By Jenna Moede

I know a lot of people out there want to start school, and get to their major course of study. Immediately. But, the list of classes looks daunting. To earn your degree, you will need to take classes specific to your major, as well as general education classes such as English and math.

And it may feel like these classes have nothing to do with your dream job.

I completely felt that way when I started college too. I didn’t think general education classes had any real purpose. I felt like taking them would waste my time.

Luckily, it turns out, these classes can really can help you in college. And, they can help you when you choose a major.

I went into college as a business major. Looking back, I wish I would have gone to college undeclared. At the time, however, I didn’t have a clear understanding of the college structure, and I underappreciated the required general classes. 

Now, looking back on my undergraduate experience, I find myself wondering what would have happened if I had put some thought into picking those required general education courses. I have a couple of thoughts that I’d like to pass on to you all.

First, let’s look at the purpose of general education classes. I didn’t believe it at first, but they really do serve a purpose.

General classes exist so that you can gain basic skills and knowledge that many employers in almost every career field look for in employees. 

Employers want their employees to have basic skills in communication, both spoken and written.  Science, math and courses in humanities are needed because whether or not the job focuses on those areas, most likely, they will all come into play to some degree in every career.

General classes also help students gain critical thinking skills. The subject matter will push limits and immerse students in varying subject matter. This forces students to think about old subjects in new ways. Many employers tend to look for capable employees with this skill because it shows the ability to think independently.

Last, like I mentioned last week, general education classes can help students find and understand an interest in material that they didn’t know they had. 

High school classes don’t always offer enough in-depth exposure to subject matter, and therefore, students may unknowingly overlook a field of interest. General classes may help unlock that interest.

After I understood the reason I had to take general classes, I started to appreciate each subject area individually. It gave me perspective to understand what I would, and should, have done differently.  

First, I would have challenged myself. I think that I could have discovered my passion for teaching and English long before I did if I had taken my general classes more seriously.

If the list of classes intimidates you, embrace the general studies. Try to take new classes with material you haven’t seen before. Even if it turns out you really don’t like a class, remember that a semester doesn’t last very long.

Not only did I try to take the easiest courses, but I also tried to skate by in them. I got good grades, but I didn’t put my best effort forward. I just figured I would save my energy for the business courses since they seemed more tailored to my future job. 

I never thought I would need to know the information the professors taught during general classes, and more than that, I never realized the training and skills would apply to my career in future. 

I also tried my hardest in high school to take as many AP classes and tests as my schedule would allow. While I think AP classes really help get extra college credits, I should have taken other generals in college in place of those classes I tested out of.

Additionally, when I started college, instead of taking my generals first, I dove right into taking classes for my major. I squeezed the general classes in, rather than focusing on them first, like I should have done. 

If I could start my undergraduate studies again, I would go in undeclared and really dedicate my time and energy to my generals in the beginning. 

Even if you know what you want to study, knock the general courses out first so that you have time to consider everything about your field while not changing the course of your education.

Finally, I wouldn’t have followed the crowd. I would have chosen the classes that interested me even if my friends hadn’t taken them or knew nothing about them.

Make sure you try your own things because you never know when something will fit your personality perfectly.

Overall I don’t know if I would have discovered that I didn’t want to pursue business, but I do know that if I had taken everything seriously, I would have realized that I needed to soak up every skill possible.   

Even though I thought I knew my goal in life, life can take a lot of unexpected and random turns.

By Jenna Moede

I don’t feel like I had really prepared myself when I began college classes.

I didn’t know what my passion was or what my major would be. And, I didn’t take advantage of all the on-campus opportunities that may have helped me shape my career goals.

And now, I feel very strongly that every student needs to understand their full range of options in order to make smart decisions regarding college, choosing a major and moving into a career. 

When I began school, I felt funneled into a career that I didn’t know if I even wanted. I started as an international business major without any real understanding of what that meant or what I could do with it.

I had taken an aptitude test at some point when in the college process, and instead of talking to my advisor like I should have done, I just ended up on a business career track per score results. 

I felt funneled because after the first semester started, my advisor told me that I would have to backtrack in order to switch from the college of business since I had already started degree specific classes. It seemed like I had cemented a career track without figuring anything out for myself.

