Back at it

I decided to rekindle this blog since,even though I will be finally starting grad school in 2011, I do feel the journey began in 2010 when I first got the crazy idea in my head to do a 180 degree change of my career goals.

I should probably do a short recap, since I have not posted since my rejection last year.

My first foray in college was a meandering journey through pre-med, theater, sociology, pre-law and finally Business Management. I ended up with a "safe" degree, one that could get me a job. I was fairly successful in my career, even if it was mainly carved out of independent learning and on-the-job skill development more than my business degree. My special needs son and his inability to tolerate any and all daycare arrangements (and trust me, we tried many) led me to eventually stay home to care for him and our additional 2 children who came along later. My husband's career blossomed since we were no longer trying to juggle two jobs and a sick kid, closed daycares and school holidays. But I never felt like I would be one of *those* Stay At Home Moms who was screwed if something happened to her husband (illness, job loss, him going crazy and deciding to trade me in for a younger model) because I had that degree and that job experience under my belt.

But alas, a couple years ago, I tried to re-enter the workforce and lo and behold...I was completely unemployable. My 4 yrs out of the workforce apparently made me a pariah. Good references, a great resume and only slightly outdated database skills aside...I did not get one call. Not one nibble. Nothing.

Bla bla, long story short, I considered a lot of possible future careers and settled on becoming a Speech Language Pathologist. After last year's Grad School rejection, I pursued an online 2nd bachelors degree in Communication Disorders at Utah State University. I found I love the online format. While it has some challenges (like being on my own to seek out and coordinate observations, since I dont have a school-affiliated clinic right there), it has its advantages for a busy mom of 3 with a husband who travels every week.

So I am have now been accepted into Western Kentucky University's Distance Education Master of Science in Communication Disorders program. I have 3 pre-requistites to take this summer at Utah State:

Diagnostic Proceedures
Articulation Disorders
Language Disorders

All three of which are considered three of the most intensive workloads in the USU lineup. Eep. All three kids will be home for 9 of the 12 weeks of the summer semester and my husband is only home 8 days per month. Eep. I'm nervous, but the silver lining is that I should be able to allow myself to get B's since I am already accepted into Grad School.

Once I get through the craziness of summer semester, I will post more about the adventures of balancing grad school with parenthood while still maintaining just a bit of my sanity. Should be fun!