Good things are a'comin

Today is January 2nd, 3 months since I was laid off from my job and I am for all intents and purposes still unemployed. The despair of being without a job is waning though. After submitting my resume to quite literally 100 plus job postings, I finally got offered a job. I'm just not due to start work until January 11th. Direct hire this time - no more temp gigs. Woohoo!

January 11th is also the day classes begin for the 2010 Spring Semester at University of South Alabama - where I have transferred and will be attending until completion of my degree. This change is the first major action I took to accomplish one of my major new goals - which is to get a degree in something I actually enjoy doing and can make a career of and work for myself doing.

I didn't spend my first post of the new year listing out all the things I planned on doing in 2010 so I'll cover a few of them now.

In no particular order:

Goal 1 is to stop drinking pop. When I moved to Michigan I stopped drinking pop and went almost 4 years without so much as a single Coke. Then I moved back south and well... It's time to kick that habit though once and for all.

Goal 2 is to exercise at least 15 minutes a day - Every Single Day. I know 15 minutes might seem minuscule but I've learned the hard way that setting up big goals is a sure fire way to pretty much guarantee failure - so this year I'm doing things right - baby steps people...

Goal 3 is to go 365 days without eating fast food. The only exception I'm allowing is Subway - even though you get it quickly, I'm not sure a deli sandwich can be lumped in with McDonald's or Taco Bell.

Goal 4 is to smile and laugh at least once Each Day. That may seem like a no brainer but sometimes stress can be a big fat downer and 2 or 3 days will go by and you realize you've not so much as cracked a grin in almost a week. Laughing releases endorphins - endorphins make you feel happy - ergo laughing is good. And I don't know about you but I've never seen anyone laugh without smiling as well.

Goal 5 is to create a vision board. I know several people who've made them and the idea is that having a constant visual of where you want your life to go helps facilitate your desire to actually take action to make sure you get there.

Goal 6 is to see possibility in every situation. This one may be a little hard sometimes. Trying to picture something good coming out of say - having a major repair on your car when you're unemployed and unemployment doesn't come close to paying the bills can seem pretty daunting, but that exact thing just happened to me and something positive did indeed come from it. And let me tell you - believing something good would come out of that from the beginning of the situation would have definitely changed the way I reacted and handled it.

Goal 7 is to let my family know how much I love them. The relationship between my family and I has, for the last several years, been somewhat stressed. A culmination of past events, hurt feelings, old grudges, difference of opinions and life styles have stretched the thin connection I have to my family even tighter and although many of those things may never change I'm tired of feeling like I'm on eggshells around them. We may never see eye to eye but we are family and maybe I'm getting soft in my old age but that's starting to mean something.

So those are some of the main goals I have for my life in 2010. Last year I would have had to list just one more to end on an even number, but being anal retentive and OCD is something I'm trying to make a little less of a priority this year.

Oh! I've also signed back up with Nablopomo this year so for January, at least, I've a goal to blog every day. So far So Good!!

Ready, set, learn!

I've received my books in the mail.

I've set up my desk at home.

I've got 5 days until classes officially begin.

And I am about half way into full fledged 'OMG I'm actually going back to school, what if I don't remember how to study, or do homework, or..or..or!' panic mode.

It almost seems surreal. It's taken me ten years to finally get to where I feel ready to go back to college. I'm really excited, but at the same time I'm also really very nervous.

What if I don't have the capacity for memory recall that I did when I was younger, what if I really need the stimulus of actual in class discussion, what if, what if, what if.

I guess it's normal to be a little anxious. I mean even when we were kids, the first day of a new year held the stigma of the unexpected. What teachers will I have, will I like my classes, will I meet and make new friends, will the cafeteria finally serve decent food for lunch?

I think even more awe inspiring than the actual going back to school part is the idea that in a little less than 4 years I will have a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration. I will be a college graduate. The first in my immediate family.


If you've thought about going back to school and don't think you have the time for traditional classes, I really encourage you to check into online learning. There are many accredited online colleges to choose from. I chose Virginia College because they also have a local campus here in Mobile, so if I decided I really want and can make time for the classroom experience I can make an easy transition.

I know not every program of study can be done online, but you'd be surprised at how many actually can. Heck you can become an ultrasound technician online, or a teacher, or a master of graphic design. The possibilities are endless!

Knowledge IS Power. Educate Yourself!!

Atlas Shrugged.. then threw out my back

Scholarships.

My mother is fond of telling me that if I'd just stuck with band I could have gotten a full ride to college.

She's probably right.

