The 40 year old Student!
Posted by Karen Falcon | Posted in friends, opportunity, other | Posted on 3:59 PM
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Well, let's just say 'almost' 40. Today is my first day back to school. I enrolled at the University of Phoenix, online college courses. I am very excited about this. I have some general ed and pre-requisite classes to get out of the way, of course, but I'm on a roll. It feels very good to have some solid, tangible goals ahead of me in clear view and I know I can do this. I can do anything I set my mind to. My problem has always been narrowing my interests down and focusing on one thing at a time. So, I usually end up too scattered and before you know it, the years just keep ticking by and I haven't actually accomplished much, besides surviving day to day and raising a pretty terrific kid.
Since day one assignments for both my classes was simply to post our (all the students) bio, I'll just copy it here:
Greetings All! Happy Monday!
Hello, my name is Karen Falcon. I am a 39yr young single mom to one beautiful 13yr daughter, Scarlet. I was born and raised in northern California's San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose specifically. I lived and worked in the Silicon Valley as an Executive Secretary until I got a wild hair to completely change our lives and move up to rural Oregon in 2002. I had grown weary of the millions strong congestion and my life chained to a desk. The country life suited my daughter and I very well, at first. We farmed the land, raised sheep and made some new friends. I learned Oregon is a beautiful get-away, but we are now moving back to California this summer, after 7 years of trials and tribulation. I would love to write a book one day of all that we have been through on this crooked path up here in Oregon. Phew, what a life experience!
With me about to turn 40 in two months and my daughter a thriving teenager, I felt compelled to get on the ball back to school! I have never married and my daughter will be off to college in no time, so I want to get a degree and start a career. The best reward so far, my daughter is very proud of her mom going back to school. I am happy I am finally setting a constructive and productive example for her instead of just surviving day to day. Life has been such a struggle these past 14 years on our own. I had felt so broken and defeated at times that the idea of going back to school usually did not even enter my mind with just trudging through the days. When I would give it a passing thought at rare times, that was it, just a quick thought of, "Yeah right, how could I ever go to college?"
Blame it on mid-life crisis or the ol-spinster complex of being scared I'll end up spending the rest of my life alone after Scarlet goes off to college, I began to really look seriously at my chances and opportunities for going to school. I was and still am so pleasantly surprised at the grant opportunities and real staff support to help everyone go for their dreams! My mind is set on Accounting and Financial Services for the immediate future. I figure, the way the world economy is, companies will always need someone to work the numbers, so I wanted to start with a practical foundation for the first part of my education. I hope to find a position in a company in northern California's Bay Area in an accounting department and work my way up as I continue my education. After several years, once I reach my Financial Academic goals, my long-term continued education goals are set real high. I'd actually love to be a Doctor someday! Dentistry is tickling the back of my mind. Since I have been without insurance for several years now, my teeth are in terrible shape. My very-long-term goal would be to become a Dentist, travel northern California with a mobile Dentist office and help the many less-fortunate folks that have been trying to survive without insurance too, especially the children!
I firmly believe in giving back to the community. For now, I am happy to start with crunching numbers and making new friends along the way. When we move back home to California this summer, we will find organizations where we can volunteer. That ought to keep us out of trouble! For our own personal down-time, my daughter and I have several critters: our dog Petey is a Pekingese, our parrot Romeo is an Eclectus parrot and a big talker and four cats, Missy our old lady, Pony that we found down at a barn, her son PJ (Pony Jr.) who is a big fat moose and Annie that we adopted when I found my neighbor lifeless on Halloween! That will be another one for the book! I find it difficult to sum-up a bio. Single mom, never married, finally going back to school. I love reading, blogging, facebook, twitter, photography, music, my daughter, our pets and making new friends!
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I admit, my bio is a bit 'wordy', but I have two excuses: 1) I followed the instructor and others' format and 2) I have never been able to pare down a bio. So, voila.
For a Monday, today has been a pretty great day. I have met a lot of people online in my classes, (taking two simultaneous classes to start.) Although only a couple have responded on the thread to meet me in return, I enjoyed reading their bios, getting to know my fellow classmates and responding to them with introducing myself to them. I secretly wish more would take time to interact, but we all have separate lives and maybe they are even taking more classes than me. Soon enough, I'll be back out in the work-force and making more friends than I can even STAND! Shoo fly :-)
