I'm registered as an Online student at BYU-Idaho. It's been a long time coming, but here I go. The first class I have to take is called Realize the Vision. It's a 6 week block class. So far we've had to listen to two devotionals talks, participate in a couple discussion boards, take a couple quizzes, and record our thoughts in a Reflection Journal post. I'm enjoying myself immensely. It's going to be tricky, these next two weeks, as I work to complete assignments from Merida, Mexico. Frank and I are flying down to visit my sister and her husband. They have an apartment there for the winter. But through the miracle of Internet Cafes, I'm going to work it out.
The following is my entry in the Reflection journal at the end of our first full week of assignments. It is exactly what is says it is, a reflection as I start/finish the journey to my Bachelor's degree that began back in 1977.
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After graduating from Ricks College with an Associates degree, I fully expected that I would continue on and earn my Bachelors in Music at Utah State. I wasn't quite sure what direction in music I would go. At Ricks my major was Music Pedagogy. My dad, a music educator/administrator, told me that he thought I'd enjoy elementary music education, but he didn't feel like he could encourage me in that direction because schools were cutting back on specialty instructors. The one thing I knew for sure was that I wasn't particularly interested in any other career besides being a mother, and I figured I could teach piano students in my home. That is exactly what happened. I married after two quarters at USU, attended one more quarter, while expecting our first child. Frank was transferred to Ogden, and I never had the desire to go to school while raising my family. I have had many piano students over the past 30 years and I've been very content. We've encouraged all of our children to pursue a higher education, and we've worked to make our home a "house of learning".
The following is my entry in the Reflection journal at the end of our first full week of assignments. It is exactly what is says it is, a reflection as I start/finish the journey to my Bachelor's degree that began back in 1977.
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After graduating from Ricks College with an Associates degree, I fully expected that I would continue on and earn my Bachelors in Music at Utah State. I wasn't quite sure what direction in music I would go. At Ricks my major was Music Pedagogy. My dad, a music educator/administrator, told me that he thought I'd enjoy elementary music education, but he didn't feel like he could encourage me in that direction because schools were cutting back on specialty instructors. The one thing I knew for sure was that I wasn't particularly interested in any other career besides being a mother, and I figured I could teach piano students in my home. That is exactly what happened. I married after two quarters at USU, attended one more quarter, while expecting our first child. Frank was transferred to Ogden, and I never had the desire to go to school while raising my family. I have had many piano students over the past 30 years and I've been very content. We've encouraged all of our children to pursue a higher education, and we've worked to make our home a "house of learning".
When my youngest child started kindergarten, I had a little extra time on my hands, so I substituted a bit in her class. The following year, I was hired as an Elementary Music instructor at the charter school where our youngest two kids attend. My father was right. It was a perfect match for me. I joyfully sang and laughed and rejoiced with the K-5th graders for five years. As Dinah finished 5th grade, I felt the urge to be less busy. I needed to either give up teaching at the school, or unload some of my prvate students. The obvious choice, based on $$ was keep the private students. As much as I loved the kids at the school, I knew my season was changing yet again. When asked what I would do with the extra time at home, I listed the obvious--more time to enjoy my three little grandkids, be a better visiting teacher, temple attendance, get back to sewing and cooking, and "maybe I'll go back to school". That was two years ago. We had recently attended the graduation banquet with our daughter as she graduated from BYU-I. We were seated at the table with Brother Eaton, who was on the cutting edge of the new and improved on-line program at BYU-I. He told me to give it a few months and keep an eye on the web site. The seed was planted that evening. The idea kept niggling at the back of my brain until one day I verbalized it to my husband. He was totally supportive, but I still wasn't quite ready. Finally one evening, I mentioned it to my cousin, Guy Hollingsworth, who is Associate Academic VP at BYU-I. He told me to wait 2-3 weeks, that new and wonderful things were happening with the on-line degrees, and that soon I wouldn't have to "settle" for just the University Studies degree. A couple weeks later I checked the website and there were the changes. In looking through the degree options, Home and Family Sciences jumped out at me and I knew the time had come.
I am going to school now because it's my season again. I have watched my son and daughters learn and grow through their college study and even though I've not envied them, I've wanted to immerse myself in the learning environment again. My family is grown, mostly--my two kids at home are 12 and 15. I had lots of theories and opinions when I started raising my children. Now I have fewer theories, lots of experience, and still lots of opinions, I suppose. I'm eager to share, and exchange ideas. I am happy to study, once again, secular courses, in a gospel setting. As I read through the syllabi (?) of the classes I will be taking I have to keep telling myself that I can do this. As a sophomore at Ricks, I deliberately took a B in an Honors Psych class just to avoid writing a paper. Now it appears I will have to get over that particular fear. I had a wonderful session with my advisor, Stephanie Romney today. Her enthusiasm for my opportunity radiated right through the phone. I grateful for the support system that I will have access to. Mostly, I'm grateful to be back within the fold of the Spirit of Ricks.
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