Yes I was a band nerd. Only not so much of the nerd part.

I played Alto Sax, Tenor Sax and Oboe. Depending on which season it was, concert or marching.

But I was, er still am, a bit of a perfectionist, and the first ime I made 2nd chair during try outs instead of 1st I got a bit angry. It didn't matter that I was a Freshman and 1st chair was a Senior, someone with 3 years more experience than me. Being in band eventually became more of a frustration than a joy so I quit my Junior year.

Ok to be more accurate I wasn't allowed to quit, by either my mom or the band directors, so I started skipping practice so they would kick me out.

I know.. I'm such a rebel... Grr!!


Not sure what the point of sharing that with you was, except that talking about scholarships brought it to mind.

So moving on with today's topic.

Free money!!!

For school that is.

I didn't pursue any opportunities for scholarships my first go around in college, but this time I'm older, more educated and more broke, so I'm researching all avenues and options for financial assistance.

One of the scholarship competitions I found was from the Ayn Rand Institute. You read this book, Atlas Shrugged, then write an essay on one of 3 questions. Typewritten, double spaced and between 800 and 1600 words in length.

Sounds easy right?

Check out the book.

According to what I was able to dig up on the web it supposedly only weighs 3.3lbs. I call BS. I could stop my car from rolling down hill with this thing! It's 2 inches thick, 1168 pages long. And we're not talking large print either

It's not that I have a problem with reading books this big. I read the unabridged uncut version of Steven King's The Stand for crying out loud. That book is big enough to use as a bench.

No it's not the size of the book that's the issue. It's that I only have 6 days to read it in. I just read about the contest on Sunday, and checked the book out of the library yesterday. The deadline is Sept 17th. Today is the 11th. So that means I need to read about 195 pages a day, then write an essay that's well written and intriguing enough to win me a scholarship.

Normally I wouldn't be totally freaked out and overwhelmed at the impossibility of the task at hand. I mean I read fairly quickly. I can easily read a 200-300 page romance novel in the few hours from the time I get home from work till I go to bed.

The problem with doing that for the next 6 days is that I work my second job on at least 3 of them. Which means no time to read at all for 2 complete days and half of a 3rd. So I'm down to 3 and a half days to read this door stop and write an intelligent, thought provoking paper on it.

GAHHHHH!!!!!!!!

It's OK.. I CAN do this.. Take a deep breath.. breathe innnnn... and outtttt.

Remind me to start looking at scholarships for NEXT year as soon as I finish this dang book!

On another note - I just found out that Atlas Shrugged is the next movie that Angelina Jolie is going to be in so I'm stoked to read the book now!

Too bad the movie didn't come out before this dang contest.

Getting Me an Edjumukashun

My name is Mollie and I am a college graduate.

Ok so I will be, in about 3 and a half years.

It's taken ten (10) years but I'm finally going back to school to finish up my degree. I really should probably say start my degree rather than finish it. I mean I did go to college before, but I only took 4 classes and had no idea what I wanted to major in at the time.

I'm still not 100% sure that I know what I want to be when I grow up, but whatever it is, I'll be doing it with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

Where am I going? Virginia College. Online.

I applied at the University of Mobile a few months ago and was accepted but then I started a part time job, on top of my full time job and realized that there was just really no way that I could work two jobs and go to school full time if I had to physically walk onto a campus and sit in a classroom for 2-4 hours each class.

Taking online courses is much more flexible and yes you receive an actual valid accredited degree. No cracker jack diploma for me.

I'd tell you all about how it worked but I haven't actually started classes yet. I am registered though and should be receiving my books in a couple of weeks. Classes start October 6th.

From what I can gather though, you sign on to each class a minimum of twice a week. You check in, get your assignment, check the forum and discussion boards and you're done. With the class part anyway. Then you have to do the actual assignment (yay homework!) and e-mail it to your professor.

For my first semester I'm taking Learning Framework (have no idea what it is, but it's a required 1st semester course), Intro to Business and Intro to Spanish I.

I'm also re-acquiring a new butt load of student loan debt, after taking only about 8 years to pay off the student loan from my previous college classes. My first go around with school I didn't look into or apply for any scholarships though, but I've learned my lesson about that and am going to be an essay writing fool for the next few weeks applying for any and every scholarship I can qualify for.

I'll be updating as classes progress, probably complaining about homework, and the general uselessness of some of the stuff I'll be learning. Sounds like high school

t I'm really excited. I've been wanting to go back to school for several years now and am super stoked that I'm finally able to.

Wish me luck!!