Confessions of an Online Student

I graduated from Buckeye Union High School (GO HAWKS!) with a 3.6 GPA.  It had never occurred to me to search for scholarships outside of athletic ones, which my senior year knee injury took away any chances of THAT happening. My parents never even spoke to me about college or how to get there once I graduated.  Why, you ask?  I have no idea.  Maybe because of the fact that at the time, no one in my family had gone to college.  I did, however, take college classes my senior year.

I have since worked hard to become something great.  I led my class academically in my EMT class and the Fire Academy, worked my BUTT off to bring my *curved* grade up to a 'B' (at a 92%) in Paramedic School and have maintained a 3.4 GPA in college (I slacked off right out of HS and it still counts on the ole record...)

Fast forward to my current nemesis... Nursing school.  Trying to maneuver my online classes are about ready to break me down and make me lose my ever lovin' mind!!

I won't even get too nit-picky as I'm just an emotional WRECK these days as I feel a tremendous amount of pressure to finish my modules (ALL of them) by the fall of this year.  It's a goal that is a hefty one, but, I believe, an absolutely doable one.

Today, while talking with academic support, I was notified of a few *unknown to me* rules, regulations, and laws that the university has.  These 'laws' have changed the course of my set goals and has this (trying to be) structured girl in a TIZZY! 

I have yet to take an exam because I am struggling to wrap my mind around exactly what they're looking for.  Sitting in a classroom, you have the opportunity to learn about your instructors, their teaching style and their hints as to what to study for.  Some instructors give you an idea of what's going to be expected of you to know for the test and others keep it a secret.  I've had both styles and have survived nicely.  I've always said that my paramedic instructor wanted people to fail the class and took pride in the fact that she had a DARN good program that "not everyone will finish".  I swear, a small island somewhere sunk into the ocean as the weight of the test papers landed on my desk at exam time.  "Either you knew it or you didn't" was her motto.  Plain and simple.

This program structure, for me, feels so foreign.  There's SO much information and I can't, for the life of me, figure out what I actually HAVE to remember! Seriously!  Do I NEED to memorize every frickin' page?  Cause it feels like I do!!  ...and by the way, HOW DO YOU DO THAT?  I really want to know because THIS GIRL WILL FINISH what she's started!!

Things I should have been told from the get-go...

"You can't request the funds (that I've already PAID for) to be released to you prior to finishing EVERY CHAPTER QUIZ"

"The funds will take at least 3 weeks to be processed and sent to you before you can register for the test"

"If you fail the exam, you have to pay an additional $300.00 to sit for it again"

"Oh, one more thing, if you fail the exam, not only do you have to pay the $300.00, you have to WAIT an additional REQUIRED 60 DAYS prior to registering for the exam again"

Uh... no pressure...

What was I thinking?!?!

My point?  I've never felt so inept in a college course before!  This SUCKS!!