Are you applying for Scholarships?

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. I finished one or two classes at the University of Phoenix  and right now am currently on a break. I've experienced a few struggles due to loss in the family as the holidays have come, so I figured it was time to take a breather. Despite the struggles, I still have great news. I am not sure if I've mentioned my efforts to apply for scholarships; if I haven't, well I suppose you know now. With that, I get to say that I received great news this morning. I won my second scholarship!

A HUGE thank you to The Courage to Grow Scholarship and to Kim for selecting my story as the winning essay from November's applicants. I'm so excited and flattered.

To all those of you who are out there attending college, I will say this: APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS! It requires time and effort, but if you apply yourself, you can DEFINITELY do it! I've even linked the first one you can go apply for! :)

Blogger Glitch

I have no idea what happened, but somehow, I managed to comment on all of my posts with the same information that I put in my blog. Weird! Sorry for the hiccup!

Scholarship Hunting: Olene S. Walker Foundation

Well, let me start out by saying this, "If you don't ask, they can't tell you no." My dad used to say that to us all the time. I'm sure it's widely used, but it's something I credit to him. That said, I have an experience that reiterates that statement, even though it doesn't have the most happy ending possible.

If you don't know, I live in Utah, and one of the scholarships offered here is the Olene S. Walker Foundation Transition to Adult Living Scholarship. (If you are in Utah, use your preferred search engine to find the current scholarship application.) Note, if you are over the age of 26, you are outside of the age limit for this scholarship.

Going forward with the point of this post; I decided to e-mail the contact for the scholarship application to ask if they would consider accepting my application despite my age. After a few corresponding e-mails and phone calls, I am excited to say that they decided to go ahead and let me apply, On the other hand, while I was able to apply, I found out this evening that because I am enrolled in a private school, they would be unable to award the scholarship to me based on that. In order to receive the scholarship, I would need to transfer to a public school, despite my contact having a positive opinion of University of Phoenix.

I feel that I'm at a fork in the road right now. I am awaiting her response which will likely come tomorrow. I wrote this e-mail that is long and detailed about why Phoenix has been such a great choice for me but I'm too afraid to send it because I am afraid I will seal my fate in not getting the scholarship. At the same time, I don't want to waste any one's time. That and I'm convinced that chances are slim in finding a Utah based public school that will allow online study, contain the shorter weeks of class, and still maintain such a beneficial level of interaction and authenticity with its students.

I warned you, the ending wasn't happy fuzzy; however, the ending wasn't the point; the middle was. I got the courage to reach out and ask if my application could be considered and I was told yes. Of anything, that was my biggest accomplishment and a testament to what I was raised being told,

"They can't tell you no if you don't ask."

So here's my tip: ASK!!!

Grade update

Haha! I got my grade back today! Guess who got a solid A?! This gal right here! Holy cow! It took my GPA from a 3.67 to a 3.84. Awesome! Now, back to homework for my present class. *Oy*

+1 for good grades! :D

I Survived BSHS 325

Well, I would love to write specifically about my group experience over this last class, but time restraints and household requirements bid me to not. I will say this: that group was probably by far my greatest challenge in school so far. I now know what it feels like to have to hold up the group. Yikes. Hats off to those of you who have to pull far more than your own weight in group projects!

I did learn a great deal in this class as opposed to my last one. I learned a lot about the different systems involved with people and human services and even more topics that I couldn't begin to cover in this post alone. I really enjoyed that class and I feel the need to mention that my instructor, M. Perrotta (I'm not sure if we are allowed to announce their full names--I will look into that) was an amazing teacher, despite a few minor complications I may have had.

Ms. Perrotta really pushed me to go outside of my comfort zone both with my group and in my personal writing. I can't even express the amount of excitement I felt when I read her feedback on my last two papers stating that she was very proud of the progress I had made. I definitely learned quite a bit as far as writing as well as about the topics I presented.