Initially I felt that I had to declare a major because I had heard horror stories of people going into college as undeclared and taking forever to finish. 

I didn’t understand or had never heard that I had time to try some things out without wasting any classes or credits. 

I wish that I had understood that no matter what major I chose, and regardless of when I declared a major, I still had to take at least two full time semesters of general education. I could have taken those semesters and thought about what career fit my goals best rather than diving right into the college of business and putting my general classes off until later.  

Additionally, I should have challenged myself with those general classes. Instead, I picked classes based on what I’d heard about the difficulty and the professors, rather than my own  potential interests. 

I think if I had pushed myself out of my comfort zone, I could have discovered my passion for teaching and writing while still an undergraduate student. 

I wouldn’t have wasted any time or money, and I would have felt better prepared to make a decision. 

I also could have tried out a greater variety of on-campus, and off campus, clubs. This might seem more difficult with an online university, but every city I’ve ever lived in has groups that get together for just about anything and everything. 

Meet with some groups you might not feel comfortable with just to try them out, and see what opportunities exist. You might discover an unknown passion that will help shape your future.

I also wish I had taken advantage of my professors’ knowledge in college. While my academic advisor could help me, my professors knew the most valuable information about the fields they taught. Talking to them earlier in my undergraduate studies could have broadened my horizons and given me new ideas.

I also had the opportunity to job shadow in college, and I turned it down. I didn’t think I had time, and now I realize I would have benefitted from the experience. 

Most colleges encourage on the job exposure, and even students that study online could seek out job shadows in their local area. Seeing someone working their day to day life in a field that interests you may give you a better understanding of the job itself.

Along the same lines, try to land an internship. An internship offers a behind the scenes look that job shadowing doesn’t by giving you more exposure to the job. Even if you get an entry level internship in your related field, you will most likely get to witness the inner workings of the position.

If you don’t feel that you have an opportunity to job shadow or intern, talk to everyone you can.  I have interviewed several people in many different fields, and I have found that they typically seem willing to answer questions and they give a lot of unfiltered information.

I have conducted interviews by email, phone and in person. You might gain a little insight to the job that you would otherwise not have known. It doesn’t take a lot of time, and the information you learn might prove very valuable.

Lastly, attend job fairs. I know that you can attend job fairs in person, but a lot of online classes offer virtual job fairs as well. Job fairs can offer career ideas you didn’t know existed, and it might present a great networking opportunity as well.

Overall, take your time and really consider your options when you decide what course of study you want to pursue.  If you feel you really know that you have found the perfect job, still try to pursue interviews, internships and challenge yourself with general classes to get to know the field.  I don’t think it can ever hurt to broaden your perspective. 

By Amy Nielsen

So this is the week.

This is the week I go live with my first class offerings. I have finished writing it all out and posted the description on my page to advertise for my first class. I am in active negotiations for a space to hold my first class. I cannot believe it. It’s here!

I can honestly say I am slightly terrified, and probably not for the reasons you think I would be. I am terrified that I will actually have people interested in taking this class. That I will have to stand up and know that I will make mistakes and that that will be embarrassing.

How I handle that will be the key to how successful this business becomes for me. I have honed the tools I need to succeed.

I could be worried that no one will want to take my class. That no one will want to listen to something I think is really neat and important. I could be worried that what I have to teach is misinformation somehow; or that my teachings are disingenuous because I am young in my studies, that I am not a master.

But, there in is the point. In this line of work – I am a Culinary Herbalist and Energy Worker – by opening my practice to teaching others, I am opening myself to greater learning. So, by choosing to teach my level of knowledge to those around me on this path, I learn more about my personal practice. The old adage of see one, do one, teach one works in all endeavors.

I am at the halfway point in my Nutrition studies and have received my certificate to student teach. So my school has confidence in the amount of knowledge I have be subjected to that, in their opinion, they have given me the tools to begin successfully. Ok, I can stand on that. I do know in my heart, that I do know the material I have learned so far. I have been talking it about it to just about everyone I know. Some, ad infinitum, sorry.

