Non-Traditional Students.... graduation?

Here is a piece of pottery done by somebody who was a non-traditional student at Western Kentucky University for many years... my Mom!

Some other non-traditional student thoughts tonight...

WKU is having its graduation very soon.

Some non-traditional students are going to be walking the line along with their younger counterparts.

Talking about non-trads, here are some useful links for them from ANTSHE, the national Non-Traditional Student organization:
http://www.antshe.org/useful.htm

Also: (another idea): I hope to have some State Non-Trad organization information up this summer at the http://www.nontradstudents.com site.

My writing - blogs, poetry, non-fiction and fiction...

I love the idea of going back to writing. There will be no more putting off my writing like I've been doing. PLUS I want to get my garden plans done.

This week I'm going to see all the movies I possibly can. It's been months and months without doing anything but grading and planning.

Non-traditional students -- I may join your group again -- it all depends. This could be a month of changes for me.

I guess being a non-traditional student when I was (as an older student) really woke me up to the fact that I could do ANYTHING I wanted to do -- or at least could TRY to.

I deeply respect all the other non-traditional students out there who are trying their very best. KUDOS!!!!

Juggling work, school, and responsibilities

Somebody said something very true on the WKU Non-Traditional Students group the other day.

They said that sometimes a person has to let their family help him or her. A person can't possibly be going to school and still have time to do everything he or she used to do before going back to school. They just can't. The family has to step up and help. So it's important that your family is supportive of you in this huge step.

Going back to school changes things. You will be busy with homework a LOT, and simply not available to do things you did before in the same way. Something has to give --- you won't be such a perfectionist at cleaning, for instance, UNLESS somebody in your family gives you a hand, if you usually do that job. This goes for lots of jobs in a family. You may have always been there to help with certain things, but the time element just won't let you anymore.

Talk to your children and spouse, the writer suggested, and get them to take over things you used to handle. They need to do this so that YOU can concentrate on school. It's the only way. Otherwise, if you try to keep up with everything in the same way you did before school came along, you are facing an impossible task. Nobody wants to face that.

It was good advice.