Introduce yourself & share your story!

[aunicole]

Hello everyone!

We hope that this area of the forums will be utilized by parents and those interested in parenting and child development to gather and share ideas, thoughts, stories, and advice.

Take a minute to introduce yourself and share a story or two.

Most of you know me by now, my name is Nicole. I'm the Associate Registrar here at Ashworth. I don't have any kids of my own, but I do have a background in Child Development. I earned my undergraduate degree in Psychology with a focus on Developmental Psychology. I also completed some graduate work in the area of Child Development & Family Studies. I've worked in a variety of settings with children, including Head Start, a fine arts middle school, elementary special education, and a couple of different preschools. I've worked on research regarding technology in the classroom, emergent reading, autism, and learning styles.

I'll share one of my favorite stories from my stint at a preschool teacher. I worked in the 3-5 year old classroom, but we had a little girl who was only 2 years old who moved up to our class a little early. We had a "water table" in the classroom, where the kids could play with water using different water toys, etc. In order to play at the water table, the kids had to put on an apron so that their clothes did not get wet. The 2 year old girl was playing at the water table one day but did not have an apron on.

I said, "You need to put an apron on if you are going to play at the water table".

She responded, "Why?"

I said, "If you don't wear an apron, your clothes will get wet".

Her response was, "It doesn't matter if my clothes get wet. The water will just evaporate".

How do you argue with that?

I think this story just shows how smart kids can be, even at such a young age. As challenging as it can be to work with children in a classroom setting, the challenges that parents face are in an entirely different universe!

So take a minute to share your story, I'm sure you'll find other students out there who can lend some support and relate to the challenges you face as a parent.

Take care,

[camilla]

Hi Everyone,

I am Camilla. I am the proud parent of 1 little angel named Destiny. She is the love of my life and I love her so much. Having a daughter kind of opened my eyes to the realities of this world. I have always been a very mature and responsible person but some how have managed to procrastinate taking my education to the next level. As soon as I left college I have been employed in the travel industry which is very challenging yet exciting! I have always put off doing my degree for a later date but after having my daughter I decided that I needed to do it now for many reasons.

Firstly having my degree in management is totally vital to me in terms of self satisfaction and knowing that I did all to achieve my ultimate educational goal. Having taken the neccessary steps towards my goal, I totally intend to use this as an example of hard work and dedication to my daughter. Some people believe that when one has kids that its the end of the world; but it doesn't have to be. Having a child to me is an opportunity to get to know yourself better as it is a life long process of discovery.

In addition, having a degree gives me a better chance of earning a better salary which will help me care for my daughter much better financially.

Though it is very challenging to study and make plans when you are a parent it is very important to find it in your inner self to make the time. Dedicate yourself to doing this and rely on your support system no matter how small it is and just keep staying focused on your ultimate goal. However I have learnt that no matter how urgent the deadline for an assignment might be, it is always best to take care of my daughter first; instead of ignoring her; and then get back to the assignment.

So to all fellow students who are parents, both male and female,single, married, or divorced , I say congratulations for making this step to advancing your eduction and all the best with your endeavours.

Camilla

[tmarie09]

hi my name ia tammy,i live in louisiana.i have three girls,a 14year old,a 15 year old,and a 4 year old.i am taking the assocites degree in criminal justice.

[lachonte]

Hi,
I'm lachonte from Florida, proud mother of two sets of twins, age 18 and 15. Finally making it back to finish what I started at age 17, to finish my degree in Ciminal Psychology. I took a break after having my first kids, then I went back to school after my second set of kids, then had to sit out again to secure my position at work since we were having soo many lay offs, 10 years later I am finally at a place where I can come back to recapture my goals. I look forward to finishing my degree!

[auryan]

"lachonte,"

Welcome to our new student forum. Let us know if you have any questions. We're here to help.

I encourage you to take a minute to register with the forum. Upon registering, you'll be able utilize the forum's advanced capabilities, avoid the moderation queu, and communicate with everyone on the forum through either your private forum message box or email once you register. It really speeds up the communications process and makes it easier for us to follow up with you directly.

We hope to hear more from you...

[Krissiharrod]

Hi everybody! I'm Krissi, I'm from Texas (born & raised) and am the proud mother of three beautiful children... there's Emilee(Emmi), she's 5, Elyssa(LyssaJo), she's 3 and Ewan(Bubba), he's 18 months old. I am married to the man I have been with since I was sixteen and we are about to celebrate our 5th anniversary on July 16. I just enrolled in the Paralegal program because I want a better life for my children then what I had and plus I want to give my hubby a break eventually, he is currently working 14 hour days and 2 jobs so I'm hoping that after I am done with my career diploma, I can find a decent job and continue pursuing my associate's degree. I had my first child at nineteen and it has been a rough road financially, especially now with three. I waitressed for a little while but it just wasn't enough for me. I want a challenging and professionial career that will not only put food on the table but make me happy. Ummm... other than raising my kids and going to school, I don't have time for much else but of course, I am still young (24) so I do still enjoy going out and having a good time with my husband or friends. But babysitters are hard to come by... lol so mostly I just stay home and hang out with the family!

