First, a small recap:
In 2015, I decided to go back to college with two goals in mind. I wanted to have an education under my belt that reflected my work in Social Media Management (which I no longer do, btw), and I needed something to do that would distract me from my decision to end my career in Halloween.

On the very first day of school, I dropped Selling. I decided right then and there that this was not the direction of my life.

However, I was drawn into my other classes, especially Family Communications and Child Development. I found a lot of answers to questions I didn't know I had, and worked through a lot of issues bubbling beneath the surface. Intro to Psychology was also interesting, and I learned from 2015 that I absolutely loved being in school.

My goals for Spring 2016 were pretty much to determine my major. It was a tossup between Communications, Psychology, and Child Development. It took me a whole semester (!) to get these details nailed down with the counseling department, but by the close of Spring 2016 I had my major, and I had a plan. I was set to graduate with two AAs: one in Social Sciences, and one in Child Development. Other goals included getting Academic Clemency and sorting out issues from transferring credits.

Summer 2016 I wanted to knock some prerequisites out of the way, and a waitlisting issue had me in Intro to Philosophy. I found a new love of my life at that time, and promptly registered for another Philosophy class for fall.

Fall 2016 I had two goals. One, get through Math...which I did not do. I had to drop the class midway through because I failed the midterm. I would have stuck with it and busted my butt for a C, but the thing was...everyone failed the midterm. I realized I did not want to stick through a semester of Math and do all the work I was doing to be handed an F, when I know I could pull better than that. The second goal was to really determine if Child Development was really the major for me. Call me indecisive, but I like to really consider my decisions, especially ones that have lifelong consequences such as determining a major. I took classes without my favorite teacher (to make sure that I wasn't just doing the classes because I liked being in class with my favorite teacher), but at the end I realized this is what I wanted to do: be a teacher.

After the year and a half spent back in college, I realize that I need to set some stringent goals if I want to transfer on time. I've looked back at what I've accomplished (determined a major, managed to get all As since returning to school) and all that I failed to accomplish (complete Math requirements for my major), and all that I wish I had attempted, and have come up with a few goals:

My Spring 2017 Goals

1. Read all my textbooks: This seems like a no-brainer, but how many of us actually read all of our textbooks? Last semester I found myself skimming some books, which I didn't like because I like to read. I think I had some time management issues that kept me from committing to my reading, but this semester I want to stay dedicated. I've even started the reading already!
2. Do my homework ahead of time: When I come from home from school I like to sit down and watch a show. This semester, I want to come home and immediately get started on homework. 
3. Really get math out of the way: This is the last semester I want to spend doing Math. I want it done! I need to get it done so I can take statistics, and I do not want to waste another semester in Math!
4. Be a better team leader: I found myself floundering in one group project last semester because I did not take my own advice and take the leadership role right off the bat. I did not delegate and I did not plan. Even though we got an A, this project caused me a lot of anxiety that planning would have alleviated. My goal is to be a better team leader so at least I can rest a little easier!
5. Balance school and life a bit better: My room, car, and desk were an atrocious mess after this semester! At some point my organization system crashed and I did nothing to fix it. Papers were everywhere, I abandoned my binder at some point, and my textbooks found a home on the floor of the passenger side of my car. This was not okay...just looking at the mess caused me anxiety because I knew I had to clean it but had no time to do so! This semester, I want to make sure I stay organized, and make sure I have time to take care of Real Life things like cleaning.

Aside from these academic goals, I have other life goals (or resolutions) that I have in place for this year that will effect my school:

2017 Life Goals

1. Pay down more debt: I paid off one credit card (for my abrupt wisdom teeth removal in Summer), but I have two more bills I'd like paid off before I transfer. Like many adults going into college, I am chiefly responsible for my own finances. If I am going to get student loans in the future, I want my credit to be tip-top. This may mean I need to pull more work hours (I work full time) or even buckle down on my budget more. Either way, this is a goal and I will do what I need to make it happen!
2. Get my side hustle going: I'm an artist and create illustrations for books, but I started a coloring page side hustle that I've done nothing with. I'd like to get that off the ground this year.
3. Start working in my major: I'm already looking at night, weekend, and 24/7 child care services to send my resume to. I like the job I am in and would like to keep it, but I'd like to start working in my major in a part time or volunteer basis. Last time I went to school I waited until I graduated to start working in the field, which put me at a severe disadvantage. This time around, I want to avoid that mistake. The trick will be to find something that will work with my work and school schedule.

