How She Does It

Summer break comes to end and the Fall Semester starts next Monday. How did I survive?! Why am I taking classes now at this point in life?! Read on.

Working towards a BA in Health Policy and Administration is my goal. After researching into various career paths and taking into account all of my skills, I found Healthcare is the field for me.

I have an AA in Interior Design which I earned years ago. I worked in that industry for almost 10 years before I began working for Kaiser Permanente in Stockton, CA. From then on, I began forging a path in the healthcare field. I’m in my 13th year with Kaiser Permanente.

My decision to earn a bachelors degree didn’t happen over night. After I spent time assessing myself, I started one online class at San Joaquin Delta College. English 1D was fun! It was just the boost of confidence I needed to confirm I was headed in the right direction. Since then I’ve taken, Algebra, Statistics, and Chemistry which was on campus. This Summer, I enrolled in Mexican American History and Intermediate Spanish, both online.

Taking two classes during the Summer session had been challenging! It almost made me doubt myself but I pulled through. Here’s how I maintained a level of sanity among our busy Summer.

1. Planning – Although this is one of my strong skills, I have been challenged this Summer. I keep my calendars updated (read my methods here) but something still wasn’t working. I felt like I was constantly running behind schedule and out of time. Then I realized that was it. I needed more time in my day. So I did something that I’ve been SO resistant to do. I planned to wake up earlier which is not easy for this “night owl”. With the added hours, I was able to regain control of time and complete my reading assignments.
2. Turn off and tune in – I love social media. However, I had to admit to myself that it was another distraction. Once I limited my viewing I increased my reading and completed homework assignments.
3. Finding joy in the details – The added pressure was starting to cause physical stress and a fibromyalgia flare. I had taken on a larger course load. One on hand I was still wondering what I had gotten myself into and on the other hand I was determined to finish both classes with an A (or B, hey I’d happy with either). I took a “day off” to take care of myself which included not working overtime and getting a massage. Since then, I rewarded myself for the small accomplishments, such as reading a certain amount of pages or completing an assignment that day. Each week these rewards raised my spirits and give me something to look forward to.

These three changes helped me regain control.  Through managing my time I was able to still have time for family during the remaining weeks of Summer.

Good news – I passed Spanish II with a B and Mexican American History with an A-!