I’m in the middle of my second last term. My final assignment is still on track for October 23, 2022. Recently, I was notified to submit my Petition to Graduate before the end of July. What an exciting time is coming my way.

This last term and a half has been a struggle after I contracted covid right at the beginning of last term. The mental fugue and physical fatigue are no joke with covid and I’m slowly getting back to feeling normal. Luckily, this term is light – only one course – so I’m able to regain my thought processing without stress.

I finished the term. Surprised I received an A- in my Diversity class. The new term starts Monday, giving me a week’s break before the hardest term yet. The last two courses are Advanced Creative Writing and Playwriting. I’m going to need this week to rest up and get my workspace organized and productive.

Sunday marked another term under my belt. I don’t know why I was so nervous about taking Shakespeare and Modern Mythology. How did I not know how closely our present lives are reflections of stories in both of those courses. My final grade for Shakespeare was an A. My final grade for Modern Mythology was a B+. I’ll take them. Current GPA is 3.231.

The Induction Ceremony I’m attending virtually for the National Society for Leadership and Success (Sigma Alpha Pi) is June 1, 2022. Receiving a nomination to join this group was the best thing that’s happened to me in a very long time. Going through the four levels of indoctrination – orientation, leadership training day, 3 success network meetings (SNTs), and 3 broadcasts – gave me a new foundation to carry on and succeed at life.

There are four categories of goals – Health, Happiness, Career, and Impact. Under Happiness, I found a suggestion for a family vacation. My family hasn’t been on a vacation in more than 20 years. Well, I made plans: talked with people more traveled than me for guidance, made reservations, paid everything in full and up front, and here I am with my kids at a Cabin in Fort Wilderness Resort and Campgrounds in Disney World.

Under Health, there was a suggestion for attaining better nutrition and endurance. I went back to my bariatric clinic and found they have a new program that assists in weight loss and maintenance without surgical intervention. At my last weigh in before I left on our trip, I was down 28.9 pounds. The only downside of this is as the weight comes off, any bone/joint issues are showing themselves. With my new confidence in continuing this program, I have been able to make the appropriate consultations to find solutions to theses issues.

Under Career there was a suggestion for finding an internship or getting a job. Again, with this new confidence in my abilities, I approached a local publishing house for a possible internship. They had no paying internships but did have a couple of programs for me to get some credit for on my resume. Who knows, maybe down the line a job might open up.

I still have to go over my notes on Impact. What I do know is the impact NSLS has had on my life just this year has been tremendous. I’m able to advocate for myself (have always advocated for my kids, never myself), pursue my dream of being an editor/author, and creating a stronger family unit. The past decade has been rough with the loss of my dad 8 years ago, my youngest son 3 years ago, my daughter’s stepmom last Memorial Day, and my mom last November.

This trip is all about us. We’ll go see what we want to in the four Disney parks, and if we don’t get to see something there is park hopper. I want my son and daughter to come up with their desires and we’ll strive to meet them. The hardest part is to get them to let go of expectations and just take our time. No rushing, no pressure, means no squabbles nor pouting.

Thank you NSLS for the strength and courage to make some important changes in my life.

I finished another term with Southern New Hampshire University last week. Shocked myself with a B in Fiction Writing Workshop, and an A in Applied History. These grades bring my total GPA up to 3.175. Whoohoo! Thought I was going to not get back into the B area.

My English professor asked if I was happy to see the term end. I said yes and no. Yes, because it was another course under my belt and no, because I have two LIT classes this term – Modern Mythology and Shakespeare. Had to laugh at her response, “it’ll be a heavy term for you.” Oh, don’t I know it.

So far, so good. I’m enjoying what I’m learning and how to appreciate Shakespeare a bit more than I used to. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the term will bring.

I’ve been blogging about my journey as a student at Southern New Hampshire University on my personal page. Now is the time to start blogging about my journey as an author. My latest English course at SNHU was The Context of Writing. In this course I’ve learned so much more about publishing and getting published than I knew from past experience. When I submitted my first book, it was to a publisher I knew, personally, and it was accepted. However, it wasn’t the best experience because the published work was not even to my standards, so I don’t know how it ending up passing through to get published.

Now I am armed with more information and tools that will help me present myself better and in a more professional manner. Stay tuned for more!