Back in the saddle again (aka school)and im stressed

[LupaCupcake]

Sings "cause im back in the saddle again..woooo" anyways...(that is a real song in case you just think I am being awkward lol)

I am stressing a little...so this is kinda vent and kinda take advise.

I started taking my remaining prereqs this term after almost 2 years of being out of school due to my situation. I work fulltime right now at a sometimes high stress job (the patient advocate at an inpatient behavioral health facility). I thought it would be smart to ease myself back in and take one class w/lab this term then next term push up to 2 classes. I have to get my mojo going again and keep my GPA high. (currently a 3.8). I have the chem and physics courses to take, bio is done.

Well, apparently I am VERY rusty with school. Back in my old college days I did work, I ran an in home daycare, but it was at my home....and when I wasn't doing that I was a stay at home mom. I was able to focus a lot on my studies and that generated a good GPA for me. Now I am the breadwinner working fulltime, I take care of my house, I do have a husband/possible ex one day (as many of you know that situation) but all he does is work part time then sleep all day. (sighs) I wake up at 530 (well, more like 6 after I stop hitting snooze) and I am going all day.

I am only taking one freaking class lol, but I am not doing as well as I had hoped or as I normally do. I am currently averaging a B. Non premeds might say ohhh that is good, but all of you know that we have to push for A's like it is our oxygen. Its the math that is getting me, ideas in math that I have not visited in years and I am making stupid mistakes.

I am stressing.....been getting headaches, I have a pimple hehehe, sleep isn't wonderful. It is really bothering me that I am averaging a B and I only have one flipping class. It isn't even organic chem yet! This is not how I perform :-( I will admit this is not my only stress so everything is just building right now on me. I have this plus my situation with husband (may divorce one day although now he says no to that but I don't know what Im going to do, I may very well still divorce him), my job just got a little more loaded with work as I was added to two committees (patient safety council and service excellence committee) and my boss has decided to add on a few more duties to my normal daily rounds on the units. My house is stressing me because it is currently cluttered as can be lol, I am trying to keep up with it and do everything, but I make family time a priority such as tonight we are doing an outdoor movie when I would normally study or clean up. So my priorities rank "kid time" above clean time, but the house stresses me when it is like this. Don't say the husband should help more, I am very aware of his lack of pulling weight.

I started thinking okay....how can I fix this? I am NOT a morning person, but my idea is to wake up at 0500 and only hit the snooze button once so 0510 lol. Get myself and my child ready, then set her up with cartoons and take a hour before I leave for work to just study. That may mean doing math concepts until I remember every detail of them or going over notes etc. I am also thinking of devoting 30-60 minutes of my work day to school.

Any other ideas?

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[Rady Ruck]

I sought help with my math professor because while I was able to take an amazing memory for granted and hardly study through school several years ago, it's not nearly that way now. Especially for math! I was having trouble keeping up with the concepts in class, and doing the exercises at the same rate as the other students. He said to keep one page of the basic math concepts (so for you, the bio ones) in the back of your folder. That way, it is organized so there is no flipping back and forth through multiple book pages and potentially losing your train of thought. I'll be finishing up that page today. Though you're pressed for time, try as hard as possible to dedicate even a few minutes to your academic weaknesses every. single. day.

As far as the headaches/lack of sleep/pimple issues, I feel you there. My first week+ was hell, and my body would NOT let me get more than 3-4 hours per night. Add to that the fact that I was getting used to the larger class sizes in uni vs. cc and it was terribly stressful. My temporary solution (and I'm not proud of it) was Nyquil. It wasn't for nothing, because I had also caught something while stressed and not eating right. A few weeks in now, and I feel much better. Do you think that getting used to school again will help? Are you slicing out individual time for relaxation? It really is a must, especially with a lack of sleep.

I have no idea about your marriage situation, but am very sorry for it. That really sucks to be going through all of this, especially with children. My heart goes out to you.

 

[desdes]

I agree that having a schedule is important and taking some time to adjust is needed

 

[hawkbit]

General chemistry? Algebra skills are pretty much essential to a good grade in gen chem. You don't seem to have a lot of options at this point... would it be possible to take some time off soon to help get caught up with things? I know what it's like for things to start falling through the cracks due to multiple responsibilities, family, school, etc. I did organic chemistry over the summer, and the first half was hard, I was working 40 hours over Fri-Sat-Sun, then going to class for 6 hours a day Mon-Thurs. So for the second half I was able to schedule a half day off on several Sundays, amazing how much a little extra time made a big difference in stress levels.

Try to find as many opportunities as you can to take small breaks to de-stress. Even a five to ten minute intense work out routine could be very helpful for your body to de-stress.
Good luck! A (B) is survivable, but if it looks like it's going to drop to a C level, consider dropping and trying to work out a better work schedule before retrying. I had to do that to (when I first started back).

P.S. I liked organic chemistry more than gen chem. I mean, it was tough, but the content was more enjoyable. Gen chem is for math people, organic is for conceptual thinkers!

 

[puppylatte]

Some advice.

1) Don't get mad at your husband anymore. You might end up divorcing him so it is all for nought. At least now, he is an adult that can look after the kids while you advance yourself. The alternative is to leave now but then you will have even MORE on your plate. So appreciate the fact he is a deadweight who can make sure the kids don't burn the house down. Low expectations will make it a lot less stressful for you. I realize it sucks but you won't have him around forever. And if you both do get through this? Then great, so don't worry about him.

2) Organic is NOT harder than Gen Chem. It's equally hard and requires more time investment. But it is not on another level of difficulty. I also struggled greatly with Gen Chem I at first since I dropped math in grade 9 in high school. You do get over the hurdles. You are learning even when it doesn't always feel like it. You are taking it slowly, which is an ideal way to learn. Make consistency your goal. 30 minutes a day adds up in a year.

3) Don't be guilty. You are not a robot.

 

[desdes]

There are some good supplements for ochem for example ochem as a second language I actually found it helpful

 

[GunnarBronson]

I recommend using Khan Academy to brush up on algebra concepts. I'm going to be taking gen chem in the spring, but the last time I studied math was several years ago. Thus far, Khan Academy has been great at knocking the rust off. You'd be amazed how quickly math concepts come back to you after just a short while of studying.

Throughout all the nonsense, keep the bigger picture in mind.

 

[kraskadva]

Khan Academy, office hours if you can make them...
+ buy Chemistry for Dummies. It will walk you through the basics with the math broken down. Use it alongside your textbook. It helped me brush off some of the rust when I was starting.
In fact, I have one that is gathering dust. PM if you want and I'll send it to you.

And really, if your husband can't even watch his own daughter while you take care of ****, then (though you're probably tired of hearing it) DTMFA.

 

[LupaCupcake]

@puppylatte your post made me giggle and you know what? Although I do not feel he contributes enough, you are right in that it would be harder with him not their right now. For example, I had to do yard work yesterday, grocery shopping, thing with my kid and homework. I was frustrated that he didn't offer to do the yard work as he was doing nothing else, but he did make dinner and played video games with our kid when I was doing school work. So he did help.

I absolutely agree that I need to brush up on some math concepts. It has just been so long since I used them, most of my stupid mistakes are due to that. I know if I could strengthen those, I should be fine. I am going to spend some time this week dedicated to the math concepts, the professor gave me a website from the school that has reviews of the math concepts I really need for this class. Luckily he is one of the nice professors that drops our lowest grade at the end of the term, he actually drops the lowest lab report grade, lowest test grade and lowest chapter assignment grade. Due to his generosity on that, if I can pull my sh** together this week with the math it is still early enough in the term that I can pull out an A.