Well, y’all, it’s 3:06 AM on Sunday and I’ve just submitted the first pass of assignments for my classes at State. I’ll be up for awhile doing some writing for my book and I’m in a pile of a million notes and my to-do list is 12.2 miles long and my body is, well, my body (as it will be no matter what I’m doing) and I’m wiped and I couldn’t be happier.
My amazing husband has been working so hard to basically rearrange our whole house (again) so Sara has her own study (with Goblin, her fur baby) and I have my own study (and it’s ahhh-mazing) and I already have my library fixed back up (and it’s wonderful) and my phone booth library of old is now a beautiful prayer closet.
There are so many good good things, and, when they are done, I will be posting pictures for sure.
For now, though, I have to share with y’all the tale of this woman’s first week back to school in several years.
Don’t misunderstand me – it is wonderful and I am stoked to be a Bully.
It is also a new school that does everything differently and a new semester, so, of course, I have to learn how everything works. . .
On Monday, classes opened and I was just inundated with all kinds of videos to watch and background information to read and SO much content that was necessary but wasn’t actual course content. Basic new student stuff.
Okay.
Well, I dug and dug through it.
I was also content writing and dealing with serious painsomnia with some weather changes (which will just be the life of a spoonie student sometimes).
Still, my books blessedly arrived from the campus bookstore on Tuesday and I started working through my assignments and doing discussion board posts and whatnot.
What you need to understand about online courses – particularly in classes like philosophy and history – is that they are really reading and writing intensive. How else would you be taught and evaluated, right?
Well, I love philosophy and the class I’m in seems like it’s going to be really great.
The first week’s material was really interesting and in depth. It took me hours to read and watch and sort through. Then I wrote a lengthy response post for the discussion board and posted it and sat back and stretched and clicked immediately over to start a history class that still just HAD to happen even though I was tired from being up for 20 or so hours and just FRIED.
And when I read the history discussion board question in advance of the material?
I was clearly reading words – they just made no sense to me as sentences.
In that very moment, it was as if I had never heard of Jamestown or the New England colonies in my LIFE, much less considered their economies or religious thoughts. Their relationships with Native Americans? The Native Americans should have chased them into the sea. Probably not a valid discussion board answer in and of itself (also I didn’t have enough brain to type it).
What’s worse, it’s didn’t get any better with a re-read.
Finally, I called to Sara in her study and said, “Hey, Bug, I know these words on this screen mean things – but I don’t know what they mean anymore.”
And she busted out laughing, as a long-term online student, and said, “Ma, that’s when you know it’s time to go to bed.”
Bahahaha!
As it turned out, the next morning, on the boards, many of my younger classmates reported they had never learned the particulars of these questions in high school. I can’t claim that as my teachers were incredibly thorough. I probably did – but I’ve had a hot minute to forget.
Regardless, it’s all class content this semester.
I am happy to report, though, that the words did actually mean things at least after some sleep. So that was progress – and, after I organized my thoughts (ahem, had coffee), I was able to answer the questions in a cohesive manner.
Hallelujah!
I was then able to wade through all of the other add-on content and get organized and get ready for what looks to be a fabulous, crazy busy, amazing semester.
Let’s do this thing.
Hail State.
Be well, everybody. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Grace and Blessings.
the autoimmune hippie. 