Since starting school, I definitely have required more sleep. Having my head buried in books all day makes me tired. When I did nothing all day, it was no big deal to sleep 5-6 hours. After joking with my husband that I was going to start sleeping till noon like a student, I thought it was funny that I did start sleeping 8-9 hours.
I suppose since I didn't start sleeping till noon, I had to be a typical student in other ways. Since starting this process, I have officially changed my major three times. Yesterday was my final change.
The ultimate goal is to be a lay counselor in a christian setting with no expectations of being paid. I want to be educated enough to lead/teach in women's ministries and have a firm foundation for discipleship.
My school offers two counseling programs, one with emphasis on psychology and the other on religion. I have waffled back and forth. In dealing with the hurting, teaching or just walking through life with people, it's important to me to have an understanding of the science behind behavior. I believe understanding allows for a deeper compassion and an ease in offering grace. Religion is of equal importance. Whether walking with a hurting person or friend, I want to point them back to Christ. I want to be well equipped to present Christ as the healer for the lost person who has no hope.
I began this semester with psychology and intro to counseling. Both were a struggle and I questioned my choice, even though I have felt led by God through the entire process. I felt inept and like a failure. In my three classes, I started out with near failing grades. Through time and prayer and grace, I realized that my downfall was not having been in school for 16 years and never taking an online course. It wasn't that I failed with the content, it was the learning curve and impatience on my part.
The other struggle for me was having classes taught from a scientific or worldview and not with a biblical worldview. I chose a christian school so my education would be steeped in biblical truth. That's the reason for paying private school tuition, which is double state university tuition.
Once I adapted and learned and prayed, it all began to get easier. However, I still struggled with the programs and which was best. Going with religion gave me no psychology and vice versa.
Yesterday, I talked with my adviser. Thankfully, he had a solution. He set me up with an interdisciplinary degree. My degree is now Religion/Psychology - Christian counseling. The bonus of this is that more of my transfer credits fit into actual useful categories and reduced the number of courses I would need to take. This allows me to focus my attention on religion and psychology and counseling.
The best news in this change is that it lowered my required classes from 22 to 16, because of how my credits transferred. Having only 16 classes remaining, it allows me to safely plan for graduation in May 2016. As long as I do not fail any classes, I will be able to take 15 hours per semester and either 18 one semester or tack on a J term at the end of this year.
It is a little crazy to think that my life is dedicated to school for the next 15 months. I get a spring break and fall break and another spring break next year. That's it. My terms and semesters are back to back or even overlap a few days. Busyness and focus now will allow me to finish in the time frame I would like.
I am already looking forward to our trip to Virginia next May and receiving my diploma.
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