I am two-thirds of the way through my herbal studies. I have been working steadily on my formulas and material medica. I have a compliment of herbs I can go to with ease and know for a fact they will work as I intend them to. I have had repeat clients for my remedies because they work. I can stand on that.

I am working through several related books and online classes to farther my knowledge base. I have one class lined up to start next month and another to start in March. I am beginning to work on several documents that bring all of this learning together into what I hope is a cohesive teachable practice with several classes to offer. I can stand on that.

I began this journey a year and a half ago starting my herbal studies in the living room of a dear friend who has turned mentor for me. At that point I envisioned myself as a family herbalist making home remedies for family and friends, generally effecting only my own personal circle of health. I was at the same time trying to figure out where to go from here. Here being in need of a new identity since leaving my most recent identity as Navy Spouse for Retiree Navy Spouse.

It is not an easy thing to be a relatively young, mid 40’s, retiree spouse. Especially if you have young children. In my case, children much younger than those women usually have in my age bracket.  We cannot afford to be stay at home moms, but we also often times do not have marketable, current skills. I have a BA, and a post graduate degree, both in fields I am no longer current in and would be hopelessly outdated in. However, I do have a brain and I did not spend my military spouse career sitting on my tail.

I challenged myself at the start of this year to figure out who I am, what I do and how I do it. Not from a career or job focus, but as a human being.  I wanted to find my real identity.

What I discovered is that I have been very good at taking on everyone else’s identity. And that is ok. I am a chameleon, a rainbow, a multifaceted gem. It’s ok to have had four major careers in my life and to be launching a fifth. I have been a lighting designer, a chef, an Intake and adoptions manager at an animal shelter, and a mentor for a peer to peer Navy Spouses support organization. Not to mention a mom. What I understand now is that all of those have a singular theme of flow.

I took that teaching from 2015 and applied it to 2016. The outcome was astonishing to me. I never in a million years thought I would find myself tying together all of those seemingly totally unrelated fields into this new field. But it really does make sense.

Lighting Design is about illuminating the human condition, literally. It is about energy flow and supporting the scene with the most visceral element in the theater tool kit. Lighting design is not about light but about shadow, what don’t you light, what do you leave in the dark? A good lighting designer is never an afterthought in a good director’s team.

A chef, well, food, fire, flow. It is everything. When you are in the heat of the kitchen in the middle of rocking a service there is nothing but zen flow. An angry chef never produces nourishing food. A passionate chef’s food will make you feel like you have sunshine in your belly and clouds at your feet, even if it is a simple grilled cheese sandwich.

If animal rescue work doesn’t teach you compassion for humanity, absolutely nothing will. In that line of work you see some of the best the human kind can offer and you see the depths to which humans are able to sink into. Both deserve utmost compassion and generosity of spirit. And if you don’t have it, you either find it within your passion or you burn out very fast.

Mentoring Navy Spouses taught me hierarchy and structure, rules and regulations. It can be seen as binding, but if you have the right frame of mind, it can be perfectly liberating. Within structure there is latitude and within order there can be chaos.

These four very different careers have all taught me exactly the lessons I need to be successful in this new piece. I know I can work well in a team and bring a fully crafted, well thought out, illuminating piece of knowledge to the party. I know that I can take the heat and be in the fire with the flow swirling around me and be grounded in my focus of my piece of the meal and know that it is good. And I know that I can share in great joy and great sorrow and hold compassion for all. Boundaries within structure can bring great space for deep work. I can do all of these things because they are who I am. And because of that, no matter what I do now, I will be successful.

So bring it on! I want to teach!

By Jenna Moede

High school did not prepare me well for college, and I definitely didn’t know how to study. I went into college thinking I would just know what to do, but I quickly learned that I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought. 

I learned some ways to help me get by through a lot of trial and error.

The first thing that helped me study was to set myself up for success. I made sure that I had everything I needed like pens, notebooks, highlighters and my book. Not only did I get distracted if I had to get up a million times but I also got out of my studying mood. It got really hard to find the motivation to start or keep studying once I’d moved too much.

