Ok mom's......how do you go back to school? How do you even have the energy when you have young kids? I want to go back to school but I have 3 kids under the age of 4 and it's almost impossible. I know everyone says, "Nothing is impossible" but seriously, how do you have time? I have a girlfriend at work who works full time, does photography on the side and is going to school full time. I do need sleep eventually and cannot function without at least 7 hours. I would love to go to medical school, but there is nothing close around me and I don't know if I will be able to keep up my grades. So I'm hoping to go into nursing school. I know it's a long shot, but hopefully I could get through it. I would like to work my way up to Nurse Practitioner.
Can some of you mom's tell me how you went back to school? What gave you the motivation?
Thanks!
I am now enrolled and meet with an advisor Monday. I am planning to take some online courses and taking my classes during the day. I just have to prioritize time. I love my husband and I love my kids dearly. This way I wont need to be gone during the night and will still be able to see them.
Slowly.
One or two night classes at a time (dinner's on the stove, hubby put kids to bed.)
It took a long time, but I did it!!!
I posted on your other question about medical school. I think with your concerns you can kiss that one goodbye for now. My fiance's daughter is in med school. For the first two years, she went to classes all day and studied all night and slept very little. She wouldn't have had time for kids or anything else. Now that she is in her third year, she wakes at 4 a.m. to go do her clinicals and doesn't arrive back at her apartment sometimes until late at night. When she is on call, she spends days at a time at the hospital and has to have someone stop by her apartment and take care of her cat.
And like I said before, you don't pick a medical school close to you to just go to. You apply to dozens and one might accept you and it could be halfway across the country. That's how it works.
Why are you so set on going back to school when you have such small children? I think they should be your priority right now, and when they're in school and you have more time, school for yourself might be a little more realistic.
It's all about how you schedule your day. I'm working on a second Masters degree (only six more months!!!), and I work full-time as a teacher. I have three-year-old twins and a six month old baby. If you want it badly enough, you figure out a way to make it work. I do my work after they're in bed.
I got a divorce and wanted to keep my house. :)
Oh and I worked full time, took more than a full time college load and was raising four kids.
Honestly though, I couldn't have done it without the devil on my heels.
Scheduling-lots of routine! I started when my daughter was 5 finished my Masters when she was 14-so 9 yrs from start to finish. Most community colleges have accelerated classes that are 8 wks long so you can take 2 to 4 classes a semester without burning yourself out. Rhodes State College has classes that are one night a week so you can start off slow. Just remember if it is truly something you want go for it!
I had a master's in exercise physiology and wanted to become a dietitian. The large healthcare organization I worked for had education reimbursement. My husband was a sugical resident (which meant his hours were awful and I had full charge or the girls and day care). I worked full time in corporate wellness, had two daughters (then a son a couple of years later), and took one or two food and nutrition classes per semester to become a dietitian. I took as many as I could online, but had a decent number of labs that I had to take chunks out of my workday to attend. My hours were a little flexible since we worked some nights and weekends.
To be honest, it was rough. I read only homework stuff. My social life was limited. I got up at 4:00 to exercise. I got 5-6 hours of sleep at best. However, we made it, I now have four kids, and work part time as RD! It was worth it, but it was difficult. Good luck!
My motivation was not money, it was to become a registered dietitian. Keep your eye on the goal.
I did an online "external student" program for graduate work, while at home with a baby. I studied while he napped and after he went to sleep at night. I had to really pace myself, because that doesn't add up to a lot of continuous time. I also had to be disciplined in my approach. It was hard to listen to my husband laugh at movies two rooms over, while I struggled through difficult concepts and dusty volumes, but I am so happy I did it.
So why did I do it?
1) my sanity - I didn't want to lose myself when I became I SAHM
2) I didn't want my resume to have a huge dead zone of the time I was at home
3) I wanted to eventually reenter the workforce with a new specialization
4) I wanted to model for my kids the value I place on education, and that education is a lifelong process
While I'm currently still at home with my wee ones, I have recently been checking out options for back to work and was delighted at both the opportunities and pay scale in the area I furthered my specialization. Instead of feeling lost and out of date, I am savoring this last year and a half at home with my kids. How is that for motivation? ;D
Oh, and on the really tough days? I bribed myself with chocolate chips. (what ever it takes...)
Good luck and good for you!
My Husband recently graduated from university. Plus he was working full time. And he is married to me. And we have 2 kids. And he also had other hobbies to keep up.
He did it.
But how? Well again, he is married to me. I am a SAHM. And I, while he was going to school... was like a SINGLE parent. My Husband, worked/studied 7-days a week, day and night.
It is not easy.
For the other Spouse.
And for the children.
They will hardly see you.
My friend's Husband as well, did this. Same as above.
Now, the thing is, BEFORE my husband or my friend's Husband enrolled in school, the school Advisor tells them: that, going to school as a married Husband/Wife or Parent.... is NOT easy. And that, given the program demands of my Husband's major... MANY END UP DIVORCED. They told this to my friend's Husband as well, although he went to a different university.
The Med school Advisor... WILL TELL YOU, this. As well.
Med school/Nursing school programs, are very very arduous.
Even if you are a single woman and not working. It is very tough.
My friend, who is single, went to med/nursing school plus there are internships etc. And even as a single woman with no attachments, her time was taken. Up. By. School. All. The. Time. And no sleep.
You need to, think about your Husband and kids.
It is great you want to go back to school. Sure.
But, you REALLY need to know and realize, what is involved. And IF YOUR HUSBAND... will fill-in for you and the kids ALL THE TIME? Or you will often need babysitters etc.
AND your Husband has to realize TOO.... that, he will not see you much, that you will always be BUSY studying, day and night 7 days a week, and that HE will have to be, the Mom & Dad. And he cannot rely on you for the length of time you will be attending school. Nor your kids.
That is how my Husband went back to school. And he now has his degree. It is good, for him. But not easy... upon the Spouse or kids.
My Husband was in school for 4 years.
My friend's Husband was in school for only 2 years. But, they had many problems between them due to his school and it is a very hard time.
But yes, my Husband did it.
How?
Because, I am a SAHM and I took care of EVERYTHING while he was working AND going to school. And I was extremely patient. And it took me beyond my own stamina. I couldn't stand it many times. He carried almost a full time load for school and worked full time too.
So, you cannot expect your Spouse, to be much of a Spouse, while they are going to school.
This is not just your decision alone.
Your Husband... has to know and have input too.
Only because, he will be the one.... being a "single" parent while you go to school.
When my Husband was in school, I could NOT rely on him, at all or for anything.
This is how it is. With a school going Spouse or parent.
You have to look at how you do homework. Can you study when the kids are in bed? Can you study with kids awake around you? Personally I have a hard time doing homework with the dirty dishes staring me in the face so I often have to take the kids to daycare and go on campus just to get some good studying in. And as great as studying after bedtime sounded, the reality is that I am often too tired by then. With kids as young as yours I was able to take one online class at a time, but there were times when I just couldn't do homework because of family responsibilities. Having a husband who wouldn't keep a steady job was my motivation for taking more than one class and going to work when I still have kids too young for full time school. It has been hard on the whole family. Last semester I felt like nothing was getting my full attention and therefore everything was suffering for it-- kids, my school, my kids' homework, my work training, the upkeep of the house, church, friends, taking care of my own body. But I am making these sacrifices out of necessity. If I had my way, I would not have gone back to school or work until all my kids were in school full time. Good luck with your decision and God bless!
