Hitting Another Bump in the Road (literally)

I have been trying very hard to stay positive and optimistic on this quest for higher education,  but I got to admit I’m getting my ass kicked on this road.  First, as I mentioned a few post ago the finacial aid I was counting on fell through.  I got down a bit, cracked some jokes and cut back on a lot of stuff.  There have been other obstacles to but I’ve been able to dust myself off and continue.  Now six weeks before the end of my first semester back at school I got into a fender bender with a tree trunk(don’t worry it’s okay) but I hit my head and got a concussion.  I was running late for church and tried to multi-task parking and removing my seatbelt at the same time and I have never been good at multi-tasking and then the tree trunk jumped out at my bumper.  I must say it was quite humiliating because I knocked myself silly, went into service, went back out to the parking lot and wondered around a bit until a Sunday school teacher saw me through a window and decided I didn’t seem quite like myself in my walking and called 911.  Now I remember none of this, and most of that day is gone, but this is what my church family reports to me.  So I am still very humiliated because I can’t remember how I was acting and I pray I didn’t do or say anything too weird.  Anyway, my very wonderful doctor told me to take a week off to let my brain heal.  When it was time to go back to school she said she didn’t want me to.  But I’m so close to the end of the semester I think it would be stupid to quit.  So I’ve been stumbling through at school for about a week.  I just got off the phone with her again and she said she really prefer I quit and let my brain heal.  Now this is someone I respect more then anyone else and really don’t want to disappoint but I still think I need to hang in there and keep trying.  I’m still struggling with some head issues and now I am behind in classes and it would be so much easier to try again in the fall but when your 41, it becomes a little harder to put things off so I’m gonna keep going but I don’t think I can handle even another tiny bump in the road.  I do have to say the people at Disability Resource Department on campus have been very supportive and great through this and still remain so.  I’ll probably still continue with the services they’ve made available to me until the end of the semester or longer if required.  Wish me luck I need it I have two test this week.

Learning The Hard Way

It seems lately I have been learning things the hard way.  A few months before the semester started I applied for financial aid.  According to the FAFSA web site I qualified for a Pell grant.  However the Financial aid office at school made me petition because I went to school 20 years ago and had too many credits.  After speaking to three different counselors my major was changed three different times until I finally spoke to my disability specialist and she spent enough time with me to find out what I wanted to do.  So any way spring break rolls around and I finally got the answer to my petition Financial Aid Denied.  Now the semester is half way over and I am doing pretty well so I don’t want to drop out plus I learned if you drop a class even with a w it will count against you for further financial aid.  So I decided to keep scrimping and saving money anywhere I can.  The first lesson I learned so you wont have to is: don”t try to save milk until you need it the most. I had a whole bunch of cereal and I thought I would save the milk till closer to payday when I would need it the most.  So I poured a nice big bowl cereal added the milk and took a big bite.  Oh my God the horror, it was one of the grossest things I have tasted. Then it dawned on me oops it was way expired.  Now normally I buy non fat milk and it normally last a few days longer then the expiration date. But I kept it longer then a few days.  Now normally you can keep a mistake like that a secret but this next one you can’t especially if your female.  My bangs were getting way too long and affecting my vision, so I thought to myself how hard could it be to trim bangs?  So I grabbed my scissors and stood in front of the mirror and carefully cut my bangs.  The more I tried to make them even the shorter they got, let’s just say I will be wearing a hat until payday.  One of the worst things I learned is be very careful when you buy cheap toilet paper especially if your female.  Now this next thing I have not tried but I am pretty sure it’s not a good idea to buy a pregnancy test from the dollar store.  I hope this helps any students going through the same money shortage I am.  If you have any other suggestions leave a comment maybe it will help me avoid other bad money saving ideas.

Vintage music, really?

I have to write about the first day of school.  I drove in with my car stereo playing “Simply the Best” by Tina Turner and I thought hey not much has changed not even the music playing.  I was very happy I just can’t  believe school has changed that much.  Before I went to my first class I sat in my car praying and thanking God for this second chance.  To my great relief when I walked in the class there were obesity friendly desk.  I had nightmares of getting stuck in the old desk but now not no more.  I sat last chair in the roll right by the door.  I had a great first class and really liked the instructor.  On my way home I was feeling really good listening to all the songs I love then it happened the voice on the radio station said Thank you for listening to 95.5 your vintage radio station.  My songs are vintage boy he is lucky he didn’t say that in front of me.#cs5711

Never Too Old To Learn ( I hope)

Today has been a super long day I have been up since 4am studying.  For some reason it feels like I have to work a little harder then I did when I was younger.  I am truly lucky that I have my church family to remind me that I can still learn.  Anytime I need a pep talk there is always someone there.  So far my grades have been good except I feel I may be slipping a little in introduction to social media,  but I now know if I need help it’s just an email away.  It is encouraging and I think I can learn even at my age.#cs5711

Stuck In The 20th Century

Technology is a great thing I know but I sure would love it if we could slow the pace a little of new technology.  It seems like everyday there’s something new.  It is even in some of the bathrooms on campus.  I actually needed help washing my hands the other day.  Now, I have mastered the self flushing toilet, and I am getting much better with the faucet that has no knobs.  But now the paper towel dispenser has gone hi-tech. I stood in  front of the paper towel dispenser waving my wet hands around like some maniac trying to find the right sensor.  All the while three  younger students  stood around watching this maniac. Each Passing second I grew a little more frantic.  Finally,  some nice young lady showed me exactly were my hands needed to be to retrieve the paper towel.  There are no words to described for the humiliation I felt as I stood there with three sets of eyes watching me.  I was thinking Damn I knew I was tech challenge but I never thought I would need technology in the bathroom.  I sure Have A lot of technology to catch up with.  It seems as soon as  I know how to use some technology it becomes obsolete, and everyone knows it except me.  I feel like I have beemed aboard The Star Ship Enterprise.  I have always been a fan of the show(all the series) and I remember thinking all that tech stuff was cool, wish we had it.  Now, I wish all the people inventing all the new tech stuff(except medical technology) would take a break and let this middle aged woman catch up. #cs5711