Student Mamas...New thread!! - Page 10

[ian'smommaya]

repeat after me one test in one class, i can make it thru this.
i can parent a two year old i can make it thru this test.
i can parent a two year old i can make it thru this test.
over and over agian.lol.
maya

[Greaseball]

One time, I studied for the wrong test. It was a distance learning class, so we got a booklet that laid out the whole class for us and told us the test dates and what to study. Well, I accidentally went to the wrong page and studied for the wrong test. So when I was taking the test, I was like, "Hey, this wasn't in the study guide!" Then when I got home I saw what I was really supposed to be studying. I got a C on that test mainly by guessing. I ended up getting a B in the course. I got 4 A's and a B that term. If I'd studied for the right test, I might have gotten straight A's.

I got a C on my first math test this term, and a B on the second. I go to take a psychology test later this evening. I'm never taking another math class online again. I really need that individual attention to do well.

[CollegeMama]

: Maya....sometimes I wonder what the heck I was thinking going back to school while DS is 2 years old.

OMG Greaseball - that's one of my worst fears. I can't believe you got a C on that test anyway! There's no way I could take any kind of math class (or science for that matter) via the Internet. I have a friend who's in an online accounting class and I don't know how she does it without having an instructor right there helping you along.

[DebraBaker]

Ug,

Just got the spring schedule and I can't take Algebra and Trig.

Can't take Bio. Can't take Chem, ug-ug-ug.

Got a student in Soc to tell me which math professor is "the good one"

What do you think of Computer Science and Women's Studies (Fundamentals of Computer
Science and Women Today; an intro to Women's Studies)

Is Womens' Studies for real?

db

[ian'smommaya]

the womens studies corses here are real. i took a couple and will probably end up with a womens studies degree if only becoase i like the information. i dont know what ppl use the degree for except battered women groups or something. i know personally i was angry for a while after i took it, because of the stuff i learned. oh well not anymore.
i say my mantra every day. i can get up at this hour
i can get thru this class
this idiot at my work study job will go away
compassion for all beings and i can endure any hardship are common with me at work.
if i can parent an 8 y.o. i can explain this simple idea to this blockhead at work.lol.
etc. etc.etc.
maya

[sweetest]

Women's Studies classes

I loved my women's studies classes I double majored in Cultural Anthropology and Intercultural Communication and the women studies classes I took were some of my favorite. I read things I would not have been exposed to otherwise.

I also went to a school with a large Hispanic and Native American population and the classes really concerned not just white/hetro/upper class feminist ideas. Its nice to get out of your comfort zone sometimes.

As a mom you would have some perspectives the other women would find valuable, too.

[guerrillamama]

Is Womens' Studies for real?

What do you mean?

[DebraBaker]

Last night I went to karate class and asked a friend about the class.

She said she's taking the class and loves it although it requires a lot of writing (it actually satisfies a writing requirement as well as a diversity requirement.)

I also talked with my daughter and, although she hasn't taken the class she knows a lot of people who have and many say they really enjoyed the class.

Sooooooooo, I'm having a better attitude toward the class.

I just wonder what people do with a degree in Women's Studies.

Debra Baker

[CollegeMama]

If my sister could study feminist literature for her master's degree, you can better believe Women's Studies is a real and important course. Just like African American Studies. So much of that history is left out of "typical" textbooks.

Well folks, I'm freaking out. The last three weeks I have completely screwed myself. DS was in a terrible place and so was I, so I didn't do as much as I should have in regards to school. I have a presentation due next week and I just didn't really know how to find good sources for this paper. So, I picked some of the most difficult material out there. This stuff is on the Masters' and Ph.D. program level and WAY over my head. Well, not way over, but enough that I don't feel confident that I've quite got the right idea. And...I had to turn in an outline for this presentation last week, and now I'm stuck with what I turned in. I wish I could do it over but it's too late. EEKS. Why do I have to make things 10 times harder for myself than they need to be?

[DebraBaker]

Hey, I think just having children and going to school is overwhelming.

Both take up a lot of time and demand undivided attention!!

db And as far as Women's Studies go, well......they didn't have it in my day They barely had Computer Science

db

[guerrillamama]

CollegeMama:
*sigh* That is totally something I would do and have done, so many times. Just keep telling yourself over and over and over it does not have to be perfect. Give yourself permission to do a half assed job (and chances are it'll still be great anyway).

DB:
I have a degree in Multicultural Studies, which is valued about as highly in our culture as Women Studies. What did I do with it? Um, I went to law school. :LOL (Seriously tho, you should take it another year if you can.)

Speaking of law school, I'm in total denial this week.

:

I see people and they're like chit-chatty, "how's school?" And I'm like "um..."

Yeah wouldn't it be funny if I don't graduate?

[ian'smommaya]

i really found womens studies usful. i felt i knew my history as a woman better, that i could communicate with other women better and that i understood better why the world is the was it is, including the history of birth esp. in the u.s. the woman i took it from is very knoledgable about the history of midwives and how everything changed in the last 100 years surrounding birth and women. i was great. i highly recomend it.
maya

[Mommay]

Ph.D. student

I am so impressed by the student mamas on this board. On the flip side, I'm starting to feel really inadequate. How do you all do it? I had ds when I became ABD, so I figured "all" I had to do was the dissertation. Well, guess how that's been going? It really hasn't. I also teach at a university as an adjunct two days a week, so that also takes a lot of time. But my real joy is being a mom and I take real pleasure in all the little things I do for ds. And the kind of mom I choose to be seems to take a lot of time - washing his cloth diapers, making his food, AP, and I read a lot on parenting as well. When do you have time to study? At night? How do you afford daycare if you don't work?