Overall, it was a very hard class, but it was well worth the stress (I think). I'll post a grade update as soon as I receive it. I can't wait to see my final grade; I'm pretty sure it's around 95-96%, Fingers crossed!

Tip: For those of you attending school, particularly online classes: do not give up. Push through and when you think you can't take any more, push harder!!!  Cheers from a perfect stranger; I'm definitely rooting for you!

Plan For College: 8 Ways to Keep in Touch with College Kids in the D...

Plan For College: 8 Ways to Keep in Touch with College Kids in the D...: You and your semi-adult children may be in different ballparks when it comes to communication - both philosophically and technologically. ...

Courage to cry

Well, some of you may know that I have been applying for several scholarships lately in hopes of funding my schooling. It's quite an intimidating process when you sit down and think about it. I have a lot of things working against me. I'm not a high school student, I'm not over the age of 50, I haven't been out of school for 7 or more years (but I've been fighting my way through school for 7--does that not count?!), and I don't have a lot of community service or outstanding merits to grant me consideration. I have my writing skills which can be mediocre when I'm trying to convey a message about myself, and I have my life experience. I've been trying to get involved in volunteering, I just seem to be hindered by not knowing where to start. All that being said, I applied for the Courage to Grow scholarship. I tried very hard with this one. I told myself that I would do okay and that I was equal to my competition.

I've checked their page every couple of days since the end of last month. The e-mail came to me today and I got super excited...until I finished reading it and hopped over to their website. It wasn't me. It was another young lady who discussed what it was like to grow up in a home where she wasn't able to eat yummies because they were for her mom's work. She talked of writing a book with her sister that will reflect the life of a caterer. It's a great read. It really is. The problem I keep finding myself in is that  I can't help but think, "I don't want to write my 'sob' story. I want to write my future story." (No, I'm not indicating that her's was a sob story at all. It does reflect that hardship that she endured as a kid though in a good light). I was crying before I started reading her story because it was a hard reminder that I'm not able to convince people that I'm worth investing in; that my future is what is worth investing in because my past is outdated and only serves as a reminder to where I will never be again and where I hope to keep kids from being. I haven't been able to convince anyone that my untold future story is what's worth investing in...yet.

I'll get off my soap box now and sit back down at the computer thinking of what I need to write in order to convince someone that my past isn't what's important (sure, it's a good convincing story, but it's not what I want my qualification to be based on), it's my future.

Epiphanies in Class Discussions

Well, I'm happy to say that this week, I finished a full day ahead of schedule, meaning that I have an extra day to get ahead on the coming week's assignments. That shouldn't be as exciting as it is. LOL!

One of our discussions this past week was about "old people" in the work place. Our instructor posted a discussion question asking our opinions of having aged individuals in the workplace. I was quite shocked (but only slightly) at the number of responses from my classmates that felt that having "old" people at work was not ideal. Reasons for included that "they [aged individuals] are set in their ways," "they can't be taught new things," and that "they don't understand." That's just to name a few. I was very disappointed to read things like this.

My response reflected a story I read in elementary school about an emperor who wanted a string to be threaded through a warped log which had a hole drilled through it. Many young people tried tirelessly to get this string threaded through this warped old log with no success. An older individual asked to try and was basically laughed at, but still given the opportunity. The older gent tied the string to an ant and placed the ant at one end of the log and a pile of sugar at the other end. The ant crawled through the hole in the log, thereby successfully threading the string through the log. The basic moral of the story was that someone who is old does not mean that they are not useful or wise. From the time I read this story, it changed my perception of "old" people. To this day, I no longer view someone who is older and grey as someone who is incompetent. Instead, I know that the individual has experience and knowledge that at my age, I can't yet comprehend. Therefore, the people who are "washed out" and "un-teachable" in the eyes of so many young folk actually deserve respect and a listening ear because they are our past and we will eventually be their present.

