Life is an adventure, so live it to the fullest.
It is sleeting here at the house now and I got this email from USM!
Because of a forecast of inclement winter weather conditions, The University of Southern Mississippi is closing at 5 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 11) and cancelling evening classes; and will close its operations Friday (Feb. 12) on the Hattiesburg and Long Beach campuses, as well as all Gulf Coast teaching and research sites.
For students who live in residence halls on the Hattiesburg campus, dining services will continue to operate on a limited basis. University Police will continue to provide services during the day Friday and monitor conditions on campus.
Those scheduled to participate in other events scheduled for Friday on the Hattiesburg and Long Beach campuses or at Gulf Coast teaching and research sites are encouraged to contact event organizers/directors to determine if these events will go on as scheduled.
For further updates, check http://www.usm.edu or http://www.southernmiss.info.
Because of a forecast of inclement winter weather conditions, The University of Southern Mississippi is closing at 5 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 11) and cancelling evening classes; and will close its operations Friday (Feb. 12) on the Hattiesburg and Long Beach campuses, as well as all Gulf Coast teaching and research sites.
For students who live in residence halls on the Hattiesburg campus, dining services will continue to operate on a limited basis. University Police will continue to provide services during the day Friday and monitor conditions on campus.
Those scheduled to participate in other events scheduled for Friday on the Hattiesburg and Long Beach campuses or at Gulf Coast teaching and research sites are encouraged to contact event organizers/directors to determine if these events will go on as scheduled.
For further updates, check http://www.usm.edu or http://www.southernmiss.info.
Even at my age, finding the right major is not an easy task! Maybe it in some ways it is much harder, or maybe it is just me. Heck, I don’t think I have ever fit into any kind of box that most people would think a woman should be in. No matter what I have done in my life, I always do it my way no matte what, good or bad. So I guess I should not be surprised that college would be any different!
Today I met with my program advisor. (Yes, this is one that I talked about in my post a few days ago.) It went rather well other then the fact that when I walked out of his office, I realized that being a Media Production major was not where I wanted to be. As he explained to me, the program entailed more in the video field. It only has one class for radio! So, I made my way to the guy that runs the campus radio station. I need to talk to him anyway. My professor for my film studies class sent me an email telling me that the radio station wanted to interview me. We talked about the interview and my working with the campus station.
I then went to my acting class, lunch and back to talk to the head of the Mass Comm Department, Dr Campbell. I felt I really needed to figure out what I needed to major in to get to where I want to be, but he wasn’t in. So, I stopped back by Mr Sanders’ office to talk about my working with the station. As we chatted I filled him in about my dilemma. He remembered talk to the people over in the Arts & Letters Department about the Interdisciplinary Studies. From what he understood of it, I could tailor my Bachelors degree to fit what I wanted and where I want to go.
So I made my way over to the Arts & Letters building, went to the second floor, found the right office, had a brief chat with the ladies there, and set up an appointment to meet with them after my next class. As I explained that I wanted to eventually have a call-in talk radio show, about my book, blogs, fighting for civilian contractors for a couple of years, and the many emails and call I have gotten from women in abusive relationships that say that my story helped them get out of it, the many people that call about working in Iraq, the time I have spent supporting the military and dealing with PTSD, and so on and so forth, she said that I was in the right department. That made me feel good.
I still have to take all the core courses that every college student has to take, but I work with each department very closely to determine which classes I will take to get where I want to be. Here is the description from the USM Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies web site.
Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies
The Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS) undergraduate program allows students to create interdisciplinary specialties in preparation for careers in a world where complex issues demand multi-faceted knowledge and skills. With the help of an Interdisciplinary Studies faculty advisor, students will select courses from two or more disciplines and focus their program on the basis of a unifying issue, theme, or topic as an area of concentration. Students will work closely with faculty from each selected discipline to design a program meeting their diverse educational and career goals.
Acceptance into the BIS program is determined by the following criteria:
- the student’s selection of a concentration area that does not reflect any existing major, linking clusters of courses and faculty where no structure or formal program exists;
- the student’s selection of a concentration area that integrates knowledge and skills from at least two fields and disciplines resulting in an individualized program that is historical, regional, thematic, or problem-based;
- the student’s selection of a concentration that is supported and approved by an BIS faculty advisor and associated program faculty. BIS students are required to cultivate relationships with assigned or designated faculty, taking initial responsibility in developing their individualized programs.
Interdisciplinary Studies students will develop individualized, coherent, intellectually challenging, cross-disciplinary academic plans, utilizing courses selected from departments at The University of Southern Mississippi.
After our chat, I filled out the paperwork to change my major. I hope Dr Campbell isn’t upset with me for changing my major, but I will still be a part of the Mass Comm department, just that it wont be my only focus.
Being 44 and going to college with kids that are around the same age as my boys had me feeling a bit nervous about my participation in certain classes. Last week, after class, I had a talk with my Philosophy professor, Dr Morgan Rempel, about this very subject. We were reading Epicurus writings on Hedonism. We had a class discussion on the topic and I was concerned that, even though I got some of what the rest of the class got out of the reading, I also got some things they didn’t and I didn’t agree with everything in his assessment of it. I was concerned about making sure I was learning from the class as well as passing it. In many classes if you don’t agree with the professor’s interpretation then you don’t pass. Dr Rempel assured me that I didn’t have to agree with him and that he liked having older students in his class because they have live a bit of life and can impart that wisdom or challenge the other younger students to think differently. Today, I put that to the test.
We were again talking about Epicurus and having a class discussion. Dr Rempel had asked us if we had talked about this with someone not in our class and if we had any other questions or comments. I listened to the other students talk about Epicurus views on God or the gods, death, and weather there is an afterlife. The fact that he taught that God or the gods were not concerned with us has been a hot topic in class as well as his views to not be concerned with death.
I raised my hand and when he called on me I said that I had a problems with Epicurus saying that the Gods were not concerned with us. To say that God/the gods are not concerned with us I have a problem with.” I told the class that to many times I have had what I believe is a Guardian Angle watching out for me. “Many time when I was in Iraq my convoy would either push out or be delayed. Many times the convoy that rolled in our place we hit hard. I can not believe that was just chance.” That is when Dr Rempel related our discussion from the week before and reiterated that he was happy I was in the class. That I have had experiences that they have not and that I bring a different perspective to the discussion.
Then he asked someone to argue the other side with me. The comment made was that I was “lucky” and “where was the other guys God if they were the ones hit?” My comment was, ”When it is your turn to go, it is your turn. There is nothing you can do about it.” Dr Rempel pointed out that he has heard that saying many times before and mostly in war movies or from people that have been in combat. I wasn’t really sure how I felt about that, but I did get some comfort in the fact that he valued my opinion, even if it was different from the rest of the class.
After class I met him at the front of the class. As I handed him a copy of my book, I told him that I wsa going to donate it to the college library, but he could take a look at it before I did. He looked through the pictures in the middle and said that he would skim over it and then check it out of the library later this semester when he wasn’t so busy. He added that he didn’t want to keep it from making it to the library so someone else that had the time could read it now.
I feel a lot better after todays class and discussion. I have had no problem in participating in the class discussions, but I have held back at times. I know that my views on some topics are greatly different from the rest of the class at time and i do not know how they will react to them. I have learned, since coming home from Iraq, that it is not safe for me to talk to any and everyone that will listen about my experiences and views of being over there. But at least I know now that I can express my opinion, share my experiences, and have a healthy debate without the worry of being attacked by my classmates and/or professor.
I have completed my first week of college at USM! It has been an interesting week. Dealing with financial aid is driving me nuts! I had to have them do a re-evaluation which meant I had to bring in more paperwork. I have been to the office about 4 times now because one person will tell me I need this and that and when I take that in, the next person will tell me I need something else as well. But I do believe that I have finally got it all in to them and should receive my student loans soon.
The classes are far from boring and the instructors are likable. I have been asked to talk later in the semester about my book and how we received news while I was in Iraq in my Survey of Mass Communications class. In my Into to Film Studies, I have been asked to talk about the process of getting a screenplay written. Even though Eva Gardos is the one that wrote the script for the movie based on my book, I have been involved with it. I have made notes and spent many hours talking about what I did, how I felt and how things should look with her. I will be giving a small presentation next Wednesday night in the class. My Beginning acting class has not been to challenging yet, I am sure that before long it will become so. The 2 classes that are going to strain my baron are my Philosophy: Ethic’s and Good Living and the Media Writing Skills classes.
In the Philosophy class we are reading the philosophers and I am sure that you can understand why that would strain the brain. I don’t know if it is that I have lived more of life than my class mates, but I am not always getting out of the text what they are getting. Yea, some of what I get is similar, but than at times, I get something totally different or I don’t get what they get. I had a talk with the instructor about this Tuesday. He told me that I didn’t have to agree with his opinion, I just needed to get something out of what I was reading. He did say that he liked having me in the class because of how I see different things that the younger students. I told him my concern was not only getting something out of the class, but passing the class because I was not getting what the rest of the calls got. He said to not worry, it would be OK. So I will trudge along and hope that as time goes along and I get use to doing academic reading again, that it will get a little easier for me.
The Media writing Skills class is one that is a MUST to pass. We will be taking a test February 5th. If I pass that test with at least a 60%, then I will get a passing grade and not have to attend the class that rest of the semester. If I fail the test, then I have to go to the class the rest of the semester and take the test again at the end. If I pass then, then I am good to go, but if I fail again, I will get an incomplete and have to take the class again. This is a test that I HAVE to pass if I want to stay a major in Mass Communications. I can take the class 3 times, if I never pass the test, then I will be asked to change my major. The class is spelling, grammar, and punctuation the AP media way. So I guess we will see what happens on February 5th!
For now, I am still excited and nervous about being back in college. It has been a long time since I have had to study and do this kind of reading. I hope that as the semester progresses along, I will become more relaxed and settle into a routine of reading, studying, and play!
For the last 14 months I have been recovering from my fall, I have thought about what I was going to do if my wrists did not heal well enough for me to continue being a truck driver. When the doctor finally told me that my worst fear was reality, I was devastated! With the limitations I have on my wrists, I did not know how I was going to be able to support myself. If I did find a job I could physically do, would I enjoy it. Then I talked to the Mississippi Vocational Rehabilitation people and found that they would pay for me to go to college.
I has been over 25 years since I have attended any school, well, I did go to truck driving school in 1990, but that doesn’t count. At the age of 44, going back to school is a scary thing to do. Deciding what I wanted to study was not an easy task. Doing all the stuff I have been privileged to do in conjunction with my book, I found that the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) has a Mass Communication department and offers a BA in Radio & Television Broadcasting. I have sat in the studio with Chris and Meredith, host of Sirius’ Road Dog Trucking channel’s show “Freewheelin” as well as Carl P. Mayfield & The P Team on several occasions. I found it very interesting, fun and something I though I might enjoy. So this is what I have decided to study.
Today was what the calls Preview. Basically it is an orientation and registration day. They tell you a little about the school, get your student ID, talk to finical aid, meet an academic advisor, register for classes and deal with any other issues you need to for attendance. I tried to get all of that done today, but was not successful. I didn’t have time to get my student ID, talk to finical aid or talk to the Office of Disability Assessment (OSD). Those were not a big deal and didn’t have to be done today. I can do that next Wednesday when I start classes. Since my tuition and books are paid by the Mississippi Vocational Rehab Department, I really don’t have to worry about the finical aid, but if there is any thing out there that can help with any other cost, it would be nice to know.
USM campus is a small campus of 1 square mile, so it does not long to get from one building to another. The day went smooth till I got to the Mass Communication building and started to sign up for classes. Starting college at the spring term can be a bit frustrating because all the students that attended the fall semester have already singed up for the classes they want. So you are kind of reduced to their left-overs.
Mississippi Vocational Rehab requires me to take a minimum of 12 hours. Going in as an adult non-traditional student, the school restricts me to only being able to take 12 hours. I have looked at the open classes on-line and researched which ones I wanted to take over the last month. I thought I had a good idea of what I could and could not get. I was wrong. Out of the classes that I had on my list, I got one of them, PHI 171 – Ethics & Good Living. Three other classes that I need for my major and that I wanted, were closed when I looked at them last night. They were still closed today, but the advisors opened them for a few of us today, MCJ 101 – Survey of Mass Communication, MCJ 103 – Literacy Skills, and FLM 170 – Intro Film Studies. Those classes gave me 10 credit hours, I needed two more. With the restrictions that USM had on me because I am a probationary student and what MS Voc Rehab for them to pay for it, I needed two more hours. I could not find a two hour class that was open on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I needed all my classes to be on those days so I would not have to make the hour long drive 5 times a week. So I tried to find any class that I thought I would like, even if it the credit hours would not count toward my degree. I found THE 110 – Non Theater Majors Beginning Acting, a 3 credit hour class. When I tried to add it to my class list, it was kicked. I was restricted to 12 hours, not 13. So my advisors said they would take care of it. They went into the system and changed how many hours I could take. Now I have the Acting class.
I am very happy with the classes I got with the exception that Wednesdays are going to be very long days. The Intro Film Studies class is a 3 hours night class. But I will deal with it since it keeps me from having to make that drive on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All in all, I think that I should be able to handle these classes even though I have had such a long break since I was in school.
So now I am officially a college student and will start classes next Wednesday. I am nervous and excited at the same time, I am sure that it will be another great adventure in my life!
