My Return to School!

Tomorrow's success begins today :)

My husband's so excited - he's married to a high school chick! (Ha!)

I never thought that when I graduated ten years ago, I'd be going back to high school to take SCIENCE classes. I'd thought that once I was done, I was done! Funny how life's path twists and turns like that.

Week one of grade eleven university-level biology is behind me. It's been fun, super interesting, tiring, and stressful. I have found that I'm putting a TON of pressure on myself to finish the class fast, which was stressing me out .. Even my teacher noticed and told me it would be better to take my time and to walk instead of run - no pressure. Since then I've been really taking time to really understand the subject, and I'm enjoying what I'm learning!

Apparently I'm also a perfectionist! I want to get the very best grades I can in this class, and in all the other prerequisites I take .. The higher the grade I get, the better chance I have at beating the competition and getting accepted into my program at the university.

At first I was a little embarrassed to share what I've been learning so far, because many of my friends learned this stuff in high school over ten years ago .. But my head is up and I'm full of pride - better learned late than never at all :)

So I now know all about Darwin and his trip on the HMS Beagle and his discoveries of evolution .. It's so interesting!! Natural (and artificial) selection is absolutely fascinating! We even went over artificial selection in foods (ahem GMO's) and that triggered all sorts of excitement in me - I can't wait to get more into that stuff.

A little intro to the topic of GMO's with GMF's!

Now I'm getting into genetics and all that fun (complicated!) stuff. It's a lot to learn but I'm up to the task!

Some of my thoughts from the week:

1. School on 4.5 hours of sleep is NOT a good thing. Especially when one doesn't have a travel mug to bring coffee!

It's not Second Cup, but it's friggin coffee at school and it's friggin FREE!! :)

2. There's a very young guy in my class who looks just like the Biebs. I considered asking him for a picture.

Classmate?

3. I've known this for some time now, but I suffer extreme separation anxiety from my kids. Leaving to go to school is VERY hard for me, even though it's something I enjoy. I'm hoping it eases up over time ..

4. Getting into the topic of GMO's and food science makes me so excited that I wonder, do I do the dietician thing or do I get into food science research?! Time shall tell ..!

GMF's make for a fascinating and controversial topic.

5. Adult high school has fun activities like a regular high school - they do college tours, have pancake Tuesdays, have guest speakers, etc. Kind of cool :)

6. Adult high school is self-taught. There isn't one teacher, leading a class on one course - it's one teacher, there to help numerous students in several classes. I'm taking biology, but there are other students taking chemistry. We teach ourselves out of textbooks, workbooks and computers, and the teacher is there for help and guidance. And they are SO dedicated to your success, which is highly motivating!

7. Getting up at 6am sucks .. But my favorite part about my morning routine is how easy it is. I eat the breakfast I'd prepared the night before (life saver!!), grab my snacks that I'd also prepared the night before, and set out my hubby's morning coffee and breakfast (cuz I'm an awesome wife). I get about an hour to myself to read or to catch up on some tv. This is also where I get to spend some time with my other husband, coffee. When I get better accustomed to waking up so early, I plan on using this spare time for yoga!

Waking up to find notes like these = greatness.

8. My favorite part about the (looooooong) bus ride into school is the transit path through the university. It's so cool seeing the students bustling around to their classes, carrying their books and laptops and coffee .. Makes me really excited to know that I'll be a part of that crowd one day!

9. One of my favorite teachers from elementary school works as a teacher at the adult high school .. I haven't gathered up the courage to say hi yet.

Anyhow .. Methinks I've rambled on enough for one post! (Are you still awake?!).

So that was my first week back to school.

Have you ever considered going back?