My opinion of the aging community was further strengthened by my readings tonight. The book we are reading out of discussed the trials that the older generations are facing. Social Security not being enough for them to live off of. Other supplemental incomes offered that still don't allow them to even live comfortably; most living on the cusp of poverty. We forget that much of the older and aging generation lived a life trying to pave the way for us younger folk. Their sweat and tears is what allows us to be here now, making the advances, getting our education, and more. Our parents who are entering the age of medicare dependency are the ones taking care of our grandparents while still trying to raise us, "the sandwich generation" is the other name for our parents. Are we forgetting all of these important things that our parents and grandparents have done and are continuing to do for us to ensure our lifelong success? Mom is taking care of Grandpa to make sure that I don't have to stress about it so I can attend school. Mom and Dad are paying for the house that will likely get passed down to me and my siblings when I'm older so I'm not homeless. Those narratives aren't my life experience, but I see so many younger students whose parents are doing exactly that.  It made me slightly sick to think of how entitled the younger generation (including my own young-ish generation) feels. We think that the older generation does not deserve to be helped through support programs, larger social security benefits, welfare, and supportive aids, yet, dare we think about where we are headed? If you must view it in personal befitting eyes, then at least consider that their [the aged and aging] present fate will be the equivalent of your future one.

Ending Week 2 of BSHS325 (Human Systems and Development)

Holy cow! (I feel like I've said that before.)

First, if I didn't mention it before, I did receive my final grade from my first course (Historical Development of Human Services). I ended up receiving an A- and a 3.67 GPA overall. I'll take it!

(Side note, my last week's score was only 81.57% which I cringed when I saw, but that's only 15.5/19 and still 81 course points left to earn over the next few weeks.)

 Onto week 2 of my present course. Again, let me say, holy wow! This week has been a tough one for me. My new learning team really struggled to get together this week and I honestly hit the point of just taking a zero on the assignment (which would really have inhibited my ability to get an A in this class--remember the collective group assignments are worth 30% of your grade).

Instead of giving up, I decided to try harder. Of course, this resulted in me feeling incredibly stressed out and completely losing two nights of sleep, but we all managed to pull together today and work on the assignment as a real group! It was amazing to see it really happen! I didn't think I could handle trying to do it. After we finished our 'meeting,' I even received a compliment from one of my group members about it. That felt really good. Now, I'm just waiting on the slides to be sent to me so I can put together and edit the slideshow presentation that is due tomorrow night.

I learned a couple of things today. This group work that I was so irritated about, is actually helping me in a leader type of way. I think. I feel weird saying that. Now that it's out there though, I actually managed to pull together a small group of people and get us all on the same page and collectively working on an assignment as a group. It was awesome. I don't think I've done that before, not in a beneficial way. I was able to be patient, even though I was freaking out here at home, and I was able to still communicate positively and with praise to them and not demonstrate frustration and anger, despite feeling it. I can do that in my professional life, so long as I have some sort of positive outlet (ie, a private ear), but I've always struggled with it when it comes to educational factors. I feel like I moved a mountain on the inside. (You can laugh now, if you aren't already).

So this week, here's what I'd offer:

1) When you feel like giving up, give it another shot and push yourself harder than you did before.
2) Put aside any personal negative emotions that you may be having. Don't project them onto other people, whether or not they were a contributing factor. It always comes down to your attitude.
3) Even if you are timid and don't feel like you are good leader, you can make it work as long as you keep 1 and 2 in mind.

Good luck! You got this!

BSHS 325 Week 1

Holy CRAP!!! That's the first thing I need to say. I made the biggest mistake ever for a class this short. If you don't know already, University of Phoenix's classes run 5 weeks per class, except in certain types (some internships for example, are 15 week courses). This is a 5 week class, which starts on Tuesday and each week's assignments are due by the following Monday at 11:59 PM. Luckily for me, I have an additional hour because their time basis is an hour ahead of mine...yea!

