Forever A 3rd Grader

The Day I Wrote A Personal Narrative

Being a 3rd grader is fun.  Being a 29-year old doing 3rd grade for the third time is not as much fun.  But it's 2020 and the mannying game has turned into a cyber schooling game.  Trying to cyber school a child with severe ADHD is honestly the most difficult thing I have ever had to do.  So to keep myself sane, I have decided to work alongside my little 3rd grader in some of his classes.  For example, he is making concentric circles in art class right now.  We have been having a blast working on those together.  This week, he is writing a personal narrative.  And that is what today's post is.  My personal narrative.

"Personal narratives should have dialogue and characters," the 3rd grade teacher told the class.

The characters in my personal narrative are both struggling through this school year.  My little 3rd grader is losing patience with school.  I am losing patience with the headaches this kid is giving me.  Anyone who knows me well knows I wouldn't trade my mannying gig for anything in the world.  I've begun to consider my options.

Thank goodness the boys physically go back to school in less than a month.  It's a hybrid situation, so they'll be working from home some days, and going in to school others, providing me with a much needed sanity break.

A personal narrative follows a sequence of events.  The kid and I are currently rocking out to some music while working on our circles.

A personal narrative should be either informative, entertaining, or used to persuade.  This is more of a thought dump.

A personal narrative needs a conclusion.

In conclusion, it's almost time for gym class.

The End

The Life of Philip, Chapter 2

On Tuesday, September 4, 2018, my mom and I set out on a cross country trek to Rexburg, Idaho.  Rexburg is the home of Brigham Young University Idaho campus, where I will be finishing up my Bachelor's degree in Psychology.  For the first time in twenty-seven years, I will be living somewhere other than my parents house.  This is a new beginning for me.
I have waited for this day for a long time.  I have felt that I have been ready to live independently for awhile.  All I needed was the proper motivation.  While attending the community college in Pennsylvania, I switched majors numerous times.  While working with the boys, I finally decided on majoring in Psychology with hopes to become a middle school guidance counselor.  I have never felt a hundred percent sure about a major until now.  Working as a Manny for the past two years helped me in this decision.
The most difficult part of moving was leaving my Manny job.  I have grown to love the boys as if they were my own.  Imagine having to leave your children so you can move on with your life.  It hurts a lot.  Saying goodbye was rough. 
I have been trying to focus on my future, though.  Just two and a half more years before I get my Bachelor's degree, then on to my Master's.  I've got a lot of schooling ahead of me, but it will all be worth it in the end.  I'm looking forward to continuing my education.
Being on the opposite side of the country from my parents will be different, but I'll have my younger brother and some friends near by.  And I'm excited to meet new people and make friends.
Although I'm not entirely emotionally ready to leave, I know that I am mentally ready.  I have been trying to become more independent in the past couple years and feel that I am ready to live on my own.  As I meet new people and work new jobs, I will become more comfortable being away from those I love most.  The future is bright.  I'm ready to bask in what is to come.

Goals for 2018

The year 2017 was pretty good to me.  But it could have been better.  I could have saved more money.  I could have eaten healthier.  I could have done more to further my education.  But overall, I am satisfied with how I spent this last year.  For 2018, I'm setting up goals for myself.  Simple goals that will help me out in the long run.
My first goal is to continue my education.  I am currently taking an online religion course.  I am also signed up for math class at the community college that starts in January.  I am currently working on applying to Brigham Young University Idaho.  I just need an interview and to write one more essay.  I have found that, now that I know for certain what I want to do with the rest of my life (middle school guidance counseling), my level of self-efficacy and determination has increased.  I am more willing to push myself academically.
My next goal is to live healthier.  I have a kind of bipolar appetite.  Sometimes all I think about is food.  Other times, I don't want to eat.  Sometimes all I eat is junk.  Other times, I crave vegetables and protein.  I need to learn to balance my food choices.
In 2017, I did an awesome job of saving money.  Until my car had to go to the shop.  Four times in 2017, twice in the past three months.  Fortunately, I had enough money for the repairs and a rental.  But now, I am stressing out.  If only I had saved more.  As well as I did saving money, I still went out and spent more than I should have.  I have become addicted to wearing shorts.  I bought three pairs of shorts this year, and even more t-shirts to go along the the shorts.  I spend a lot of money on books.  And, because I drive at least six days a week, I end up filling up my gas tank twice a week.  So in 2018, my goal is to only spend money on necessities.  I need to save more than I spend.
These are all realistic goals that don't take a lot of work.  I just need determination and focus.  I want to make 2018 the best year of my life so far.

The Non Traditional Student

Ok, so I guess I'm still pretty young.  But it doesn't feel that way sometimes.  Especially in school.  I am the 26-year old sitting next to the fresh-out-of-high-school student, usually asking the youngster for help.  It's strange seeing people who graduated high school years after me graduating college before me.  It's honestly starting to annoy me.  But there is no one to blame but myself.
After graduating high school, I immediately registered with the local two year community college.  I then waited a year to begin classes.  I paid everything out of pocket.  No loans, scholarships, or grants.  It was pretty pricey.  So I waited a couple semesters until going back to school.  Now, six years later, I am a Sophomore,  still taking classes at the two year community college.  There are pros and cons to still being in school at my age, though.

Pros:

• Since I've been paying out of pocket, I'm not in debt.
• I've had plenty of time to work to help pay for classes.
• I've changed majors several times.  Fortunately, I haven't taken enough classes to get to far ahead for any majors.  I've pretty much got my generals out of the way.
• After I turned 23-years old, I could no longer claim to be a dependent with my parents.  The amount I was eligible for in grants went way up.  I took my first full-term semester for free!

Cons:

• I'm normally one of the oldest people in my class.
• All my friends have awesome jobs while I'm still trying to figure out the Quadratic formula.

Huh!  Not as many cons as I thought there would be.  And when I think of the cons, I remind myself that, even though it's taking a long time, I  am going to college.  I have friends who were amazing students in high school who showed a lot of promise, then dropped out of college because of drugs or alcohol.  So even though I feel like I'm stuck in a rut, I try to remember that I am moving forward. I might not get to where I want to be right away, but I am still making my way to the finish line.