So back when I fell in love with Kevin, I quit school. I was a semester away and I left it all for him. To be honest, I was always a good student, but I wasn't terribly dedicated to my education. Real life, like what I'm doing now, was the real goal and I was just giving myself a backup plan. I was studying Child Development at BYU-Idaho when we started dating. He had graduated from BYU and was working in Salt Lake. Once I was serious about him, the thought of not leaving school barely crossed my mind. And I've had no regrets to speak of.
Both Kevin and my mom have been encouraging me to finish since I left. I looked into it once before Noah was born, but the timing just seemed off and the pieces weren't falling into place. Also, I wasn't really internally motivated, so I gave up on the whole thing pretty quickly.
BUT, now I'm doing it. Kristen brought it up on Tuesday and it just felt right. None of my usual excuses came to mind (though I'm sure I could still come up with a few). Yesterday, I applied to BYUI and I'll just take online classes. I'm getting excited to finally do this.
Here's the thing, though, and I can't decide how to feel about this part. They don't offer a Child Development degree online. The closest is a Marriage and Family Studies degree but I surprisingly have only a handful of the required upper-division classes. There are other majors offered, but with each one I would barely use any of my child development classes and I would be looking at a very long road ahead. One I'm just not going to commit to at this phase in my life. It would not work for me, I know that. I think I can only realistically take 2 classes at a time. Maybe three. And if you add up everything I would need to start a new major, I would be in school, all the time, for at least 6 years.
They do offer a solution, though it isn't very impressive. I can get a University Studies degree by having 1 minor and 2 "clusters." A cluster is 12-15 required credits within one area of study. So, I would get a Child Development minor, and clusters in Sociology and Family Studies. It's a bachelor's degree, just a very weak little bachelor's degree. Still. If I do this, I will just have to take 3 classes. That's it. None of my classes will go to waste and I'll be done by the end of the year. Of course, all of this is subject to the approval of the deans of those collages. Maybe some of my classes won't count anymore. They're all pretty much the same as what is offered now, but I don't know how this works. I spoke with one of the deans and he seems so helpful. I love BYUI for that reason. It seems like all of the teachers and administration are really there to help and want to make things work. It has been a long time. It doesn't seem long, but it's been 8 years. It goes so fast, doesn't it?
So, this is the route I'm taking for now. I'm pretty insecure about it though. Just tell me it's a good idea, even if you don't think it is. Or if you have any advice, I'd love to hear it.
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I think it's a wonderful idea and University Studies is not a weak degree. A degree is a degree and I don't know remember what people major in. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance. I enjoy editing papers, etc. I took a couple of online classes at BYU-I and I liked the way they were structured.
ReplyDeleteYou can do this!
Take the degree and be done by the end of the year!! If you had a "career" path and needed certain training for a job then you could switch majors but a bachelors degree hung on the wall in "University Studies" is just as pretty as one in any other field! I love your blog by the way, I find you very inspiring:)(I'm good friends with Brooke R.) Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteI think this is great! And I completely agree with Em - no one cares about the title of your major. You studied Child Devlopment; it's not about anything else. I think it's more important to have the completed degree in your back pocket. Right or wrong, checking the box is all an employeer will care about. Good luck! I can't imagine how hard it would be to go back to school - after eight years and with your boys - so I'm impressed!
ReplyDeleteIt made my heart so happy to read these comments! You've made some great points! You are all wonderful and I'm feeling better about things already. Thanks for the offer to help Em. I may take you up on it, and I'm glad to hear you liked your experience with BYUI online! I'm getting more excited to get started=)
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful, and I think a degree is a degree! Just the fact you want to finish at this time in your life is very impressive!
ReplyDeleteBy the way I loved your post about establishing peace. Your such a good mom, it's good to know I am not the only one that struggles with that kind of stuff:).
DO IT!! Any bachelor is better than no bachelor. Ha and maybe see if you can get any 'life credits' in child development classes for having 5 beautiful boys!
ReplyDeleteSometimes the hard thing is the right thing to do and other times it's not. A lot of degrees are weak. My degree in family studies is weak to be honest. I can't get a very good job with it if I had to...a degree is a piece of paper that says you finished something you started. You can do this! If you wanted to when you're older and the kids are older, you can go back again and get a masters' or something. I'm so excited for you to go back! Especially with how busy your life is right now. what a huge accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteI vote for the three classes and you have a degree route -- makes all that other hard work worth it, and if you ever needed more education, you could apply for a masters somewhere. And really, if something DID happen, getting a current masters degree, which would only take a couple of years, is going to be much more marketable in the long run than an out-dated bachelors degree in a field where there aren't many jobs to begin with. I speak as a Family Science graduate -- if I needed to provide for my family, you can bet the first thin I'd do is get a masters.
ReplyDeleteI think it's an awesome idea that you will never regret once it's over! And you can totally do it! Just keep at it!
ReplyDeleteI am impressed. Super impressed. Some days my biggest accomplishment is showering ;) You can totally do this and I am so proud of you!!
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you're going back to finish your degree! Getting a bachelor's is a big accomplishment and it also means that you'll be that much closer to whatever else you may want to do later on. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteTotally go for it!!! That's so awesome! University Studies sounds so great! And it would totally look the same as my child development major with a minor in sociology. Remember when we had to plead our case with Sis. Ahlander for that one!! Good luck!!!
ReplyDeleteA Bachelor's Degree in University Studies is not weak. You are simply combining studies from multiple areas. They simply can't name it "Sociological Family Studies Degree." You rock. I say go for it.
ReplyDeleteNat, we should talk! I think there is a way you could still get your Child Development degree! Dean got his degree from BYUI and he finished his last few classes online from BYU Independent Study. It took no less than 4 petitions to get it to work out, but we did it! Its hard to explain, but technically he had to re-apply to be a student, petition to finish his last credits off campus (they usually require the last 30 credits be in-house), and a few other things. But look and see how many classes you need for the Child Dev degree, and then see if BYU independent study offers them... But, even if you can't go that route, a University Studies degree is just fine :) You won't ever have to say it, unless you're applying for a job or something. For all intents and purposes, you studied Child Deveolpment in college ;)
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