What are some of your goals for Spring 2017?

Last year, I did not go to the family Christmas dinner. I don't know why. I think I just wasn't feeling the holidays. I'm sure there was more to it, but that's not what I remember. What I remember was that this was the last Christmas that my maternal grandmother was alive and I didn't see her at that Christmas.

Blink and you'll miss her: G.Ma was wanderlust personified in a tiny, unassuming form. Here she is in Vienna, Austria. Photo credit: David Sieple.

G.Ma died this spring from a sudden aneurysm that destroyed most of her ability to function. She could have lived longer on a respirator at a fraction of her cognizance, but that wasn't life to G.Ma. It was a deal breaker for a woman that just couldn't be held in place, even in her older years. Her living will dictated that she be let go, and two days later, she died.


G.Ma was spontaneous, or impulsive, depending on who you talked to. She was known for driving up to her friends houses at random and demanding that they go with her on a road trip, responsibilities be damned. I suppose she found the post-depression era too depressing, and made it her mission in life to have as much fun as possible. She married several times, and had eight kids, and moved cross country to California from Pennsylvania. Her reason: she didn't like snow.

Having lived in that area for near three years, I don't blame her one bit.

Oftentimes you would call her house and someone else would answer, someone who didn't even live there. They often had no idea where G.Ma was. She could be out playing Bunco. She could be across the country. She could even be in another country. Her walls were dotted with souvenirs from other places and pictures from eras gone by of people we didn't know, but whose names she remembered distinctly. The only things that provided any sort of roots for her were her grandkids and husband, and her fat cat Snoopy. Other than that, hers was an energy only matched by the hummingbird, her favorite animal.

It's weird to think that she's just gone. She had no funeral, and no burial. She didn't want to complicate things, and didn't want to be remembered as Not Alive. But the sudden finality of her death was weird. It's hard to put in words. I contemplated that while preparing the post for this assignment.

As part of our Child Development classes, we are often tasked to bring in recipes that trigger memories or feelings about our childhood. The purpose is to realize that everything we experience in our young lives adds up to who we are as adults. It's also a great memory game. You know how it is: you're walking along and then suddenly are hit with a scent that takes you back to a warm and fuzzy, "I am safe" memory? I've got tons of those: tortillas, chorizo, Irish Spring soap, chicken & rice.

I chose to present G.Ma's Golumpki (or as we called it, Pigs in a Blanket) for Spring semester's assignment. I thought it was fitting, seeing as G.Ma had died just a few months prior.

Making Golumpki. I had used tomato paste mixed with herb pasta sauce. My baking efforts have their limits!

I used the recipe from Food.com, since it closely resembled what I remembered of the dish. I however used tomato paste blended with a pasta sauce, and cut out most of the herbs required, because I know G.Ma didn't use them. I put a bed of this mixture on the casserole dish, then made rows of the cabbage rolls on top of that, and topped it with the sauce and rosemary.

I had never realized just how much effort went into the Golumpki, and it made me appreciate the times when G.Ma did make them. Prepping the mixture isn't a big deal. Prepping the cabbage takes a bit more time, and rolling the Golumpki takes finesse.

This dish reminds me of the time when my cousins and I were swimming in the pool of her Glendora house, and then she tasked us to knock down wasp nests, which we did with broom handles. We'd run back into the pool and hold our breaths until the wasps had buzzed off...until someone had accidentally shut and locked the gate to the pool. We found out what a bunch of pissed off wasps could do.

We were rewarded with Golumpki, which took the (numerous) stings away from our ordeal. Not once did we question the need to do this weird chore, and not once did we wonder why G.Ma would enlist a bunch of kids to do it for her. I think it's one of those old school things, like kids riding in the bed of a truck or keeping your face cream in the fridge.

