After 6 long years, I'M DONE!!!

[creative]

Congratulations!! Your story really encouraged me today!! Sometimes I feel like giving up but when I read a post like yours-- it helps me to keep going! You should be very proud of yourself. What a story of encouragement!!!

[NAP]

Congratulations!!! Thank you for sharing your story with us.

I have been blessed to have lots of family/friends support me with this. I can't imagine having to do this without lots of encouragement. You have truly shown how strong you really are.

Be sure to celebrate!

Will you try to go to the graduation ceremony - this year or next?

[dharmachic]

Thank you everyone! You guys are truly awesome!!! I feel no lack of support thanks to you.

I didn't make the graduation deadline this year, so it will be next year. I am really tempted to go, if only to finally have that experience of walking in a cap and gown I'd never thought I'd have... my financial situation and job status will determine that for me however.

To those of you who are struggling, just take it one day at a time and do what you can. I remember reading posts like this and wondering if I would one day be able to post that I was done and it seemed so far away. If you need to take a break, take it - this will be here for you. But be sure to get back on because this is one thing that no one will take away from you because you've earned it.

Helen

[dshlvrsn]

Helen,

Congratualtions! I know too well the journey of which you speak... I think that I was one of the first members here at Instantcert. I've been a paying member for four years. Took my first B&M classes over 20 years ago. Tried 'correspondence' classes. Finally got the desire to try again. Of course just like everything else I wanted the fast track and stumbled across CSU online. I spoke with a rep to see how quickly I could get things done. She asked if I would be willing to take some CLEP tests. I had no idea what she was talking about but that conversation started down this crazy road. I enrolled at EC in '06, got up a bunch of steam and blitzed through 45 credit hours. Then I got the job that I was working so hard to get the degree for in the first place... Things really slowed down after that. Finally just as you advise I started putting one foot in front of the other and started to chip away at the requirements. I'm now down to final 30 credits but the only limitation on them is that I get six more upper level business (M&B and BL II here I come...) and 20 arts and sciences. With all the test that I have done I still haven't taken most of the CLEP general exams so I expect to knock out the final 24 with four of those.

Your story and the many others like it have helped me so much. I go through all of the stages each time I see one. I get mad at myself for not being as determined. I'm happy to see you get your degree etc. etc...

I loved your description of you families reaction. It weird how the people that should be most supportive sometimes are the ones that tear you down the most.

Just like you've done with the degree make New York your goal and you'll get there. You just need to decide today that this is what's going to happen. You've got over a year to plan, save etc. Even just working Friday nights at McD's should be enough to get you there.

I heard, the other day, a definition of patience that I wish some one had told me years ago. Here is his story:

"When I was 10 years old, my family became refugees in a new land. I had always been a good student in school—that is, until we arrived in West Germany. There, my educational experience was a significantly different one. The geography we studied in my school was new to me. The history we studied was also very different. Before, I had been learning Russian as a second language; now, it was English. This was hard for me. Indeed, there were moments when I truly believed my tongue simply was not made to speak English.

Because so much of the curriculum was new and strange to me, I fell behind. For the first time in my life, I began to wonder if I was simply not smart enough for school.

Fortunately I had a teacher who taught me to be patient. He taught me that steady and consistent work—patient persistence—would help me to learn.

Over time, difficult subjects became clearer—even English. Slowly I began to see that if I applied myself consistently, I could learn. It didn’t come quickly, but with patience, it did come.

From that experience, I learned that patience was far more than simply waiting for something to happen—patience required actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results didn’t appear instantly or without effort.

There is an important concept here: patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!

Impatience, on the other hand, is a symptom of selfishness. It is a trait of the self-absorbed. It arises from the all-too-prevalent condition called “center of the universe” syndrome, which leads people to believe that the world revolves around them and that all others are just supporting cast in the grand theater of mortality in which only they have the starring role. "

Bravo to you. You are an inspiration! Now go get ready to make that walk across the stage!

[bricabrac]

Helen,

Strong work!!! All those A's from actual course work are truly impressive!! :hurray:

Congratulations to you!! :hurray: cheersmate

[dharmachic]

Thanks, everyone again. Dale, I loved your post and encouraging words. I am VERY familiar with that cycle you speak of too. I especially liked your story about patience being active. I am very impatient by nature (therefore, naturally selfish?) so being able to say that I stuck with something this long and finished it means a great deal to me.

You will get there too and soon!
Helen