I was the only nontraditional student. Most people do not have the slightest idea how to interact with people of other generations as peers. This can be frightening and intimidating. I want to make a difference in the education of other adult students, I want to be one of the reasons they succeed! During my time in college, I have had to overcome many obstacles that caused me to consider dropping out. I returned to college during the pandemic, I faced financial problems, I faced health problems, and my kids and I even spent several months homeless living out of our car. The last one is where I came the closest to giving up. My kids wouldn't let me. My advisor, my department head, and a few of my professors wouldn't let me. We have a roof over our heads, but it's not ideal as it is a shared house with very limited space. This is temporary and things will get better! I can't say for sure what has given me the strength to keep going but I'm so glad I did! I do have to give a large part of the credit to my kids, my advisor, my department head, and a few amazing teachers! I hope someday when another adult student is thinking of how they graduated and did not give up that my name is included in their list!

I am a non-traditional student, and my path to college has been a long and winding road. I graduated high school back in 1992 and tried colleges for a year but I had too many other things going on in my life so it didn't work out. I finally got the courage to go back while I was out of work because of the pandemic. I wasn't sure if I could do it but my kids convinced me to do it. They have been my biggest cheerleaders. When I was 11 months old my parents died in a car accident. I was adopted by my maternal grandparents. Then my freshman year of high school I lost yet another parent, my dad, to cancer. My mom died when my oldest child was only 4 years old, she never got to meet my youngest. When I was adopted I went from being an only child to the youngest of 7 children! Sadly there are only two of us left, the rest have passed away over the years. I have had a lot of losses in my life. Thankfully I have two amazing kids who keep me going. My oldest just graduated high school and my youngest just finished elementary school and is off to middle school in the fall. They have been more amazing than I could ever dream. They understand when I am exhausted from studying. When I am too busy with homework to cook they take care of it. They help me around the house so that I have more time to devote to my classes. They cheer me on each step of the way! My kids are the best! When my youngest tells his friends how smart I am or when my oldest asks my advice as she begins to navigate adulthood it fills me with pride. It's the little things they do that keep me going. When I am studying or working on homework my youngest will occasionally ask if I need anything like a drink or a snack because he doesn't want me to have to stop to get it. Or when my oldest knows I'm getting stressed so she offers to drive me to school so she can stop and buy me a coffee on the way. These are just a couple of examples of the little things they do that tell me they are proud of me. As a mom, it is the best feeling to know your kids are proud of you, especially during the pre-teen and teen years because those are so often rough years between parent and child. This has been hard, not only mentally and financially, but also emotionally. Some days I feel like I am slacking as a mom. Being a single parent makes things even tougher. Every day there are reminders that I am doing ok as a mom. When I see the pride in their eyes with each of my accomplishments I know everything is just as it should be.

When classwork has me stressed out my favorite thing to do is to stop for a bit and watch an episode of a comedy. I find that if I watch something I have already seen I get even more out of it because my mind does not have to think about the plot. I am not thinking of what is happening or will happen because I already know. My favorite tv show to use for this is The Big Bang Theory. This show gives me a chance to laugh, even after multiple viewings each episode is hilarious. I do have a few favorite episodes but generally, I just pick one at random. Recently I have also started using its spin-off show Young Sheldon because it is just as funny. Laughter increases your oxygen intake, relieves stress, soothes tension, and can even improve your mood. Laughter is the best medicine after all!

I recently took a class called "Cultural Communication". In this class, we discussed how different cultures communicated differently, miscommunications between cultures, cultural stereotypes, and even dislike or hatred between cultures. As an older student, I was a little worried to say the wrong thing as accepted terminology has changed over my lifetime. I told my classmates as much and asked for a little grace if I said something they found offensive. Several of them stated they had never thought of this before. They would have just assumed the worst had I not asked for their help and forgiveness if I said something they would consider wrong. I asked them to please correct me if I did say something out of line but to remember it is not out of hate. I further asked them to do the same at home because most of my classmates are within a year or two of my oldest child's age. I asked them to remember this conversation when speaking to their own parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Possibly they are as frustrated as I at not knowing what the correct thing to say it. Unfortunately, there is a strong divide between generations when it comes to how we view other cultures. No matter what type of culture or subculture, whether it is race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. This division causes a lot of problems in our society. The fact that things have changed so much over my life gives me hope that we can still change even more. Perhaps I even made a change with my presence in that class. My simple request gave the other students a new perspective and they may very well spread this perspective to their peers. The fact that these classmates were so accepting of me and my views and accepting of my faults brought me hope. The fact that they were humbled by my request to forgive any missteps I might make and willing to rethink their response to myself and others who might do the same gave me an enormous amount of hope!