Karen’s Summer 2019
To start off, I placed both my kids in summer camp while I spent the summer taking Calculus 3 and Differential Equations. I took my maths at CNM because, let’s face it, I would rather pay cash for my classes instead of using student loans. I know that student loans will bite me in the a**, later on down the road, but I am still hopeful that there is a way out.
Even though I had both the kids in summer camp (basically, out of my hair for 8 hours a day), I feel like taking Calculus 3 and Differential Equations during the summer, AT THE SAME TIME, was a big mistake. The classes were hard enough, but that was not really my problem. I just wish that I had focused on each one, individually, so that I could fully understand the subjects. I received a C in both classes. Nothing that I am proud of but, also nothing that I am ashamed of either. My only advise, is that if you need to take them during the summer, do NOT take them together. Calculus 3 wasn’t nearly as hard as Calculus 2 (a class that I received a B in), however it had sooooooooo much information, and sooooooo much homework. And I get it, we need the homework, it helps you understand the information. It just took so much of my time, that it was hard to concentrate on my family life while doing well in class.
During my first exams, my grandmother passed away. She was someone who lived with me for over 30 years. This hit me kinda…weird. Mostly because I have been fortunate to spend these 37 years of my life completely “death of loved ones” free. So I was feeling pretty lost, trying to be a good mother and student, and acting like everything was normal. You receive condolences from other people, but you don’t know if they REALLY understand. Hell, you don’t know if YOU really understand. There was even a point, about 2 weeks later, that I had a total meltdown which resulted in a lot of yelling and almost breaking things, on my part. However, that meltdown seemed to be my acceptance in my DABDA of grieving. Ok, DABDA stands for Denial Anger Bargaining Depression and Acceptance, for those of you who do not know the stages of grieving. Luckily, my father just happened to be visiting me during this time and he helped me TREMENDOUSLY to get through it all.
I did eventually manage to do some summer things with the kids where we went to Santa Rosa with some old time friends, where I became well acquainted with relaxation and party time (in moderation since the kids were around).