Up for Air
The past two weeks or so have been frantic. Between working on final review copies for Natural Order (yep, that means that novel will be coming out soon!) and pre college stuff, about all that left is my mommy duty time. I’ll try to recap best I can.
The most important thing was I finally got the financial aid details figured out (for the most part). With fall and spring semester tuition (since the recent price hike) at nearly 4k each, there was no doubt, I had to take both loans this year. Hopefully with time to make some grant and scholarship deadlines I won’t have to depend on loans so much the other years. I just found out I was now offered work study, but between my classes and being a mom, plus the 260 hours of volunteer time required for the M3C program scholarship (which considering the amount of volunteering I do as a norm shouldn’t be too hard if the kind of stuff I do qualifies) not sure when I can get in a college job…between classes? It is possible the work study is part of the M3C stuff, which would make it easier to fit in.
I love the folks in the Student Accessibility Center! They’ve been very helpful. I’m going to be able to set up note takers in all my classes and get audio/electronic versions of all my text books through their offices (with the proper receipt for buying the books for copywrite reasons). Ms Salzer (BVI Program/Alternative Text Coordinator) also advised me to get the most recent copy of Dragonspeak so not only will it read computer files back to me (useful for school and writing), but using the voice to text will be easier on my CTS (which is also good for both school and writing). Now if we could just get all my teachers to get back to her with the required texts for the fall semester that’d be a bonus. Looking online it appears that Dragon NaturallySpeaking is on version 10… is that correct?
Looking at the website I can get a Dragon NaturallySpeaking Pref 10 plus a Plantronics® Calisto™ Bluetooth Headset with USB Adapter for $299.99 (plus whatever shipping is I assume). A wireless headset is not a bad idea. Walking and writing, what an amazing concept, though not sure I’m ready to pay that much extra for a fancy wireless headset when I can get the software alone for about $150 plus shipping. Also looking for other places that might have the software cheaper (since I’d rather avoid using the evil that is Amazon.com if I can avoid it, even though through them I can save nearly 70 dollars…sigh). I have been reading reviews and most say the included basic mic for the software is crap, so I might have to look into spending the extra after all (if I can keep my kids from messing with the headset and ruining it like the others they have messed up) I also need to read this article on 'Digital Recorder Compatibility Report for Dragon NaturallySpeaking' closer, and compare brands, prices, etc to get a DVR that will work with the software as well…all this tech hurts Ms Moon’s brain.
I got one more week before her Warrior Princessness is done with camp and two weeks until Wolfboy finishes his work at the farm coop. That’s two weeks of children fighting most of the day with each other (*rolls eyes* siblings) while I try to write, edit, and finish getting ready for school. At least the school sent the supplies list for them a month before classes start instead of their typical two weeks before, so I have to get that done as well. $150 in school fees for the two of them, plus about $100 in school supplies and new dance shoes to boot. My daughter has her first of two testing sessions for her ADD, the second falling several days after school begins… not helpful, but the soonest they could get her in. I still have to get info on the after school child care for her when I have my afternoon classes, but I can’t even hope to get ahold of those folks that do the MPS after school program until a week before classes start the admins say. Hopefully it won’t be too pricey, on top over all the other expenses.
I wish I could make a solid decision on the degree I want to get. There are a lot of things I’d like to do as a career, but many either the job market is pretty dry for, or I don’t have some of the natural talents required to do that type of work. I loved the idea of being a sign language interpreter, but I talked to several friends who do it for a living and they say most interpreters end up with CTS and need surgery…I already have CTS and was hoping to avoid surgery. I’d love to teach, English/Creative writing would be wonderful, but will the struggling I have from my LDs with the technical end of writing I wonder if I can ever get good enough in that end of English to teach. I love the idea of showing kids like I was that they have stories inside them to tell, that even if the people around them don’t seem to care or listen to what they think and feel, that through words these kids can still have a voice.
I know, it’s weird to be diving headfirst into going back to college at 40 and have no idea what degree I want to have at the end of it all. It sucked to learn that most of the 29 creds I got my previous year at college 20 years ago don’t transfer since most are theatre related. Sure being a drama teacher would rock, but with even my kids creative arts school struggling to keep their art specialty programs, I imagine position for drama teachers will be slim pickings. I know whatever job I get I want to serve my communities, I want to make a real difference in some way, like I try to do with my writing. I’ve considered for a short time even getting a creative writing degree, but can’t find a way to make a regular paycheck I could support my family with on that.
So outside of working on edits, and being a mommy, that’s been most of where my brain has been drowning in. My doc did up my meds to 20mg for my ADD stuff, which seems to be helping some with focus, but with the kinesthetic side effects still noticeable, though milder than at 30mg, I don’t think I want to risk a higher dosage. I guess best I can hope is this will make enough of a difference to help my focus on my studies and the lectures. Still a couple more meeting to have and info to get, but I’m right on track with the college prep stuff, so that’s a relief. Thanks to all of you who sent supportive email (and even a couple postcards *wink*) that’s meant a lot.
