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Showing posts from June, 2016

When Plans Go Out the Window: Surviving Bumps in the Road as an Adult Learner

I am a working mother of two beautiful and energetic young children, a 5-year-old and an 8-month-old. I work at least 40 hours a week, so to survive the summer while the oldest is out of school, I have to have a plan. And I did. Luckily, my husband is a teacher and also has summers off, so he is able to stay home with the kids while I go to work. That is until yesterday, when he dislocated his shoulder and now has to wear a sling for up to four weeks. There goes my summer plan - out the window.  What does this have to do with adult learners? No, I am not one myself, but I do have similar responsibilities. Adult students have lives outside of college. They do not have a dorm room that they can hole themselves up in to cram for an upcoming exam. They can’t retreat to the library for an all nighter where they cannot be bothered. They have jobs, families, doctor’s appointments, birthday parties. To fit college into an already busy schedule, adult students have to have a plan. They hav