Anyhow, back to this...this course started this past Tuesday (it's now the wee early hours of the following Monday). Because my last class ended the day before the new class started, I decided to give myself a break and log in a day late to class, which isn't a big deal. WRONG! Had I logged in the day class opened (which technically is one day before the start of class), I would have seen that we had SIX chapters to read the first week. I would have also seen that there are 5 chapters for each additional future week in this course. Did I mention SIX chapters? Did I also mention that several are around 50 pages each...when transferred to Microsoft Word Calibri 9 pt font with the photos removed? OUCH!

So all that being said, I sure kicked myself in the 'tucas' (as my father in law would say) for not getting on it sooner. I just barely completed a 1000 word essay and a worksheet of sorts with probably close to the same amount of words. *SIGH* Rough start to a seemingly intense class. Kind of kicking myself for not doing the psychology degree because at least with psychology, I have studied so much of it that I would just be getting a brush up. Okay, that being said, human services isn't really a shock to the system, but they definitely give you assignments where you need to have read the entirety of all the chapters and be able to refer back through them.

I'd like to add this: If you are enrolled here, learn from my mistake; LOG INTO CLASS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! You might otherwise find out you have a few thousand words that you will need to write in assignments and 5 or 6 chapters to read. Lesson learned. 

Class 1: Assignments

Well, I finally got a couple of the assignments from my BSHS 305 course uploaded. Unfortunately, Blogger is not quite as file friendly as yolasite, so I went ahead and uploaded some of my assignment files to my yolasite page. You can check it out here: Chandreyee's Yolasite

My first Class BSHS 305

BSHS 305: Historical Development of Human Services: An Introduction

Coming from my old school, there was quite a shock to my system starting this course. I'm attending the University of Phoenix online program for the Bachelors in Human Services (in case I haven't mentioned that so far). My associates degree is in Psychology so the switch from Psych (which I love and am passionate about) over to Human Services was quite a dramatic change in curriculum.

With this class, if you have a good head on your shoulder, the information presented should be no sort of new information for you. There's a great ordeal of information about the ethical code of conduct for a human service professional, loads of information on the client-helper relationship, and general information about how a professional should conduct themselves when dealing with themselves, clients, colleagues, other professionals, and employers. Again, I feel I must reiterate, most of the information given to you is pretty general knowledge, and if you have a good sense of general ethical and moral judgement, the information itself should be a breeze.

On the other hand, the intensity of this course is not so insignificant. In the second week, we had a 350 minimum word brochure we had to create. In the 3rd week, a 1,050 - 1,400 word paper about Clients, the 4th week an interoffice memo, and the final week, a 5-10 powerpoint slide show.

Seems simple enough right? Did I mention that you must also make 8 "significant" posts per week, participate in group projects which are equally as large, if not larger than the above mentioned projects, as well as read 2 chapters per week, a 5-10 page article per week, knowledge checks (approx 20 questions), and module quizzes? *take a deep breath now*. Okay, so the coursework ended up being quite a bit more intense than I had imagined it would be. Seriously. Additionally, group projects are worth 30% of your grade, so that was nerve wrecking by itself.

Here are my suggestions to those of you who are taking this course, or ANY course at University of Phoenix:
1) Pace yourself, the work isn't necessarily a quick shot assignment
2) Don't forget to participate in the class discussions
3) Be authentically you, but caution yourself on how forward you are
4) Getting ahead is ideal
5) Truly read and understand the material, even if you know the information. Knowledge checks are beasts and so are the quizzes...they want to know that you read the material.
6) BREATHE! Walk away when you need to.
7) Get to know a classmate or two and the instructor if at all possible. (I e-mailed my instructor and asked her to share her background with me because the "Instructor Policies" is just that: policies. No personal touch to it.)