Scheduling studying like a job also helped me to find time to study. I learned that I had to dedicate myself to not just setting time aside but also following through. I couldn’t just say I would study every night at 8, I actually had to study every night at 8.    

Another tip I have is try to schedule study sessions at times when there are minimal distractions.  For example, if you know the house is usually quiet early in the morning or after work, plan to study during those times. Also consider the time of day you plan to study so you can prepare for anything you usually want at that time like a snack if you study midday or coffee early in the morning. 

Finding what atmosphere works best for you really helps you focus too. I had friends in college that needed complete silence in order to complete assignments, but I liked to have music playing. I found that if my study space was too quiet, I could never focus. You might have to try different strategies to figure out what works best for you and try to remember that what works for someone else might not work the best for you.

Something else to try at the start of each semester and each subsequent week is to schedule your daily work and stick to it. Find a way to schedule your assignments that will hold you accountable. 

After breaking down your assignments and tasks daily, write them down. Really try to find what keeps you motivated to complete those tasks.  I liked to cross things off my list and that worked fine for me, but you might prefer checking in with someone like a friend or a spouse to help you stay accountable. Studying is really about what is best for you and what keeps you working hard. 

Once you have completed all of your prep work, make sure you really read all the provided material.  That includes directions. I skipped the directions on one of my first college assignments and found that I spent hours doing work I never had to do. Plus, I felt embarrassed after finding out I had done it wrong.

I also found that it was helpful to take paper notes because writing aids in memorization. If I came across an idea, word or theory that I didn’t know, I made sure I understood the information before moving on. I always tried to remember that I worked for more than just a grade. I wanted to apply the material in my career one day. 

Since you hopefully took time to highlight key ideas or notes, another great study tip is to review those notes before diving into the next day’s homework. I found that I recalled information and picked up where I left off better when I gave my brain a little reminder of what I had read previously. 

Another way to help you study is to make every point count. Online classes tempted me to ignore assignments that didn’t have a high point value, but I easily forgot that those points made huge differences in my grade. During one class I once got an A by just one point. It turned out that every point and every assignment really did matter.

Lastly, I learned that not only did I have to work hard on every assignment, but I also had to utilize every resource available like peer editing, school writing centers and study groups. I found that doing whatever it took to do well on assignments really paid off.

Overall, everyone study habits may be different, but if you work hard, prioritize and stay motivated sticking with those habits can help you reach your academic goals. 

By Jenna Moede

The holiday season has come again, and we have to figure out how to fit everything into our schedules. During this season, I feel more overwhelmed than any other time of year because of all of the engagements, traditions and decisions. The entire season can cause a lot of stress.

Enjoying the season really comes down to balancing your time. I used to get so behind on the things that mattered, like schoolwork, because I focused so much on the celebration. Now, I take a more relaxed and balanced approach, which works much better.

When it comes to enjoying the holidays, wrapping up college courses tops the list of important things to do. I had to start thinking of acing my exams and final projects as finishing strong rather than as more busy work to cram in.

During my first semester at college, I decided to barely study for my tests and slap together my final projects at the last minute, and it almost cost me my GPA. I barely scraped by, but I learned that even with all the festivities, I had to make school a priority.

First rule, try not to procrastinate like I did. Find ways to motivate yourself so that you can enjoy the holidays and finish all of your work. Set aside time when you know you will have a place and the time to study. Look at your schedule and pinpoint deadlines for projects and exams early in the semester so  you can prepare ahead of time. Know how much work you'll need to do and how much time you'll need to spend doing it.

Additionally, don't just rely on that time you’ve set aside. Also use whatever downtime you can spare to write a quick paragraph for a paper or reread your notes in preparation for an exam. Spending even small blocks of time can really help improve study habits and those times can help keep you focused. Take advantage of the time you have to spare so you can spend the rest of your time enjoying holiday activities.

Also, make plans as early as possible. I try to pick the activities or parties I want to do over the season and schedule them, but I keep my schedule flexible. Make sure your schedule can move around unexpected work days or snow days so your plans won't be thrown off. Knowing our list of activities early really helps me figure out what time I will have free and when I can plan to work.

