Going Back To College – How To Be Prepared

The last two months have been pretty hectic. I’m currently pursuing a degree on education. My degree is a two year course. The first year exams under normal circumstances should have been held by the month of May or June. This should ideally be the mid of the second year. What started out to be a fairly simple process of going back to college and studies after two kids, due to this pandemic became so complicated that I almost threw in the towel. But I’m glad I didn’t!

Take last month for example. It was October and I still did not know if I belonged to the first year of the degree or the second year. The first year final examinations were yet to be conducted. My college was affiliated to the University and so the instructions had to come from the University. The college cannot decide by itself on the date and type of examination.

Going back to college

Last year, I decided to go back to college to pursue a degree on education. Previously it was just a ten month course. Later it was redesigned to be a two year course.

Two years does not seem like a long time in the bigger picture, right? I was confident I could do it.

Two reasons – One I wanted to experience the thrill of getting back to college. Two – Rock-solid support from my family.

After the selection of degree and the nearest college that offered the course, I got all the relevant course materials for year I. Till last February, it was fairly smooth sailing. I submitted all my work on time. My sister was always around to help me, sometimes, handling both the house and the kids.

Corona Confusion

After the onset of the pandemic, all colleges were in a confusion about how to handle classes and how to evaluate students. My college was no exception. There was no clear instructions about anything anymore. The first year examinations were yet to be conducted even though it was July. The college started conducting online classes on second year syllabus.

Big changes on home front

Last August, my sister decided to tie the knot. The wedding was a big occasion with celebrations lasting the whole of August. The after effects of such a big party continued well into September. I lost all track of my online classes. Meanwhile, the college had sent books and references for the second year. I made a note of it and left it at that.

End of September or early October (I could not remember correctly), suddenly an online meeting was set up from the college. From the nature of the message, I gathered it was to contain an important message. I attended the meeting and to my surprise, the college has admitted a new principal.

At least the old principal had an inkling of our backgrounds and knew something about us. It was useful in placing a request when necessary. But we had no chance to meet this new person and no opportunity to interact and get to know each other.

Changes in the college

The new principal seemed efficient but at the same time authoritative. I must admit he had complete control over his students even when his presence was just online.

Even from the get go, he was all about work. The first week after he took charge, I attended four webinars organised by the college, something that never happened in the first year. It covered various topics like motivation, education and success, how to handle disability as a teacher and how teaching was a work of heart.

This pace of learning needed me to shift gears. I was always in control of situations and it takes a lot of actually frazzle me. I was excited about the webinars as it gave me a lot of insights and interaction with experts.

This is exactly why I wanted to go back to college – to have exciting conversations around issues that actually mattered.

First year exams

The very next week, I received a time table. The title simply said exam timetable for first year. I was wondering if it was just a model exam or the much anticipated university exam. Couple of days later, I received the front pages to be attached to the answer sheet. It contained the University header. I did not want to take any chances. Whatever exam this was meant to be, I was going to give it my best shot.

My gran lives with us. I have two small kids. My husband and dad work online for their respective jobs.

Our unique family structure meant I had very little time for myself everyday.

The one thing that always worked in my favor was my family’s unflinching support when push comes to shove. As a family we were known for going after the impossible and making it happen against all odds. Even on the rare instances, it did not happen the effort that goes into it is still the same.

Means and ends

The Bhagavad Gita says,

Do your duty. Do not expect the returns.

My father operates like that in our family. He always thinks no matter the outcome, we should give it our best if we decide to take it up.

The only problem with this thought process that was deeply ingrained in all of us while growing up was the standards we set up for ourselves. It meant the standard we set up for ourselves internally was pretty high!

Even from a young age, I could not cheat in exams. I could not copy or discuss with friends even if there was no teacher in the class. I would just write down whatever I knew.

After all the purpose of an assessment is to measure what the student actually has grasped in class, isn’t it?

Online Exams

Now I will come to why I’m telling you all this. So when the online exams were announced, even when it was impossible to study along with cooking, cleaning, planning routine activities, teaching the kids and taking care of gran, I just couldn’t convince myself that since we were writing from home, there was always the option of using the book.

