I honestly meant to write several posts last week. I also meant to crack open my birthday present - a Cricut Explore Air 2 (my birthday was in February, incidentally). I *definitely* meant to work (as in do the thing that earns my paycheck). Somehow, at relatively the last minute, though, we decided to enroll Therese (16) and Nicholas (14) in dual credit classes at our almost local community/junior college. We are blessed to have an amazing community college system in our area. We actually have a location about 20 minutes from our house. After talking to my sister-in-law, who is on her third child in this process, I decided to take my kids to the location that is slightly farther away, though, since it is apparently very homeschooler friendly. It is also 5 minutes from St. Anne, the parish I grew up in and where my dad currently runs the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry, and it is 5 minutes from the house my parents are renting in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Shout out to said SIL, by the way. She endured my frantic texts and mini panic attacks as I tried to figure out how to enroll Therese and Nicholas at the college and navigate something that was completely new to me. If you know me at all, you know that I like to have things planned out well in advance. I don't do well with spontaneous.
So why now? After all, Therese is a rising senior. If she were going to do dual credit, shouldn't she have started sooner? And Nicholas is a rising sophomore. Isn't he a little young? Well, the thing is, Therese's college plans have been changing faster than I can keep up. At first, dual credit didn't make any sense for what she wanted to do. Now, it makes a great deal more sense. Plus, she wants and needs to get out of the house. Additionally, I love the feel of Lone Star College. It is such a great blend of a hybrid high school/college feel. I know from talking to my niece and nephew that the professors work with you much like professors of my alma mater did - on a very personal level. I am so much more comfortable with launching my kids this way, rather than just throwing them into the deep end of college. Plus, having them experience someone else teaching them is a very good idea for both of them (I've never been comfortable with a co-op, for a variety of reasons, but this is quite different - obviously).
It looks like Therese will be taking five classes in the fall and Nicholas two. For now, the plan is for Therese to do straight-up dual credit and see what happens. She is focusing on knocking out classes that will apply toward a degree in International Studies. Nicholas is planning on getting an associates degree and then transferring to A&M. He should graduate from college when he is 20 if all goes well. At this point he wants to be a chemical engineer. I'm just glad that someone else will be teaching him math and science!
They are both so excited. And maybe, since I'll be sitting on a college campus two days a week, I can finally get some work done!
For what it's worth, I think this is a fabulous plan. I'm a huge fan of junior/community colleges as a "soft" transition to higher ed. I am hoping that we can do a few dual credit courses for my kids when they get to high school!
ReplyDeleteThanks, W****. The more I do this, the more I realize how many different paths to success there are. I have a brother who is a tenured professor and I have a brother who dropped out of college at 19, but who has both a very successful career with a bank *and* his own business. Uber-traditional worked for me, but it definitely is not right for everyone. Thanks for reading!
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