I also make sure that I don't just make things flexible, but that I give everyone responsibilities for each activity. If I don't have to remember everything myself, it makes me so much more calm and better with time management. I even do this when I do something with just my husband that doesn't take a lot of effort.

Holiday movie nights are a great example. I choose the movie and my husband chooses the snacks. It doesn't seem like much, but knowing that I don't have to make a trip to the store frees up a little bit more of my time.

This trick works for everything from having everyone bring a favorite dish to dinner to planning who will buy ski lift tickets and who will get the skis ready. Those times when I know my husband will be busy preparing for his part of our plans are the best times to block off for my work.

Finally, try not to forget that things might not end up perfectly but that imperfections can make the holidays even more memorable. One year my husband was supposed to work, but he got off early. I felt like we had to have a special dinner so we cooked everything we had in our cupboards and fridge and made a feast of cornflakes, ice cream, and freezer burned vegetables. It tasted horrible, but I laughed so hard making a huge mess in our kitchen! The preparation fun turned out way better than the meal that year.

Not stressing over everything definitely helps me find the time to finish my work and enjoy the time I have with my family and friends over the holidays. When I combine all of these holiday strategies, it helps to make my time as useful, and as fun, as possible.

Remember, do what works best for you and make schoolwork a priority. Make sure you don't throw away all your hard work at the end of the semester. Keep focused and try to find the perfect balance for you.   

By Jenna Moede

As military spouses, we face even more difficult decisions about college than most people.  Often times we have to make decisions not only based on where we currently live but also on where we could live. 

This makes deciding on the right college even more difficult.  And, we have to choose not just a school but whether to attend on campus or online.

I have attended college both on campus and online, and I want to share the good, the bad and the ugly of both choices.

I will start with campus since I started my undergraduate studies on campus.  The campus really does have a host of benefits along with some drawbacks.

Focus tops my list of benefits for campus studying.  I moved to Michigan so that I could attend the university and so I always focused on school.  I worked part-time on campus so between classes, my job and campus life, college made up my whole existence. 

It never felt difficult to put my studies first because even my job told me to bring my books and study in my down time.  I never found it difficult to remember my schoolwork because my life revolved around college.

Additionally, campus offers easier access to social options.  I easily met friends among my peers, and I could join clubs or meet people in my dorm with interests similar to mine.  I even found some friends studying the same major.    

Built-in study buddies came along with friends who shared the same major.  I never had to dread studying because a lot of times we would do it together.  We would turn the assignments or exams into group study sessions and have a ton of fun learning the material.

The last major advantage of classes on campus was the accessibility to professors, tutors and hands on learning. 

If I ever needed to talk to a professor about anything, whether it be an exam, something I didn’t understand or a class I missed, I could easily find their office hours in the syllabus.  During those times I could go to their office, have a conversation with them and have my problem worked out in a few minutes.

Additionally, I had a lot of friends that often utilized the free tutor centers scattered around campus.  Just a few steps from where we lived we had access to free, quick and easy help.  It made it really easy to understand some of the more complex topics taught in college classes.

Lastly, I could actually interact in my classes and ask questions in real time when I thought of them.  I could listen to my professor explain calculus problems as many times as I needed, and I could mess up science experiments in person. 

I did accidently set my paper on fire once while using a Bunsen burner.  Needless to say I had a tough time convincing anyone to be my lab partner after that.  Still, hands on experience helped grasp and understand new ideas and theories.

On the other hand, never having complete control over my schedule made campus difficult.  On campus you have to take the classes you need on the days and times they are offered. There is no flexibility.

Sometimes, I would even have to overload my class schedule if I saw an opening in a class I knew I would need eventually.  I had no guarantee that the classes I needed would have open spots at a time that I found convenient. 

Having to schedule life around a class can cause problems especially if you want to hold a job. I worked on campus with the police academy luckily, but I had some friends that worked off campus, and they got either really early or really late shifts because of their class schedule.  

When I started online classes, I really missed campus, but I found that being online had benefits too.  Flexibility is a major benefit.  There’s nothing like being able to take your classes in your pajamas and slippers.  I loved knowing that I could complete the coursework whenever I had a chance, following deadlines of course. 

