I decided to go back to school in order to both achieve a personal goal and to hopefully advance my career. As I get closer to achieving my degree, I feel a personal sense of accomplishment. I am proud of myself for recognizing the need, setting the goal and working consistently to achieve it. I am very good at making plans. I believe that those that fail to plan are actually planning to fail. What I am learning now is that even the best laid plans may still sometimes require modification. They say that everyone is separated by six degrees of separation. I believe that we are actually closer than that. I saw this for myself at my baby shower last weekend. There were several people that knew two or more guests at the baby shower; some had known each other for over 20 or more years. We were amazed at how many lost connections were re-established because of our event. Seven months and counting… I am in the middle of my eight month of pregnancy and things are different. Since I am a first time mother, I had no idea how pregnancy affects every aspect of your life. For example, my energy level is completely different and unpredictable. Some days I have a lot of energy and other days I have to drag through the schedule I have created for myself. When I don’t have energy, I thankfully have the leisure of taking a nap, cutting back on my work hours... I plan on graduating in June of 2012. The preparation for graduation for SNL students is a different from a regular graduation. Therefore, it requires a lot more preparation, research and self reliance. For example, there is not an automatic email or correspondence that lets you know what you need to do in order to graduate. The information is available via the website but students will have to search it out.
There is a page under student resources that provides the undergraduate graduation steps. Getting back into the swing of things is difficult after the long holiday break. The holiday season was wonderful but it definitely makes me a little lethargic. Trying to balance life and school has been a little difficult this week. Being in my 8th month of pregnancy also helps with my slow pace these days. I see so many people struggling during this holiday season. I observe people depressed because they no longer have the financial means to buy expensive Christmas gifts and sometimes not even enough to buy any gifts at all. I almost fell into this trap myself. I also see parents full of guilt because they are not able to give their children the Christmas they feel they deserve. Witnessing this makes me very sad because I see Christmas so differently. My Thanksgiving was wonderful. I hosted a total of 4 people at my house, my husband, myself, my mother and my mother-in-law. It was a small and intimate group which was very nice. However, after the big day there is always left-over turkey. So, I have a wonderful recipe that I would like to share for Turkey Noodle Soup. It is super easy, fast and yummy. One of my favorite classes at DePaul is Expressive Arts Therapy with Joan Cantwell. It is one of the first couple of courses I would greatly recommend to new SNL students. Expressive Arts Therapy is a very informative course that feels like a revisit to kindergarten combined with a day at the spa. It is an experience like I have never had before. The course teaches you about the functionality and purpose of the different art therapies while you get the opportunity to actually experience them first hand. Learning Art History Through The Art Institute is one of my most favorite classes at DePaul SNL. This class was so much fun that it was hard to remember that it was for school. It was actually my idea of a wonderful weekend outing. The thought of being back in a classroom after so many years was intimidating. I was worried that my brain would not be able to absorb information like it used to. I was concerned about my ability to perform at a college level after being in corporate America for so long. One of the toughest things for an adult student is making time for everything. As an adult, I have adult responsibilities. For example, I have a job to work, a home to maintain including cleaning, cooking, shopping, and never ending laundry. I also have a husband and we are now expecting our first child. Needless to say, life is very full and busy. This makes it even more important that I take time to relax, reflect and take a deep breath. Making sure that I find time to do everything is tough. The o Hi, I am Leslie Triplett and I am a senior School of New Learning (SNL) student at DePaul. I have had a wonderful summer which included me and my husband’s annual trip to Jamaica. This was our first time to Negril. I now see how they earned the reputation for having one of the top 5 beaches in the world. I think everyone should experience Jamaica at least once. |
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