My well wishers kept telling me to just see the book and write. Their argument was who would know? They were right. No one would know except for myself. But I saw this as an opportunity to measure my competency. How much can I score now? Was my ability and capacity still the same. Would I be able to remember and recall huge amounts of data as needed? I had to know. Also standards, you see!

I took it as a test for myself but in a positive way. That gave me the motivation to study.

When you are going back to college after marriage and kids, it is never a fair competing ground in exams.

Those with no responsibilities at home will definitely fare better than you in all aspects. But what makes it exciting is to see how much you have changed or improved over the years.

Unplanned events

Just when I was prepping myself for exams, one week before my exams my son’s exams were schedules to happen.

Now I thought, what should I do?

Should I study or should I teach my son?

I usually have the habit of going through the lessons with my son every weekend. I looked at the portions and to my relief, it was all the lessons we had already covered. He could manage it on his own. I was so relieved.

Believe it or not, I stayed up late every night going through my study material. It was not easy. After the days’ work, I was so tired. Studying was the last thing on my mind.

My amazing kids had the knack of interrupting my most important work sessions at exactly the time when I needed to concentrate harder.

What can I say?! They were just being kids!

Stronger than I thought

But my dad and husband pitched in wherever they could do to make it easier for me. They shared the house work, took care of the kids when possible and prepared meals when I was too tired to even get up from my place.

I could not concentrate on a lot of study material continuously. Forget concentrating, I could not even sit in one place for a prolonged duration. My last written examination was twelve years ago and my writing skills were bad. My fingers and wrist ached and my sleeplessness irritated me to no end. Your sleep quality will affect your moods constantly. Inspite of all this, I got through seven examinations at a stretch.

At the end of the exams, I felt given my circumstances, I couldn’t have done it any better.

In any challenge, it is important to take the context into account.

Even if others don’t acknowledge it, it is important that you do. It helps you put your own achievement into perspective.

It is hard to justify our actions to others but harder justifying it to ourselves.

The exam results came out in two weeks. I passed with 73 percent. For me, the exam proved how I still had it in me to focus and succeed in whatever I chose to do. And that is all that matters.

From my experience, here is what I want to tell all of my fellow achievers who are thinking about going back to college.

Plan

When you decide to go back to college, your greatest test would be in the area of planning. Plan everything that is under your control. You will surely come across some unplanned issues along the way, but that will be manageable only when you plan the rest well.

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

Think

Think about what you are setting out to do and make sure it aligns with your personal goals. This is a second chance at doing what you want. Going back to college is mostly voluntary. Even if your circumstances press you, make the best of whatever you are offered.

Invest

You are investing your time and energy into something you would like to build on later. Unlike student days, now you are more aware of yourself and your surroundings.

Make sure, your investment has returns.It is not just about marks anymore. It is about the worth of the knowledge you are gaining and the opportunity cost of the whole process of going back to college.

Balance

There is no universal rule about balance. It is all inside your mind.

The easiest measure of a balanced life is when you are stress-free and happy.

You decide your schedule stick to it, even if it seems absurd to somebody else.

Analyse

I can guarantee you that you can achieve whatever you set out to do, if you follow certain ground rules. Analyzing means, analyzing yourself. Your strength, your weakness, your opportunity, your obstacles and then taking appropriate measures. The process takes time and is an ongoing process throughout your life time.

If you know yourself better, you always have a competitive edge over others.

Celebrate

Celebrate even the smallest milestones because even they seemed impossible in the first place. Don’t wait for just the big moments. Allow yourself to feel special for all your effort from time to time. My 73 percent could be an ordinary score for others. But for me, to think how much I overcame to get that, makes it special.

Don’t allow the opinion of others to mess with your motivation to go forward.

Only you are responsible for your actions and only you know what you want.

Network

The journey is going to be a uphill one. So create a network of supporters who will make the process just a bit easy on you. They could be your family, friends or neighbors. Keep positive people close and do not hesitate to ask for help when needed.

The whole world operates on a symbiotic relationship and you are no exception. Make your well-wishers your allies and get ready to conquer.

Finally don’t be hard on yourself. If you don’t validate your efforts, no one else will. Take that step now if you have been hesitating to go back to study.

You will be surprised to know how many adult learners go to college.