I also loved that the classes were not only easier to schedule but also easier to get into.  I didn’t usually have to worry about whether or not they would fill up before I could sign up. 

I also liked that no matter what happened or where we might move, I would not have to transfer schools and I could take my college classes with me.  I didn’t have to worry about applying to another university or trying to transfer credits.  I could graduate from my chosen university no matter where we lived.

Discipline was the last perk.  I learned a lot about self-motivation and I learned to be extremely self-reliant.  Previously I always had people around me going through the exact same thing so doing it on my own challenged me, but I learned a lot about myself.

Even with all the benefits, online classes still didn’t give me the perfect experience.  First, my college social circle definitely became smaller.  Meeting people with my major and making and maintaining friendships online took a lot more time and effort.  While each class did have forums and ways to communicate, I didn’t find it as fulfilling as face to face communication.   

Communicating with professors online also held a unique set of challenges.  While they still do have office hours, it never felt as quick and easy as communication in person.  I couldn’t pop in their office for a quick second and pop back out with the information I needed.  I started relying heavily on email and it became a great resource for me.

I also thought it seemed more difficult to maintain focus online.  With a million things going on and working full-time, I had other priorities above school.  As the only student, I didn’t want to sit down and do my schoolwork alone, and I always felt like I had more important things to do. 

While I had a difficult time overcoming lack of focus, it ultimately led me to self-motivation and self-reliance so in the end, it turned out to be a perk in disguise.   

Overall, there are so many differences and so many pros and cons to each college option that students needs to weigh.  While I would never want to trade my experience on campus, I know that transferring to an online school provided me with the only way I could earn my degree.  It allowed me to finish in my own time, in a new city, without losing time. 

By Amy Nielsen

We are now halfway through the courses at the career school I attend. This week’s lecture addressed the business of our business. Exactly how to do what we are learning how to do.

We did lots of role play and skits. We got a ton of documents to read over and decide if they pertain to our specific version of this program. We had lectures from former students about what they are doing now and how this program fits within their business. The variations were somewhat stunning. The field is wide open. Creative thinking is taking some graduates down very interesting paths. The take away was to make sure you are taking concrete steps toward your business goals every week from now until graduation so you can hit the ground running on day one.

I am working on building a business that focuses on health and wellness from a very personal perspective. By understanding your personal diet and how it works inside you, you can understand how to change it to support you better.

My goal is to help people eat better within their financial means and more importantly, within their personal, daily, culinary capacity. By helping your body function better, you will have more energy and more focus to spread your wings and do all the things you hope to.

If this means I take you supermarket shopping to help you make better choices, I’m happy to do that. If that means you need a buddy to go to that first couple of classes in that subject you have always wanted learn about but were too shy to attend alone, I’ll go with you. That’s a whole lot of stuff to stuff into one business plan.

This all got me to thinking more specifically about how I want to structure my business and how I want to get the information out there. I have a three-tiered structure of clients I want to create. I want to do some local community service work, some greater regional military specific classes, and then I want to have a group of nationwide personal clients.

I started to look through my desk pile as the lecture droned on and happed upon the business card of the director of our local county WIC office. She and I hit it off when I went in to apply for a job I was hopelessly overqualified for. I knew I was, but I wanted the local community service work. We have run into each other on and off over the summer around the county and she has often times asked me to keep in touch. I keep meaning to give her a call to see what’s new on a more formal basis. I think I will make that the action step towards community service this week. I will call her to set up an appointment.

Many of my military spouse friends run market level, marketing companies promoting various home and body health and wellness products. One of my dear friends posted an excellent article about a topic that fits very well within my planned teaching subjects. It started off as a long conversation about why I am not interested in being an MLM Ambassador, but instead, how we can build a partnership with my classes and her business. I contacted several other of my MLM friends and am starting to build a library of colleagues and references. These are concrete steps toward building a team of military spouses I can help support and have reciprocal clients with.

In working through my very early morning today, I happened to be at Shop Rite. Our supermarket has the familiar shop from home option where you can enter your shopping list online, pay for it and then pick it up, already bagged and ready to go. Working with some serious out of the box, pre-caffeine thinking, I thought, hmmmm, I could learn a whole lot about how people shop if I shop for them. So I think I will apply to be a personal shopper for the winter. It’ll pay for the holiday presents and get me very good research. That is a concrete action step toward seeing if what I want to offer is needed by my personal clients.