My memories of G.Ma are filled with such oddities. I remember picking berries in her backyard, and breaking her tree when I tried to climb it. Mornings were filled with mixing cold cereal samplers and the scent of crayons as we colored 70s coloring books on the big barn table in her German-inspired  kitchen. Evenings were filled with watching TV on her huge turn-dial set. The summers were the best though, filled with sunburns and donuts, swimming and weird German and Polish food like Golumpki.

Yum. If it were sanitary, I'd just eat the batter, not gonna lie.

But it wouldn't be the holidays without a special G.Ma holiday treat: her M&M cookies. It turns out this recipe was most likely lifted and modified from a 1960s Crisco label, and Crisco is a big ingredient in these cookies. Her recipe is but a tripling of the 1960s recipe, which I found at Click Americana. I swap the flour with Bob's Red Mill 1 For 1 Gluten Free Flour and use M&M minis.

G.Ma used to bake a ton of these, plus some other cookies like Fork Cookies, Butter Cookies, Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, and Sugar Cookies, put them in a huge popcorn tin and give each family one. I don't know how she did it but they'd always be hard as a rock, making coffee, tea, or milk a necessity.

I'll never get a tin of cookies from G.Ma again, but we picked up the tradition without question. We've already created 3 batches of these cookies this Holiday Season, and I just bought enough ingredients to make two more.

Merry Christmas, G.Ma.

G.Ma, my little sister, my cousin, me, and then my middle sister, in 2015.

You did it. You made it to Winter Break and you've registered for your classes. It's time for some R&R!

Hold up! While the last semester is over, and now you can take some time to recharge, it's wise to use this time to prepare for next semester as well. This prep needn't take a lot of time and energy! Most prep you can do from your computer during a lunch break.

Here's how to utilize that time for the maximum benefit for next semester:

Rent your textbooks for next semester.
Once you get your schedule, check to see which books your professor requires. My college allows me to check for these books online, and provides purchasing options.

Finding textbooks online is a snap! Check your college's website for a textbook link, and then search the section numbers for your class's required textbooks.

But I never buy the books from my school...I nab those ISBN numbers and take them over to Amazon because the prices are cheaper! I once got a textbook for $0.01!

This is a $14.99 savings! I purchased this book and got the chore out of the way. Always check around for cheaper prices on required books. Sometimes, like this book, the shipping costs more than the book itself (that's usually a good thing)!

Buy new school supplies.
I love this time because I get new pens and new notebooks. There's no need to go all out, but be sure to replenish printer cartridges and buy more printer paper. Create a Dropbox account if you don't have one, which I find as one of my most relied upon resources for backing up and transferring files (i.e. if I have a presentation, it's easier to retrieve from Dropbox than search for a USB drive).

Check out my board: Best School Supplies for 30 Somethings.


Organize last semester's mess, if there is one.
As much as I am a proponent for staying organized, by the time the semester closes out, my desk, binder, tote bag, and even sometimes my car are a hot mess. I think my organizational system died this semester right after midterms! I have a huge stack of unorganized papers on my desk, my binder is...somewhere, and my tote bag has a nice padding of receipts at the bottom. Yikes!

This was even after I had sorted some papers! My desk is still a mess but I am slowly making a dent. I am going to have to re-evaluate my in-semester system!

I use Winter Break to take everything out of folders, piles, and binders and organize it by class. Along with the notebook I used to take notes for each class, I put everything in a folder and file it away. This way I can retrieve things easily in the future.

Reread notes.
This may be a habit only I do, but I recommend to anyone. Reread your notes. You'll be surprised at how much you forget between semesters. Sometimes, we are in such a hurry to just get through class that we really don't commit the information to long term memory. Don't think so? Quick! Recall what vocab words you learned at the beginning of last semester!

You probably had to think about it for a bit. But that's okay! That's why note taking - and note keeping - is really important. Reread those notes, especially for prerequisite classes that you had to take in Fall to prep for a Spring class.

