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Officially a student

I’d always planned to be a stay at home mum. I didn’t see any point of doing 3-4 years of university just to have a couple of kids a few years later and then stay at home with them and not use the degree I paid thousands of dollars for. Instead, I did a one year photography course at TAFE (a technical college), but that was mostly so I could stay in this country.

I always imagined playing with the kids all day, nurturing them, teaching them, providing them with healthy meals, etc. etc. I didn’t think a lot about what would happen when they go to school. I suppose I figured I’d make their lunches, get them to school or the bus stop, clean the house and do some cooking and stuff while they were away, and then help them with their homework, and play with them until bed time. It made a lovely picture in my head.

But Oh. My. Gosh. I never imagined the boredom. The mundane-ness of all the housework, nappy changing, feeding, why questions, telling them the same stuff over and over and over again, and doing the same things day after day. The lack of adult conversation. The feeling that I’m not accomplishing anything, even though I know that raising my kids is the most important job I could ever and will ever do. It’s also the hardest, the most frustrating, and the most rewarding.

There is absolutely no way that I can stay at home and do housework and cooking all day after the kids go to school. No. Fracking. Way. Even now, I’m itching to do something. Something that doesn’t involve kids, writing about kids, or being at home with kids or by myself (Aaron works all day).

In about 6 years, both kids will be at school, and I will be able to get a good job, the job of an educated person. The job of someone with a degree. Not only that, but in about a month and a half, I will have something to work for, concentrate on, apply my mind to, and to call all my own. I am officially a student. I have enrolled in my classes, and I even have my student card with the tiny photo of me grinning like child on it (luckily the photo is tiny because after getting all dressed up for the photo, I somehow managed to take half of my eyelashes off with the eyelash curler, in one fell (foul?) swoop). And next week, I can get my free iPad (oh yes, my university gives new students brand new iPads, how cool is that?). I even have a scholarship. Everyone else in my course does too, but that is not the point.

Me with my shiny new student card. Also shiny is my face because it is so darn hot over here right now, plus I’m not wearing a lick of makeup. Also, that magazine in the background is a fitness magazine, not a dirty one. In case you were confused.

My whole plan changed with just one email. Basically, it said that if I changed my first preference to this other course, not only would I get an early offer (which is the university saying that I’m in should I choose to accept), but I’d also get a scholarship. The cheap side of me jumped up and down in celebration. A scholarship. An early offer.

But still, I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think I would truly want to be in that course, or if I thought I’d always wonder “what if” with forensics. I looked up the course in the university handbook online. I read about the field on Wikipedia. Coincidentally (or not) there was a show on TV that very night that was all about it. I was so interested, glued to my TV. I stayed up way past my bedtime, engrossed in all the information I found, convinced that I’m not supposed to be in Forensics at all, but this other field instead.

My course is a brand new course. I will be one of the first students to ever take it. By the time I’m finished though, the impact I could have locally, statewide, nationally, and even internationally, could be enormous. With the world population booming the way it is, degrees like the one I’m going to get will be invaluable.

I will be slowly studying my way to a Bachelor of Natural Science – Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security. I am so excited. It’s right up my alley with the science-y bit, and the growing stuff and figuring out stuff bits. Plus, someone has to come up with food solutions that don’t involve Monsanto (their website says “A sustainable agriculture company.” HAHAHA, they’re having a laugh! Feeding the population questionable GMO produce hardly qualifies as sustainable in my book! They also used to manufacture Agent Orange) and/or genetic engineering.

In other news, I just wrote my first negative review on my review blog. It’s hardcore, you should check it out:

http://www.amomsreviews.com/2013/01/11/wonder-winnie/

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