In a twist of the universe we have friends staying with us right now. One is a chef. I am also a chef. Playing in a home kitchen making home food for families with another chef, especially this one, is giving me great joy and stretching my creativity. It also make me wonder if there is a part of this business that I can squeak a bit of kitchen action into as well. Not that I want to get back into the kitchen daily to cook on the line, but perhaps we can find a relationship where I could bring a couple of clients to learn some cooking techniques and help them have confidence in their own home kitchens.

Having the time and space to talk shop and business of a long lost career is fun, and it adds creative juices to the current plan. So my concrete plan this week will be to make sure I get over to one of the places we talked about to check out the local chef talent.

I feel like the sluice gate has been opened and the canoe race is about to begin. Some rapids are at the start, but much peaceful, lazy paddling in the company of good friends is expected too. The next six months of school, building my business, and watching it actually happen is only slightly terrifying but exceptionally exhilarating at the same time. Concrete steps each week will make it happen.

By Jenna Moede

Why spend my time getting a degree? I can’t tell you how many times I asked myself that question in my last semester of school, while staring at quiz questions that I just couldn’t remember answers to. 

I could think of a lot of reasons to give up at the time. Now, that I have earned my bachelor’s degree, I can think of many reasons to get one, especially as a military spouse.

I wanted to finish my degree so I could make a more significant financial contribution to my family. I know I’ve mentioned the perfect picture of life that I had in my head when my husband and I first got married, but it turned out that that picture costed a lot of money. I wanted a job that would compensate me well so we could do all the things we wanted.

My degree gave me my first shot at a job that would move me closer to that picture. I found my job shortly before my graduation, and they hired me with the expectation that I would finish soon. Without my bachelor’s, I would have never had a chance at the job that gave me my first taste of the real professional world.

Not every job that requires degree or certificate will pay well. Looking back, I realize that I started that job at a low pay grade for professionals, but I still felt excited knowing that I had the chance to take a job that required skills and knowledge. 

Secondly, getting my degree opened doors that I didn’t even know existed. I started my professional career as a paralegal.  My business degree translated really well to paralegal work. However, now I teach ESL which has basically nothing to do with business. 

I have found that employers generally are not too concerned with my specific degree title, but they want to see the overall skill set that college has provided me. They want me to demonstrate how I plan to be an asset to their business. My degree might not always be job specific, but it is generally a fulfilled requirement that gets me the interview. 

The next reason to pursue a degree as a military spouse is portability. While I see the negative side to potentially moving at any time, I prefer to look at the positive.  Even without a degree, I would have to job search every time I moved. I just figured I would finish my degree so I could search for more skilled and specialized positions every time we moved. 

I look at it this way, each job I have provides me with valuable experience. If I have to leave a professional position to accommodate my husband’s career, I still have experience and credentials to stand out when applying for new jobs in a new area. 

Finding my passion also motivated me to finish my degree.  Going into college I thought I wanted to study international business. I changed my major twice but I eventually found something I enjoyed. As I struggled to find my passion, I took both general courses and required classes so that I had them out of the way when I did find my path. 

It took me a lot of time to figure out exactly what I wanted to do, and I struggled with finding my passion even while finishing college, but I think that opportunities have presented themselves and led me to a career that I love because I finished my degree.  

Lastly, I wanted to pursue my degree so I could have a sense of accomplishment.  I started college in Michigan, on campus, and I loved it. Online classes gave me an entirely different perspective, and it took a little time, but I ended up enjoying them as well. 

I definitely struggled and I definitely wanted to give up, but I kept looking forward to the moment when I would have my diploma in hand and I could look back and say I did it. 

It was definitely not easy, but it was worth every second of effort. Every time I wanted to give up at midnight after downing six cups of coffee just to finish an essay, I would remind myself of all of the reasons that I started. 

I know that a completing a certificate or degree program as a military spouse comes with a unique set of challenges, but I also know that earning a degree helps to crush some of those daily problems that come with the military life.   

