My name is Brian and I always thought that I had plenty of time to go back to school and earn a degree. I joined the military right out of high school, completed my training and spent the next few years working towards being the best in my field of expertise, which I accomplished by working long and hard hours. In those days we lived by the motto, "work hard, play hard", I look back and it seems that I may have taken this too literally, as time seems to have flown by. One day I am passing 25 and gaining speed as I head toward 30, then the next thing I know I wake up and realize I am on the other side of 45, and coasting toward 50. That was nearly two years ago, in my late forties and finally deciding that it is time I actively pursued a college
…show more content…
When I told my wife that I decided to return to school, she was, and still is, very excited for me and has supported my decision. While many families have made similar decisions, the difference with our family is that I work at a remote location overseas separated by thousands of miles from my family, who live in the states. Some people would say that I have it easier not having the family with me, but that is not the case. With VoIP service, I have constant access with my family, and since I am 8 hours ahead them, this can start in the afternoon and continue into the late evening. We spend plenty of time catching up on their previous, and my current day's activities, and discuss what my family is preparing to do for their day. Then there are times when issues arise that require my help in resolving, such as booking airline tickets for my sister-in-law, or walking my wife through resetting the home network after a power …show more content…
The main source of distraction from my studies at night comes from answering routine messages from the home office, so, I contacted the home office and explained my situation with my studies. I then informed them that I would only answer urgent action messages in the evenings, and I will answer all routine messages the following day. Next, I decided to eliminate trips to the cafeteria for lunch each day and incorporated a working lunch in my office to review material and notes from the previous days study sessions. Next, I needed to a plan to provide quality time with my family and leave myself plenty of study hours in the evening. I explained the new goal of my studies to my family and the need to limit our telephone calls during the weekdays. I then developed a schedule for phone calls during the weekdays to include three 30-minute calls each day, one in the early morning before I leave for work, one late afternoon and one late night. If issues arise, such as internet failures, which needs to be 3 resolved before the weekend, my wife will now contact my brother-in-law or a member of our church for help. With limiting phone calls and messages during the week, I can free up an extra 2 hours each day that I can utilize toward my
When I told my wife that I decided to return to school, she was, and still is, very excited for me and has supported my decision. While many families have made similar decisions, the difference with our family is that I work at a remote location overseas separated by thousands of miles from my family, who live in the states. Some people would say that I have it easier not having the family with me, but that is not the case. With VoIP service, I have constant access with my family, and since I am 8 hours ahead them, this can start in the afternoon and continue into the late evening. We spend plenty of time catching up on their previous, and my current day's activities, and discuss what my family is preparing to do for their day. Then there are times when issues arise that require my help in resolving, such as booking airline tickets for my sister-in-law, or walking my wife through resetting the home network after a power …show more content…
The main source of distraction from my studies at night comes from answering routine messages from the home office, so, I contacted the home office and explained my situation with my studies. I then informed them that I would only answer urgent action messages in the evenings, and I will answer all routine messages the following day. Next, I decided to eliminate trips to the cafeteria for lunch each day and incorporated a working lunch in my office to review material and notes from the previous days study sessions. Next, I needed to a plan to provide quality time with my family and leave myself plenty of study hours in the evening. I explained the new goal of my studies to my family and the need to limit our telephone calls during the weekdays. I then developed a schedule for phone calls during the weekdays to include three 30-minute calls each day, one in the early morning before I leave for work, one late afternoon and one late night. If issues arise, such as internet failures, which needs to be 3 resolved before the weekend, my wife will now contact my brother-in-law or a member of our church for help. With limiting phone calls and messages during the week, I can free up an extra 2 hours each day that I can utilize toward my