[guerrillamama]

Originally Posted by goepark

I am so impressed by the student mamas on this board. On the flip side, I'm starting to feel really inadequate. How do you all do it? I had ds when I became ABD, so I figured "all" I had to do was the dissertation. Well, guess how that's been going? It really hasn't. I also teach at a university as an adjunct two days a week, so that also takes a lot of time. But my real joy is being a mom and I take real pleasure in all the little things I do for ds. And the kind of mom I choose to be seems to take a lot of time - washing his cloth diapers, making his food, AP, and I read a lot on parenting as well. When do you have time to study? At night? How do you afford daycare if you don't work?

You sound just like me. I know you're not impressed by me!! Unless you're impressed by how I still manage to find so much time to dick around on MDC while complaining about how much work I have to do....

I pay for my child care the same way I pay for everything else, w/ student loans. The school does give me $200 per semester, which is a joke IMO. But the child care just covers the time I'm in class, I really don't get any work done in that time unless I skip class (which I often do : )

To be honest, I have cut a lot of corners, time-wise. I used cloth diapers up until about a month ago, but I don't anymore, which really bummed me out. I had planned to make his baby food, but I don't - I can barely get around to cooking for myself once a week. (Not like it matters, since he won't eat anything besides breastmilk and cheerios anyway.) I do still try to read about parenting, but it's a few pages at a time here and there, yk? I think I am totally AP, however, and yes that is a big time committment but I don't think about it, I just do it. I'm not the mother I had hoped to be, but I'm still a damn good mom, that is pretty much the only thing I feel sure about these days.

I study -- in theory :LOL -- a couple hours at night after he goes to sleep, an hour or so in the morning when he is in a good mood and can entertain himself pretty well, and a half hour or so during each of his naps. If I was smart, I would also take advantage of all the people who keep offering to babysit... I don't know what's wrong w/ me that I can't ask for help.

I wish I had some sage advice for you but all I know is my own situation, which I am barely handling.

I keep telling myself that if I can be a mom, I can do anything! And when my peers at school make me feel inadequate I tell myself they have nooooooo idea, that while I was pacing for hours w/ a screaming sick baby, they were knocking back free beers at the SBA party. I also have to keep telling myself it's ok to be a whole lot less than perfect. Priorities are not what they once were.

You can do it!

[shelbean91]

I'm sorry- I haven't kept up on this thread. Does anyone know why my baby wakes up and starts screaming AS SOON as I sit to do schoolwork? I'm about to have a nervous breakdown. dh works 12 hr days, has an hour commute each way and is taking accelerated online courses and his days at home are the days I'm in class. I'm taking easy courses, but they have a LOT of work/projects (education classes).

I've GOT to figure out a way to do homework when home w/the kids by myself.

[Satori]

Can you afford to get a mothers helper a few hours a week? I dont even bother trying to study most days when dd is awake. Granted that means i'm up till midnight but its better then trying to study with her bugging me every 30 seconds

[Satori]

Can I freak out now?! One of my teachers just assigned a 5 page research paper in MLA format, formal tone and title & reference page doesn't count! I have NEVER written a paper more then 1 page much less a research paper! Its due in 6 weeks and I dont even know where to start! I figured I would be learning this in Eng 101 next semester!

[guerrillamama]

whoa, Satori, you'll be fine! You get started on a 5 page paper exactly the same way you get started on a 1 page paper. Just start writing. That is always the hardest part for me at least (oh, and let's not talk about the 35 page paper I've been putting off for over a year...). My biggest problem w/ research papers is always getting bogged down in the research. So choose a very small, discrete, manageable topic. Research just enough to write a thesis statement and an outline. Then write as much of the body of the paper as you can. Then do just a little more research. Don't get overwhelmed thinking about the whole thing, just bite off one little piece at a time and you'll be fine I think it's great you're doing this now, you'll rock Eng 101! How is pg?

[shelbean91]

Thanks Satori- I am thinking about a mothers helper. If I had a solid block of time, it would be much easier.

With your 5page paper- MLA format is double spaced, so when you think about it, it's really only 2 1/2 pages of text. For your reference page, you can use www.easybib.com which is a free service to format your reference page in MLA (all my papers have to be in APA, so I had to pay $6 for the year).

IF you google MLA- you will find formatting info. And as far as the research- like guerrllamama said- pic a very manageable topic- not too big, not too small.

[Mommay]

I just assigned a 6-page paper for my college class, and really, it's even less than 3 pages. I tell my students to start with a good introduction with a strong thesis statement and summary of what you'll be talking about and end with a good conclusion, which should restate the main points of the body of the paper in a different way. The body should just reiterate the thesis in so many words. Don't be afraid to repeat some information, as it tells the reader what to expect from the body of the paper and then what they should have gotten out of it. Good luck. 6 weeks will be plenty of time to write an outline and drafts. Most importantly, have confidence. Figure out what you want to say, and say it!