The most important thing was I finally got the financial aid details figured out (for the most part). With fall and spring semester tuition (since the recent price hike) at nearly 4k each, there was no doubt, I had to take both loans this year. Hopefully with time to make some grant and scholarship deadlines I won’t have to depend on loans so much the other years. I just found out I was now offered work study, but between my classes and being a mom, plus the 260 hours of volunteer time required for the M3C program scholarship (which considering the amount of volunteering I do as a norm shouldn’t be too hard if the kind of stuff I do qualifies) not sure when I can get in a college job…between classes? It is possible the work study is part of the M3C stuff, which would make it easier to fit in.
I love the folks in the Student Accessibility Center! They’ve been very helpful. I’m going to be able to set up note takers in all my classes and get audio/electronic versions of all my text books through their offices (with the proper receipt for buying the books for copywrite reasons). Ms Salzer (BVI Program/Alternative Text Coordinator) also advised me to get the most recent copy of Dragonspeak so not only will it read computer files back to me (useful for school and writing), but using the voice to text will be easier on my CTS (which is also good for both school and writing). Now if we could just get all my teachers to get back to her with the required texts for the fall semester that’d be a bonus. Looking online it appears that Dragon NaturallySpeaking is on version 10… is that correct?
Looking at the website I can get a Dragon NaturallySpeaking Pref 10 plus a Plantronics® Calisto™ Bluetooth Headset with USB Adapter for $299.99 (plus whatever shipping is I assume). A wireless headset is not a bad idea. Walking and writing, what an amazing concept, though not sure I’m ready to pay that much extra for a fancy wireless headset when I can get the software alone for about $150 plus shipping. Also looking for other places that might have the software cheaper (since I’d rather avoid using the evil that is Amazon.com if I can avoid it, even though through them I can save nearly 70 dollars…sigh). I have been reading reviews and most say the included basic mic for the software is crap, so I might have to look into spending the extra after all (if I can keep my kids from messing with the headset and ruining it like the others they have messed up) I also need to read this article on 'Digital Recorder Compatibility Report for Dragon NaturallySpeaking' closer, and compare brands, prices, etc to get a DVR that will work with the software as well…all this tech hurts Ms Moon’s brain.
I got one more week before her Warrior Princessness is done with camp and two weeks until Wolfboy finishes his work at the farm coop. That’s two weeks of children fighting most of the day with each other (*rolls eyes* siblings) while I try to write, edit, and finish getting ready for school. At least the school sent the supplies list for them a month before classes start instead of their typical two weeks before, so I have to get that done as well. $150 in school fees for the two of them, plus about $100 in school supplies and new dance shoes to boot. My daughter has her first of two testing sessions for her ADD, the second falling several days after school begins… not helpful, but the soonest they could get her in. I still have to get info on the after school child care for her when I have my afternoon classes, but I can’t even hope to get ahold of those folks that do the MPS after school program until a week before classes start the admins say. Hopefully it won’t be too pricey, on top over all the other expenses.
I wish I could make a solid decision on the degree I want to get. There are a lot of things I’d like to do as a career, but many either the job market is pretty dry for, or I don’t have some of the natural talents required to do that type of work. I loved the idea of being a sign language interpreter, but I talked to several friends who do it for a living and they say most interpreters end up with CTS and need surgery…I already have CTS and was hoping to avoid surgery. I’d love to teach, English/Creative writing would be wonderful, but will the struggling I have from my LDs with the technical end of writing I wonder if I can ever get good enough in that end of English to teach. I love the idea of showing kids like I was that they have stories inside them to tell, that even if the people around them don’t seem to care or listen to what they think and feel, that through words these kids can still have a voice.
I know, it’s weird to be diving headfirst into going back to college at 40 and have no idea what degree I want to have at the end of it all. It sucked to learn that most of the 29 creds I got my previous year at college 20 years ago don’t transfer since most are theatre related. Sure being a drama teacher would rock, but with even my kids creative arts school struggling to keep their art specialty programs, I imagine position for drama teachers will be slim pickings. I know whatever job I get I want to serve my communities, I want to make a real difference in some way, like I try to do with my writing. I’ve considered for a short time even getting a creative writing degree, but can’t find a way to make a regular paycheck I could support my family with on that.
So outside of working on edits, and being a mommy, that’s been most of where my brain has been drowning in. My doc did up my meds to 20mg for my ADD stuff, which seems to be helping some with focus, but with the kinesthetic side effects still noticeable, though milder than at 30mg, I don’t think I want to risk a higher dosage. I guess best I can hope is this will make enough of a difference to help my focus on my studies and the lectures. Still a couple more meeting to have and info to get, but I’m right on track with the college prep stuff, so that’s a relief. Thanks to all of you who sent supportive email (and even a couple postcards *wink*) that’s meant a lot.