LEARNING
Going
BACK TO SCHOOL After Having Kids
5 Ways Parents Can Prep For The Classroom by Mandi Em
When my son was 3 years old, I decided to go back to school to get a degree. As a 22-yearold high school dropout and single parent at the time, I was an unlikely candidate for higher education. However, I was able to make it work, and I am so grateful that I did. The hard work was worth it, and the bonus was that the whole experience was not nearly as difficult as I had assumed it would be. When I was a teenager I ended up only partially completing grade 11. At 19, I gave birth to a baby boy and didn’t put much thought into not having a high school diploma. A few years later, I separated from my son’s father and realized that my lack of options when it came to employability was an issue. I was in a “starting over” phase of life, and realized that getting an education was the best choice for me, so I could ensure a better future for my son and I. I enrolled in college and completed some assessment testing to be able to sign up for classes. At this point, I was trying not to invest too much thought into what my end goal was. Instead, I was quite literally taking it one day at a time, trying to complete any schooling I could to include it on a resume that was mainly built on customer service.
18 WestCoastFamilies.com
