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Journal, November 15, 2011

Today in the mail I received my acceptance letter from Bloomsburg University. I’m officially enrolled as a Non-Degree student for Spring 2012! I can’t explain how excited this acceptance letter has made me! I know they probably accept just about anyone for a non-degree program (all I had to do was fill out a form of general information. I haven’t even sent my transcripts yet), but it still feels like such a huge step forward! And I’m happy to get a letter for once saying, “You’re accepted!” rather than, “I regret to inform you that the position you applied for has been filled.” (Yes, a few companies still send letters rather than just ignoring all the applicants who didn’t get hired)

I see I will also be required to go to an orientation. Ugh, I thought I wouldn’t have to go to one as a non-degree student. I’ve been to two orientations already! I started out my college career at Bloomsburg University, majoring in Liberal Arts with a concentrated area in English. I did the dorm life thing (pretty horrid experience my first year. My roommate and I equally decided we couldn’t live with one another, and I got my own room for the second semester, which was good, but lonely), then my second year, my sister and future husband (current boyfriend) enrolled at the same school I was already attending. Fun! Except that I often felt torn between the two. At the end of my second year, I decided BU wasn’t the right school for me. They didn’t offer any creative writing courses, which was really what I wanted to study.

At the same time, my boyfriend decided it wasn’t the right school for him, either. He decided to be an art teacher and it turned out that BU didn’t have an art teaching certification program (although the admissions office told him several times that they did before he transferred). So we both transferred back to the school he was originally attending, Temple University. It was a huge difference in schools. Bloomsburg University is a much smaller school in a rural setting, while Temple University (main campus, where I was attending most of my classes) was a big campus with tons of people and pretty large class sizes. Which probably explains why I can’t really remember any of my professors names… But they had a creative writing class, and I was able to continue my art history minor concentration by attending classes at my husband’s Tyler campus (Tyler School of Art). It was very cool to study art history at an art school, and my husband’s professors actually let me sit in on a few classes.

I graduated in Fall of 2002 from Temple University, and now ten years later, I find myself enrolling once again at my first college choice. The campus has changed a great deal since I’ve been there, but I feel comfortable being there. I’ve visited quite a few times over the years, since my sister now works as a secretary for the College of Business (where I will be studying for my MBA in their graduate program). It’s great that she knows so much about the program and was able to introduce me to key people within the program, so I felt at ease enrolling.

I can’t say that I did a ton of research into different MBA programs in area schools. I trust the people I met when they said that BU has a great program, and honestly, it’s a cheaper school than many in the area, and it’s geographically closest to me. I know companies respect a degree from BU, and BU is impressed with my BLA from Temple University. Overall, I think it’s a great fit for me at this point in my life.

So I also got a few PIN numbers with the acceptance letter, so I can go online to look at classes for the Spring semester, though I can’t schedule until I have my transcripts sent over from Temple University, which I will do tonight. Thank goodness everything is online these days! I remember when I applied for college in 1998, nothing was online! Everything was paper packets that had to be filled out by hand. Now, I can go to FAFSA’s website and fill out an application and have it sent immediately!

I guess that really dates me, the fact that the internet was basically a joke when I started college.

I’m so excited to be starting this new period in my life! I’m a little nervous to be a student again, but I’m also a bit more confident than when I originally attended college. I know exactly what I want this time, and I know why I’m going to college. Most importantly, I feel I deserve to be there, which I didn’t feel the first time around. Overall, I’m so very excited.