Back to College at Any Age

            I have wanted a college education since I started having children.  Don’t get me wrong.  My lifelong dream has been to be a mother.  I was a mother to my own children.  I was a mother to foster babies.  I was a mother to children I worked with at school who didn’t have a mother of their own.  I am currently a “mother” to my disabled older brother.  I love the role of nurturing and teaching.  I love watching others grow. 

Eight gorgeous grandchildren

            I am at that stage in my life where my children have children of their own.  I have eight beautiful grandchildren.  Two baby girls were born just last year.  When my youngest daughter became a single mother, I had the blessing of having her and her gorgeous daughter moved back into our home for a few years.  Last year my daughter was encouraged by her older sister to come and live with them in Utah and attend college.  It’s been a year now since both my daughter and granddaughter have been gone.  I think my daughter described it best when she left by saying, “It feels like the band is breaking up.”  I have come to learn that, although, all my children and grandchildren live in Utah, the mothering doesn’t end.  As I was listening to the song, “Landslide” I was struck by the lyrics, “Well, I've been afraid of changing, 'cause I've built my life around you, but time makes you bolder, even children get older, and I'm getting older too.”

            I have always been afraid of change.  I wanted to freeze each stage of my children’s life and not see it pass by. I wanted loved ones to live on earth forever. We haven’t moved out of our house in 28.5 years!  But change is not always a bad thing.  Changes bring new opportunities for growth and development. 

        

    I started my dream of a college education 
through the Pathways program.  It was a blessing to my life.  It brought confidence and excitement.  I started BYU-I as a Business major because that would support my career as an Administrative Assistant.  Then I realized two things.  One, is that I would probably be retired before I graduated; and two, I really don’t like Business.  So, I decided to study what I love. – Marriage and Family.  I love family.  I love being married. 

            My goal is to continue on this path and take as many classes as I can to reach my goal of graduation before I am old enough to retire!  One day I will be able to cross that goal off my bucket list.  Currently, I plan to volunteer in my community at the children’s home and at a shelter for birth mothers.  When my children were small we took in babies prior to adoption and birth mothers through LDS Family Services.  Each story was complex and compelling.  Any work that I could do as a career working in the capacity as a support for single mothers would be a dream job for me.  I have a strong desire to help, encourage and support mothers and children in whatever way that I can.  

          So go on. Sign up for some classes. The world is waiting for you!