I feel that I’ve come a long way in changing the direction of how I feel about what I want to do with myself for the rest of my life.
I started this class hoping to find out what kind of a person I am. I used to think that I didn’t know very much because I didn’t have the same skills as, what I thought, most people that are getting jobs in the business or medical field of work had. But, as I’ve gone through and taken the steps through this career and major course, I’ve found that “medical”, “business”, or “education are just words that generalize the large expanse of careers that go into those fields. I never saw this new way of thinking until I met with a Career and Academic Counselor. We did the personality assessment and found that I really do like working with kids, just like I thought at the beginning, but I prefer working with infants, toddlers or preschoolers as opposed to teaching older grade school students. So, I would like being a daycare specialist better than an elementary teacher.
The job shadowing experience really made it all come together. I was able to visit a daycare and go around to each of the different ages of children. I spent most of the time with the infants and toddlers, because I felt energized and happy with how easily it came to me to nurture and play with those little kids.
I learned that the most schooling that I would need for that career is a certificate of a child care specialist.
My next goal, after finishing my General Degree, is to enrich my career as a full time Mother and Homemaker. I want to take what I have learned from this class about myself and help my own children find their way in life. I want them to have good decision making skills, have goals for their personal as well as their occupational futures, and learn good networking skills while they are young.
Later in life I would like to take the skills that I have and get a career outside of the home. I’m glad that I was able to find a career that fits me, when I didn’t think that there was any. Plus, I have the skills to do it again if I change my mind later. Knowing what you want, who you are, and that these can always change seems to make life a little simpler.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Decision Making Model
1. What is my goal?
Finish my Associate of Science degree by December 2010.
2. What are my options?
What am I going to do with my kids during school?
• Have my children in daycare while I go to conventional classes.
• Have my husband watch the kids while I go to weekend classes.
• Have my Mom watch my children while I go to conventional classes.
• Take online classes so that I can be at home with my kids more and only have a babysitter sometimes.
How am I going to pay for this schooling?
• Get a job during school and pay my own way, with kids in daycare.
• Try to get a scholarship.
• Apply for financial aid and hope that it is enough.
What will I do for transportation?
• Utilize the bus system.
• Get a second car.
• Carpool with another student in my area
• Have my husband carpool with a co-worker, so I can have the car.
• Drive my husband to work on the days that I need the car.
3. What do I know already?
• My Mom has volunteered to watch the kids while I go to school.
• My income for the past couple of years has been pretty low, so I should at least apply for financial aid.
• I want to be with my children as much as possible, so I need to find out more about distance education.
• I will need to find out more about on-campus requirements before I can make a decision about how much, if any, transportation time I will need.
• I will need to find out how much school I have left.
4. What could be the consequences of going back to school?
Good consequences:
• Give myself a sense of accomplishment by finishing my general degree.
• Show my children the importance of getting a good education.
• Broaden my future career opportunities.
• Enrich my mind.
Bad consequences:
• Not having as much family/social time, because of school obligations.
• Have to put school as a top priority, instead of house maintenance or personal hobbies.
5. My action plan:
• I met with an academic advisor and found out that I needed 43 credit hours to graduate with my Associates Degree.
• I met with a distance education advisor to learn how to accomplish these types of classes.
• I then decided that I could make my degree in three semesters if I stuck to the plan of 14 credit hours the first semester, 13 credit hours the second semester, and 15 credit hours my last semester.
• I would only need transportation for the first block of the summer classes and test dates for the other semesters. This works with one car and a motorcycle.
• My Mom would watch the kids on days that I needed to be at school.
• I have to schedule time everyday for school.
• I have to keep up my grades.
• I post my action plan and goal to the front of my fridge to help me remember that it is all worth it.
Finish my Associate of Science degree by December 2010.
2. What are my options?
What am I going to do with my kids during school?
• Have my children in daycare while I go to conventional classes.
• Have my husband watch the kids while I go to weekend classes.
• Have my Mom watch my children while I go to conventional classes.
• Take online classes so that I can be at home with my kids more and only have a babysitter sometimes.
How am I going to pay for this schooling?
• Get a job during school and pay my own way, with kids in daycare.
