Advice from an Advisor:

Today was the big day!! I will tell you how it went in a few minutes, but first, my painful 3.75 hours of the day. So I'm working with a few IEP kids in the building I'm in. I'm also working for the Alternate school, which is in the same building, and we all know how much I am enjoying the little "perps" (that's what the teacher calls them). The first hour and a half goes pretty good. One of my IEP kids(a senior)and I are reading a book together, The five people you meet in heaven (by Mitch Albom). My senior has a hard time focusing, so I read the book aloud to him. When we are done, we will write a paper, our third in 2 weeks. I do enjoy this time, and find the work productive, mostly. While reading aloud, my senior will say things like, "My brother is pretty screwed up. He is an addict and I guess he needs the stuff. I just do it once in a while for fun. The only thing I'm addicted to is smoking, which ain't so bad I guess." Then I read for a while more before he cuts me off. "I can't wait until I'm 18. I have a job all lined up and I don't need to go to school no more. I'm street smart so I'm already educated". "Hmmm", I say. "Who are you going to work for?" "My buddy's dad just passed away and he was rich. Left my buddy with his house and a small business. He said I can come work for him. The only thing is, he does't have a way down to KY, where he (my senior's buddy)is from." He goes on to say, "I told him to sit tight and I would take him down when I turn 18." I read a bit more, then he cuts in again with, "I don't get this book. The writer keeps going back and forth and I don't get why I need to know why the character's past is important." Then, my senior is done. He goes back to class, pants hanging off his behind showing a little more of his boxers than what I want to see, but a little more educated I guess. I go to the other classroom, the Alt school. These kids flat out don't care about themselves, let alone their education. Today was especially hard for me to be in there though. I was almost in tears thinking about how much potential was in that room. How at 37 I am so excited about even the possibility of going back to school. These guys DON'T want it!! They have NO goals, and live only in the moment. Most of the kids in there were caught beating the crap out of each other on campus. We've had to do our best in the small classroom we have, to seperate the fighters, most 11 and 12th graders. I'm there to babysit and be a taskmaster. FRUSTRATING, I TELL YOU!! So, on that note, I had a pretty good visit with the college advisor. She said I had 2 quarters, then could apply for COHORT next fall (which, feeling pretty uneducated, had to ask what that meant). I guess that's when you really get to the meat of the program (which is what I am looking forward to)and you have all your classes with the same group of students. At that point, she said it was like a 9-5 job that will last 2 years. I can take everything through the local campus, which is GREAT!! Driving to the main UC campus was a scarry expierience. The campus is beautiful, it's the surrounding areas that screams, "LOCK YOUR DOORS!!", and $5.00 to park in the garage for 1 hour, ouch!! Anyway, I have to apply before they will really look at my transcripts to see what will count. So, that's that. Scott and I will be doing some serious talking before I commit. NIGHTY, NIGHT (: