Tag: school

2 weeks until school starts

by Ariana Peters, posted in books, school/studying, Uncategorized

ARG!!! So frustrating! I am only take the 1 class this quarter, its $467 and some change and I can’t enroll in a payment plan!!!!! I set aside some money so yes I can pay for it in one chunk but I didn’t anticipate the book, lab manual and access code I need together all costing almost as much as the class! I need to find another $305.

The most frustrating thing about school is the cost and no I do not qualify for any financial aid since I already have a bachelors degree. Once I am accepted into a Nursing program it is a different story but currently I can get nothing. I hate feeling like I am getting penalized for not knowing what I wanted to do at 19 years old after my dad died and my whole life and life plan was turned upside down (we wanted to open a bakery and café together). I kept going forward on the plan I had set with him because at the time if you were over 18 and wanted to keep your parents insurance you had to be enrolled in college full time so I kept going and got my degree. I now know what I want to do in life and it feels like it is 10x harder to achieve it. I am starting back at the bottom except that now I have more bills, more debt and more responsibilities on top of school. I don’t want to complain, there are people out there who have it much worse and much harder than I do, it is just frustrating. Ok rant over.

Now I need to figure out where to get that extra $300 from.

I’ll check back in next week and hopefully let you know my book and class have been paid for and that I am all set to start the quarter.

3 weeks until school starts!!

by Ariana Peters, posted in school/studying

Ok now it is really getting close. 5 weeks was like, no big deal I got this, now I am starting to freak out a bit hahaha. Being as how I do not have a definite future address I think I will be taking the class at the community college near my current/old house which is also the closer of the 2 community colleges to my job. My thought process right now (if I can work it out with roommates then Brandon) is just to go straight to school at work so I have extra study time (maybe fit a run in as I get the study schedule down).

I am definitely nervous about the course load of anatomy & physiology, I have been reviewing my medical terminology a little bit and doing some Quizlet studying. I think I will feel better once I get into the class and see the syllabus and the actual workload. Not knowing is the nerve-wracking part. BUT I GOT THIS!!! I just keep telling myself that hahaha, and thankfully so is everyone else. Next week I will probably commit to the class and buy the book. The unfortunate thing is the college seem to use the same anatomy book for all 3 classes…..but of course each college uses a different book. So if I take anatomy 1 near Portland and anatomy 2 and 3 in Salem I will have had to buy 2 different books. Knowledge wise that is awesome, cost wise not so much.

Check in with you next week!!!

4 weeks until school starts.

by Ariana Peters, posted in school/studying

bookThat book costs how much???

And the time has come to start pricing books and looking for less expensive options. Hopefully amazon has it listed for much less expensive than it says here.

Ok I just looked and the same book is used for all 3 anatomy classes I have to take (at least at this school) remember how I am enrolled in both community colleges since I am not sure where I am going to end up. Lets see what the other school says, The other school is about $50 cheaper in their bookstore and of course it is a different book.

Let’s hope in the next 2-3 weeks it becomes a little more clear where I will be taking the class. It is highway robbery about much textbooks (and everything to do with school for that matter) costs.

That is where I am at for now. Time is ticking down quickly!!

 

5 weeks until school starts

by Ariana Peters, posted in healthy lifestyle, school/studying

And it begins, the countdown to winter quarter starts now. 5 weeks to go.

5 weeks until I start the joyous, interesting, horror that is anatomy and physiology.

Image result for anatomy class memes (image from pinterest)

Currently I am registered the community college I have been going to; near where I live just outside Portland as well as on the waitlist for the class at the community college in Salem. It all depends on what happens over the next 5 weeks. If we are in escrow in the Salem area when school starts (and I get off the waitlist) I will go there but if not or if I don’t get off the waitlist I will take it by my old house and just head there after work and study for a few hours. Maybe get a run in as the weather warms up a bit, we shall see.

Image result for anatomy class memes (image from google)

Everything is up in the air now, which is a little stressful but I am trying to just go with it. I also need to try and put a few dollars into savings to cushion the blow of tuition and books. Anatomy is not cheap, it is 4 credits and has lab fees along with needing supplies.

Be prepared to start hearing a lot about anatomy. I am already using Quizlet to study a bit beforehand.

Home, Sweet Home

by Ariana Peters, posted in healthy lifestyle, school/studying, training, travel

It feels amazing and horrible to be back home. I missed by dog and my boyfriend but other than that I wish I could have seen more.

Back to reality means back to paying bills and going to work. Back to apartment and house hunting with the bf so we can move in together. Working on getting all my transcripts transferred over to a new school here so I can start working toward the nursing program they have now that I know where we will be staying. And I need to starting getting all my annual Dr appts set up since it’s actually been like 2+ years since I did any of that.