[ashworthcarrie]

Hi Everyone,

I'm Carrie, 36yo I live near Philadelphia, PA. I have a beautiful 9yo daughter, Amelia.

I have had a passion for psychology for as long as I can remember and I have finally decided to get the ball rolling and get my degree. I looked around at schools and decided that I wasn't ready to jump into a Bachelors Program after so many (18) years out of school, so I looked at Associate Degree programs and found Ashworth. I love the flexibility of the studying.

My daughter attends a Cyber Charter School, what is this, you ask? Well, it's basically homeschooling with a twist, or even correspondence school for elementary kids...LOL Amelia attends a Public Charter School, but her schooling is done from home. She has a teacher and a Special Ed teacher to help with some ADHD challenges. I am her "academic coach" so I help her with her school assignments daily, I have to send in samples of her work to her teachers each month, and she has phone conferences and internet conferences with her teachers bi-weekly.

So, with my daughter homeschooling, I will be able to do my studying while she is doing her studying!
I look forward to "meeting" other parents here!

Carrie
ashworthcarrie@comcast.net

[jamyerayne]

Carrie,

I am so glad to see that you and your daughter can share in the wonders of distance education...even if it is only across town in her case. I am also delighted that school systems and private schools are catching on to this. I think it will help the distance eduaction world move forward in leaps and bounds!
And there is nothing like a parent pursuing their education to make a child more motivated.

Welcome to AU Carrie, and welcome all the new students. I hope each of you have a wonderful learning experience here.

I'm not AU staff (but happily would be if they decided to hire me....), I am one of your friendly student moderators. If I can help in any way, let me know...

Jamye

[BettyMydland]

Hi Carrie and BIG KUDOS for taking the step to advance your education. I was intrigued when I read about your daughter's home school program. I just got custody of my 9-year old grandson and this is something that may be beneficial to him. Thanks to your post I have something positive to look into. Thanks so much for sharing your story. I know you and your daughter will be a big success.

Betty

[imanixon2]

Hi Everyone,
Let me start with saying what an honor it is to be with such driven people! It will definitely help me along my way to graduation. My name is Heather and I'm a 24 year old sahm to one of the sweetest 1yr old boys ever! I started out college the usual way . Straight out of high school, my 3.5 GPA got me into the local university (of which i did NOT choose to go to). I had been told the only way I would be able to leave for school is if I found something that wasnt offered locally. Well also being young and dumb I didnt take that opportunity and ended up living at home while in college. I really had no idea what I wanted to do, I just knew that I was expected to go. So I picked what I thought was the easiest major, secondary education english. I soon found that I hated reading all those books and things that I got out asap. I stayed in the Liberal Arts college messing around with communications and psychology. I even went so far as to take psych statistics! ugh. moving on... After some bad interactions with my mom, I spur-of-the-moment decided to move out. Packed my loving Sebring and left...still going to class. Realizing that I needed more time to make money, and also that I didnt really know why I was in college now that i had moved out. I decided to work full time. Fast forward, a high school friend introduces me to my hubby...we sorta date for a while, move in together then decide to get married so that we could live to gether and not hide it. Not the best reason no, but it has worked out for 4 years and one baby so far. Fast forward again, we have a house the baby and hubby has a new job so I get to stay home YAY! I had been working as a server for Indigo Joe's and then Cantina Laredo (best hand made margaritas!) So throughout the past 6 years I've been out of HS, I finally realized what I wanted to do...and it's all because I finally decided it was time to really decorate our house. We didnt have alot of money when we moved in and nothing matched or even went with anything! I have been talking with some past coworkers and it dawned on me. College was the one thing really missing from my life. I had never felt right that I hadn't graduated. Of course my altered mind said that world civ was a waste of money for any major aside from well...history. After all has been said and done; here I am at AU. I am thrilled about starting my education again, and am really excited that it's for something I've found a love for: Interior Decorating. After I finish my diploma, I plan to start on my Bachelor's Degree with AU, most likely eBusiness since if I take on my own business, most dealings will be through my potential website.
On a personal note, I spend whatever free time I can find playing WoW or MarioKart on our new Wii. I can also be found in the nail salon if I'm not at home.