College Wrap Up

May 4, 2019 was the day I graduated with my Bachelors of Science in Human Services.

Wow, I’m actually sitting here typing this up. It seems like it has taken FOREVER but at the same time I feel like it’s FLOWN by.

I know a couple people have asked for more posts about my time in college so I figured I would share some of the questions I’ve gotten in the past and ones I’ve gotten more recently.

1. I remember when you first started your Human Services program you mentioned wanting to focus on domestic violence and abuse but I’ve recently seen where you’ve decided to go into the hospice field instead. Why the change? You’re right, when I first chose my major I wanted to focus on domestic violence and abuse, especially in children, because of my experiences with it in the past. I know what it feels like going through it without help and feeling alone and stuck. I wanted to be someone’s voice, help them with resources, etc. However, when it came time for my internship for my associates degree I was given the opportunity to intern with a hospice agency and at first I was skeptical, worried I wouldn’t be able to handle it, but I needed to complete the internship to graduate so I did it. I ended up FALLING IN LOVE with the field and while on a family visit got a message that this is where I’m meant to be. Once my internship was completed I ended up staying on as a volunteer and had a patient of my own who I’d visit with weekly. I still very much have a passion for helping domestic abuse victims and if given the chance would do so in a heartbeat. My changing of focus doesn’t mean I can’t do domestic violence in the future, as none of my classes or focus in school changed. It still all falls under the human services field.
2. What was your favorite part about college? I’d have to say that my favorite part of college was my internship. I was worried at first but ended up learning so much and fell in love with the field I interned in. I shadowed four of the disciplines under the hospice field – social worker, RN, CNA, and chaplain. While all of them were very informative and interesting in their own way I was definitely more interested in the social work discipline. So that is the path that I plan to follow for my career. 
3. What was your least favorite part about college? The least favorite part of college was definitely the science classes. I know that my degree is a bachelor of science but science classes are not my strong point. 
4. What are your plans now? My plans moving forward are to be a mom and wife for a while and just focus on that. I do want to go back for my masters at some point but right now my kids need me to just be momma. 
5. How do you feel now that you’re graduated? It hasn’t hit me yet. I’m still in the school mindset but I am glad that I don’t have to worry about my procrastination with school work anymore. LOL. It is nice to have my Sunday & Tuesday nights back. 
6. How did you manage to go to school while homeschooling your daughters? I’m a planner so that definitely helped. I plan out my days according to their school work and mine and just go from there. Normally I am mom during the day and after dinner I would get to work on any assignments that I had. This generally meant that I was up really late most nights which made some mornings harder but with so much on my plate it was something that I had to just accept. Our school day only lasts about 3 hours, usually, so once that’s over our day goes back to “normal” and during naptime I would sometimes pull out my stuff if the other two were preoccupied. Autumn has been teaching Sophia how to play Minecraft and all the different things that you can do with the game so once school and lunch is done they generally play that for a bit. Honestly, once you have your routine (doesn’t even have to be a strict one) down it’s pretty easy to just get into the flow of how the day should go. I have put up some day in the life blogs and they kind of show how our days go with schooling and such. If you’re interested in that you can check them out. DITL1 DITL2
7. If you could go back would you choose the same college/major? Yes, definitely. I loved the college that I went to. My whole bachelor degree was online which I loved because it allows more flexibility. The professors that I had (all except one) were amazing, they worked with you, got back to you promptly, and engaged in the discussions each week instead of just the students. As for my major, I would choose it again as well. I love the whole human services field and given what I have learned about it I definitely think this is the right choice for me. 
8. Do you prefer on campus or online more? Online for sure.. however there are some classes that are more suitable to take on campus. With my associates degree I did both on campus and online but with my bachelors degree the college I chose was 6 hours away so I could only do online courses. All but a few of my classes, the ones that I wasn’t as strong in, were great for online. However, those couple of classes I wasn’t as strong in would have probably been better for me in an on campus environment. 
9. In your opinion, is college for everyone? Definitely not! I know plenty of people who have not gone to college and don’t regret it. I also know people who have gone to college and do regret it. Just like everything else in life college is not meant for everyone. It takes a lot of dedication and discipline to meet the deadlines, do your best, and meet any and all requirements set forth by your school. I will say, though, that I wish I would have taken a year or so off after high school to figure out what I wanted to do before jumping into college. I went right out of high school and enrolled in the Accounting program at the local community college. I lasted a year then changed my mind. I changed my major four times before settling on Human Services and finishing my degree. I love the idea of school and learning more about what I am passionate about but I would never judge someone for deciding not to go to college. 
10. What advice do you have? The number one thing I would say is to take time figuring out who you are after high school and give yourself time to figure out what career path you’d like to take. At the end of the day it is going to be YOU doing the work and YOU getting a job in the field that you choose. So choose something that will make you happy and it is OKAY to not know what you want to do! 

xoxo