Obviously I am actually looking forward to moving in with my BF and getting closer and closer to nursing school is a good thing and I have nothing against health checkups except the copays hahahahaha. It just sucks to come back from vacation and I am super tired, traveling transcontinentally is difficult. Thankfully I work today then have two days off.

Went for a 1 mile walk today with the dog, need to get back to my running.

I will keep posting my Europe trip slowly but surely until it is all done.

Have a good night, talk to you tomorrow!!

Monday Motivation**September 25, 2017

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle, school/studying, training

Happy Monday! Today I am Kotor, Montenegro! I don’t have any excursions planned today I just plan on going for a little run/walk through the town. Head back to the boat for lunch and then do some more exploring. Stay tuned for posts about it all!

(Image from Google)

Monday Motivation**September 11, 2017

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle, school/studying, training

 

(Image from Google)

Working out last week was a total bust since basically the entire state of Oregon was (and still mostly is) on fire. It was literally raining ash and I was not going to work out in that. I haven’t had a gym membership for a few months so I could save money so I couldn’t go inside on a treadmill. Hopefully this week is going to be better and I can find my motivation again because it has been about 2.5 weeks since I got out there and ran.

How are your workouts going?

 

Monday Motivation**September 4, 2017

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle, school/studying, training

 

(Image from Google)

Goodbye August and Hello September!!

Wow August flew by. 

School: My final ‘opens’ online today and closes on the 6th so lots of studying going on over here. This basically means I can take my final anytime in the next 2 days. It is online, 100 cumulative questions and I have 82 minutes to complete it. Whatever I have done will submit after 82 minutes. After that I am done for a few months! I will think of it as winter vacation hahahahaha.

Food and Fitness: In the next 2 weeks I am trying to get as much food bought, made, frozen and prepped as possible. When I get back from the cruise my budget will be even more restricted. I will by trying to save a bit to go toward my expensive CNA class come January, my BF and I are trying to find a place to move into together which will also cost money and of course I need to continue to work on paying my roommate back as she paid upfront for 95% of my Europe costs so I owe her about 2 grand still. Oh the joys of being poor. But overall in my life I can’t complain too much, my life could be so much worse, so I choose to not stress about my debt and instead slowly chip away at it.

As far as workouts go, if I get a workout in before I finish my final, great, but I am not banking on it so my goal this week is 3-4 workouts.

10 days and counting to europe!!!!!

School Catch-up

by Ariana Peters, posted in school/studying, travel

How is school going this quarter…..ehh. My class ends in 4 days, I currently have an A so I am doing something right but by no means did I perform to the best of my ability. I did great at the beginning of the quarter, I set time aside to study and did my vocab, read the book chapters and worked through the workbook and looked at the online lessons. As the quarter progressed I started just doing the vocab, which did enough that I have an A in the class but currently there is a significant chance it will drop to a B after the final which is 40% of my grade.

Monday evening and all of Tuesday will be reviewing and cramming so I don’t bomb the final which is comprehensive.

I think several things contributed to me slacking off at the end here:

  1. Taking the class online makes it easy to slack, I don’t need to answer a teachers questions or contribute to any in class discussions.
  2. At work I was either studying or had it up in the background while I was taking a break from the vocab and reading a book online, which meant that for almost 40 hours a week I was doing superficial easy studying of medical terminology (which seems like it would be great but I am at work so I can’t really focus which means this wasn’t very deep studying) and because I was ‘studying’ it so much I had no desire to even look at or think about medical terminology outside of work. I did a little studying on my phone here and there but that quickly ceased.
  3. I watch WAY too much TV outside of work, this has always been a problem for me, I become so unproductive when I turn the TV on, and once I turn it on, it tends to stay turned on. As my work load becomes more intense this will HAVE to change.
  4. All lumped into one: time management, space, organization
    1. I need to create a study space, someplace I go or set up that says it’s study time. I used to have a whole setup when I first went to school. I still have everything I need but haven’t created the space. Or of course I would camp out on campus in the library between classes or between class and work and I haven’t gotten back to giving myself that option yet.
  5. Headspace-I don’t think I have completely readjusted to being a student, I am still seeing work as the largest commitment in my life and I need to shift that thinking and focus to school.

 

I will not be taking any classes during the fall semester/quarter due to the cruise. I am going to go enjoy the cruise and enjoy this as my last big adventure for a little while because live is going to severely change. When I get back I need to get all my vaccines up to date, and take the American Red Cross’ Basic live saving CPR class then apply for a CNA class. My boyfriend and I are also working on moving in together. I will start the CNA class in January (baring any problems) which is a 7 credit class and will take a lot of time. After that it is the nursing program which will take more time. So I have 4.5 miles to get my sh*t completely together. I will keep you posted!