• Try to get a scholarship.
• Apply for financial aid and hope that it is enough.
What will I do for transportation?
• Utilize the bus system.
• Get a second car.
• Carpool with another student in my area
• Have my husband carpool with a co-worker, so I can have the car.
• Drive my husband to work on the days that I need the car.
3. What do I know already?
• My Mom has volunteered to watch the kids while I go to school.
• My income for the past couple of years has been pretty low, so I should at least apply for financial aid.
• I want to be with my children as much as possible, so I need to find out more about distance education.
• I will need to find out more about on-campus requirements before I can make a decision about how much, if any, transportation time I will need.
• I will need to find out how much school I have left.
4. What could be the consequences of going back to school?
Good consequences:
• Give myself a sense of accomplishment by finishing my general degree.
• Show my children the importance of getting a good education.
• Broaden my future career opportunities.
• Enrich my mind.
Bad consequences:
• Not having as much family/social time, because of school obligations.
• Have to put school as a top priority, instead of house maintenance or personal hobbies.
5. My action plan:
• I met with an academic advisor and found out that I needed 43 credit hours to graduate with my Associates Degree.
• I met with a distance education advisor to learn how to accomplish these types of classes.
• I then decided that I could make my degree in three semesters if I stuck to the plan of 14 credit hours the first semester, 13 credit hours the second semester, and 15 credit hours my last semester.
• I would only need transportation for the first block of the summer classes and test dates for the other semesters. This works with one car and a motorcycle.
• My Mom would watch the kids on days that I needed to be at school.
• I have to schedule time everyday for school.
• I have to keep up my grades.
• I post my action plan and goal to the front of my fridge to help me remember that it is all worth it.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Goal Sheet
Action Plan/Goal Setting
1. Short Term Goals:
• Finish General Associates by Dec. 2010
• Have a 3.0 grade point average or higher
• Make one half hour study time everyday per class that I’m taking in addition to normal school work time.
2. Midterm goals:
• Learn Less-stress strategies to be a better “Me”.
a. I will accomplish this by reading some how-to books on how to manage my stress better. Then I will put the teachings into action and keep trying until I get a handle of it. (This could turn into a very long-term goal.)
• Potty train my two year old by the time he is four.
a. First we will start with no bottoms at all to see if we can make it to the potty. Then once we get that down we will try training pants. In that period we will only do it at home. Once we have making it to the potty while pulling down training pants for a couple of weeks, then we will try going on the potty when we go places. After he has gotten over the fear of going potty on other potties, we have to get to the point of him going potty without being reminded. That part might always be a work in progress, but he will have made it to the potty.
• Organize a joy school co-op.
a. Talk with other mother’s in my area that have children the same age as mine about having preschool in their home. Each mom in the group would take a day to teach the preschool aged children a different subject in their home. I will then proceed to make a start/end date, calendar to keep track of dates and times of who is teaching what, where, and when, and gather supplies for myself.
1. Short Term Goals:
• Finish General Associates by Dec. 2010
• Have a 3.0 grade point average or higher
• Make one half hour study time everyday per class that I’m taking in addition to normal school work time.
2. Midterm goals:
• Learn Less-stress strategies to be a better “Me”.
a. I will accomplish this by reading some how-to books on how to manage my stress better. Then I will put the teachings into action and keep trying until I get a handle of it. (This could turn into a very long-term goal.)
• Potty train my two year old by the time he is four.
a. First we will start with no bottoms at all to see if we can make it to the potty. Then once we get that down we will try training pants. In that period we will only do it at home. Once we have making it to the potty while pulling down training pants for a couple of weeks, then we will try going on the potty when we go places. After he has gotten over the fear of going potty on other potties, we have to get to the point of him going potty without being reminded. That part might always be a work in progress, but he will have made it to the potty.
• Organize a joy school co-op.
a. Talk with other mother’s in my area that have children the same age as mine about having preschool in their home. Each mom in the group would take a day to teach the preschool aged children a different subject in their home. I will then proceed to make a start/end date, calendar to keep track of dates and times of who is teaching what, where, and when, and gather supplies for myself.
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