Transferring Credits to Phoenix

Well, I'll start by saying this....if I didn't have the guy that signed me up (Robert) helping me through this particular process, I may have actually just given up. At present, I am still waiting on the University of Phoenix to drop the college math course II. When I enrolled, the initial credit transfer process was smooth and simple. I didn't have any issues, but the one catch was that I was still enrolled at the local community college completing my last course for my associates degree. Once I completed the associates, the new credit from the statistics course that I had completed was supposed to be transferred over. Rather than Phoenix taking care of this for me, I have had to do quite a bit of digital foot work. Downloading forms, sending copies of my credits, etc. As you can see below, I'm still waiting on the official process to be completed. 

That information being shared, I would say that while the initial transfer was beautifully smooth, this second portion has been far less simple. The first e-mail I sent regarding this was on September 11. Those who know me know that I'm incredibly impatient. Maybe a week is an appropriate time frame, but to me, it feels like an eternity, especially with how quickly these courses move. (5 Weeks each). Hopefully, this gets taken care of quickly, given that today marks day 7 (and nearing day 8) that I am waiting on this. The reason that this particular situation bothers me so much is because I was under the impression that initially, I wouldn't have to worry about it and that Phoenix would request an updated transcript from the college I was previously attending. That did not happen, which was what really bothered me about this. Says me who is sitting here blogging about it, then again, it's actually kind of nice just blurbing it out there, even without response.

My suggestions to anyone who is transferring credits to the University of Phoenix:
1) If you are currently enrolled in a different school and attending a class at the time you are interested in enrolling at Phoenix, wait until you finish the class(es) that you are presently in. This will make the transfer process smooth, quick, and efficient.
2) Keep in touch with the person who helped you get enrolled. They will be your biggest advocate until you get to know your advisers better.
3) Be persistent, but not demanding.

That being said, I'm out. See y'all next blog.

A break from the norm

Well, today I'm taking a break from all the school stuff...okay, maybe only a couple hours. My sister flew in from Michigan and I'm so glad to see her.

In the mean time, today I did finish writing my scholarship essay. I'm so nervous about it, but I feel like it's mostly good enough. I will be having a teacher from a local school review it for me and hopefully, I will have it ready to be turned in later next week. In the mean time, I have a few more essays to write. My hopes is that this one will be the first scholarship essay I submit, even though it's the second one I've been working on.

Enrolling in the University of Phoenix

I had been debating attending the University of Phoenix for quite some time. I knew it was coming close to decision time so I started calling some local colleges, including Weber State University, University of Utah, and a few others. All offered good programs and relatively reasonable tuition costs for the school type, but just didn't feel like they were schools that would work for me.

Some coworkers of mine had given me feedback on their experience at Phoenix and none of it was bad other than cost, so I decided to contact them. (866.766.0766).  I told them I was only inquiring and didn't want to be pressured into anything and they were good about that. Realistically, I knew I was going to attend because I didn't want to mess of large campuses and thousands of students.

I ended up in contact with Robert D'Alton through UoPhx whom was fabulous about giving me the information I needed, and allowing me to take my time and decide what I wanted to do. (Mind you, by the point that I finally was enrolled for classes, it had been months of collaborating back and forth with questions, questions, and more questions.)

Bob helped me understand all the information I needed to know and got me set up and on track. He regularly checked in with me to see where I was at with getting ready for school and if there was anything he could do to help. Of course, there was (and continues to be) plenty of things that I can use help with and he was (and is) fantastic at getting things moving and getting answers for me.

Overall, I'd have to say the enrollment process itself was smooth and without too much head ache. I figure, if I had been a normal transfer (as in, wasn't completing an associates at the time of the transfer), I would have had zero problems with getting in and going.

The Bachelor's Nightmare Begins

Well, I finally did it. I finished my associates degree and started on my Bachelor's. I decided to attend the University of Phoenix because personally, I prefer online classes and overall being able to work on my own. There's so many things I have to say already and while most of them are good, there's definitely a few frustrating points. All of that information will be posted later on as shorter blog posts, otherwise, we will both be sitting here for a while.

Quick summary of what's ahead:
Enrolling for school
Transferring credits
Getting financial aid straight
Signing up for classes
My first course
Required "Groups"
Switching academic programs