Evaluate your performance for Fall, and research how you can make Spring better.
No one is perfect and everyone can use improvement. Take stock of how your Fall semester went down. What part were you not happy about? Here's some categories to consider:

• Organization system - did it hold up for you? For me, it failed. I will be re-evaluating my single binder, separate notebook system.
• Group projects - how did they work out? Did you do your part? Did others do their part? If you struggled, you may have to plan your time better. If others struggled, you may have to plan to take a leadership role in future group projects.
• Essays - Did your writing skills make the grade? Did you miss points because of formatting, grammar, lack of required components, or you completely did the assignment wrong? You may want to bone up on your writing skills by either taking an online workshop, research college essay writing, or check out a book on the subject. Now would be a great time to hire a tutor!
• Assignments - Did you do all your assignments or did you forget a few? You may want to learn to plan your time better. Making time for all your assignments - and even doing a few ahead of time - may save your butt come Spring semester!
• Presentations - How did yours go? Do you feel that other people have more polished presentations? Do you have stage jitters? Was your presentation rushed? You may want to check out a Udemy Powerpoint course, or plan to take a Speech class next semester. And...be sure to plan ahead for your assignment!
• Test taking - Did you bomb a test? Did you think you were prepared but it turned out you really weren't? Hire a tutor to go over note-taking and studying skills. Make a resolution to pay better attention during class, to ask questions, and to read assigned reading.
• ...and more! If you feel there is anything else, run a Pinterest search for how to solve the issue. Chances are someone has written about what you're going through, and has a solution to offer! 

Get started early!
Oh boy. I can already hear the disagreement on this one. But it's the holidays! I have stuff to do! Cookies to bake! Peppermint cocoa to drink! Yes, you do. As do I. But that doesn't mean you can't get started early! But you don't have to if you don't want to.

I try to get started early just because I know I can procrastinate when I really don't want to do something. I can be an obdurate little 9 year old in a 35 year old's body, trust me. Knowing this about myself, I plan ahead.

So when I got my pair of penny-a-piece textbooks last week, I started reading one of them. I get my Christmas cookies, and I get my peppermint hot cocoa, don my fuzzy sock-slippers and my cat's favorite blankie, curl up with said cat and said textbook, and go to town. It really helps that all my distractions are gone too; I finished Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (OMG), Walking Dead is on hiatus (at least it has been since after the first episode, am I right?), and Holiday Baking Challenge has been polished off (go Jason!).

Made some of my Grandma's dry AF M&M cookies in honor of her passing in Spring Semester. The key is to use Crisco and brown sugar, and mini M&Ms for more chocolate per cookie real estate.

It may be helpful to pick a textbook of a topic that really interests you. I picked Miss America By Day because pageants always fascinated me from a psychological standpoint, and Marilyn Van Derbur's story is important. I'm already several chapters in, and I may just finish the thing off before school starts! I'm annotating as I go, but I'm not cracking out the notebook for notes. I have my limits, y'all.

I hope this list gives you some idea on how to prep. Planning ahead is really the key to success for me, as you can see. Hopefully I can make some important changes before Spring! What other ways do you prepare for the new semester?

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I was tired. I had read several children's lit books, trekked to several bookstores, and had read pretty much every anti-bias children's lit booklist to be found. Spurred on by Anti-Bias Curriculum's requirements for anti-biased books, I pressed on, and turned to the last book I had found.

I Am Jazz
I Am Jazz is a book co-written by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, with Jazz herself being the titular character of the book. It is an autobiographical pre-school age picture book, chronicling the first few years of Jazz's life, especially as she discovered she is transgendered as a toddler.

I have been aware of Jazz Jennings for a while, and if you watch TV or Youtube you may have come across her. I came across her story when a few transgendered friends of mine posted about her on Facebook some years ago. Every once in a while I would check her Youtube channel to see how her story has progressed. Jazz is now a teenager, and is facing a whole new set of challenges that are common among transgendered teens. I was interested to see that she had published I Am Jazz, and decided to buy it.

I Am Jazz is intended for preschool age to young grade school age children.

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