By Amy Nielsen

I saw a meme yesterday, in the middle of a space cadet moment, while writing this blog.

It said: “I love planners, highlighters, giant calendars, nice ball point pens, to do lists, and anything else that gives me the illusion that I am getting my [stuff] together.”

Some days, those memes get it just right.

Now that I have been through the ringer, and have had the proverbial kick in the pants, I need to figure out exactly what I want to do with myself. I have been making lists of what I loved about working away from home, and what I love about being home.

And, what I really don’t like about both.

One of my professors recently gave a lecture about the benefits of writing daily. I have tried this practice from several different points: morning Pages, 300 words a Day, journaling, guided writing and free associations. I always find myself falling off the wagon. I stop. Something gets in the way of my taking the time to write. But I always spend an hour or so in the morning, usually on Pinterest, or on my lists. So, I have come to understand that this is how I chose to do my daily processing. And that it is ok to have a different process than someone else.

I am a list maker. I use them to help me remember things but also to organize and reorganize my thoughts. Of course I have the regular grocery shopping list, daily to do list, long term to do list, Honey Do list, and many others. But these are not the kind of lists I am working on now. The ones I am working on now are more like spreadsheets. They are thought process catalogs. A way to see the branches of the tree I could be part of. I have so many options I need to see them all out at once.

There are many different forms a list can take. If you are a visual learner you might work on a set of lists that look more like ven diagrams or neat bullet pointed graphic masterpieces. If you learn better by listening, set reminders for yourself in your phone to complete certain tasks.

Some of my lists I have to write by hand or I don’t process what is on them. Some I can do on the computer or in my phone and be just fine. Some lists come to me in other places, like books on the shelf. Lists can be about juxtaposition and opposites, just as much as they can be about likes.

I particularly like a site called Pinterest for creating lists. Oh yes, that Pinterest. The hours of your life sucking, gee Nancy that looks easy -FAIL, Pinterest.

But let’s be clear what it really is. It is a visual list board. And I use it as such to help me with the visual side of my lists. It is a brilliant place for someone like me to keep stuff. Like every one of you, I have about 300 different boards and well over 5,000 pins. Followers? Not my thing. I know I have them, but I use it for me, not for you.

I like that I can see all of my pins chronologically so I can see the progression of my thought pattern. Unless I find out that something I pinned was either plagiarized, copyright infringed, or just plain wrong, I never unpin something.

Lists for me are also chronological. They help me order things in time as well as in categories. To that end I have one main calendar in the kitchen we use as a family. It is always the same one. Same layout, color scheme, and same SKU from the big box office supply store.

Everyone in the family knows, if it is not on that calendar it doesn’t exist. With all of the changes we have had over the last two months, that poor calendar is a right ole mess. My “need to move on and see what is happening now” self is screaming to go buy a new calendar so it will be clean.

There is a part of me that says, we always keep the same calendar every year, all year, no matter how crazy. In fact, they go in the year-end financial box when we change over in December, so why change it now? I should keep a record of this chaos like I always do. Just because it is my chaos, not Navy chaos, is no different. Besides, in September when the page flips, I won’t see it anymore.

While all of this thinking time is good, the clock keeps moving on and I do need to make sure I do not become stuck in this moment, in the processing. There is, and will be, a fine line and I think a defining moment when it will be time to stop listing and start doing.

I have set up several meetings with people who I have identified as having interesting ideas and possible input from a third party review. I have a concrete timeline for when I want to be starting the real business process. I have personal and financial goals for the immediate and near future. But first, I need to take the time to dream and percolate what direction I really want to go in since there are so many options out there for me now.

Have questions about your education benefits? Not sure what schools are most military friendly?

Tomorrow the Department of Defense is hosting an online education fair to answer those questions.

The fair is from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, Aug. 11.

Organizers say this is the second installation of the pilot program and is intended to make higher education more accessible to military members, veterans and family members.

You must register to participate but registration will be open throughout the event.

Register at: www.dodeducationfair.com

The fair will include participation from more than 40 academic institutions and government organizations. You will be able to ask questions about education benefits and how to access them as well.