How did your family and friends react to your decision to return to school?

Posted by Sharon Cece on December 3rd, 2008

For many years I had toyed with the idea of returning to school, so most of my friends and family were not surprised to learn that I had finally put my goals into gear and in fact were very excited for me. My husband and children, on the other hand, had a mixed reaction. Naturally, they were very proud that I was finally going back to school to finish my degree. Their initial excitement wore off, however, as soon as it was made clear that everyone would have to “pitch in” with housework and family matters now that Mom/Wife would be spending more time studying and testing. To say this statement brought cheers of delight would be stretching it a bit, yet when push came to shove the family did adapt well to dividing up a portion of the household duties that were displaced by my studies.

One reaction that I did not anticipate came from my kids. They LOVED that mom was now a student, with all of the concerns, moans, groans and cramming that come with student life. They thrilled over my new position as “one of them”, with my nose in a book, brows furrowed over a problem I had trouble solving. One night they helped quiz me for a very tough test–this particular course was like studying a second language (and in fact, we were studying music in other languages!). I was experiencing quite a bit of testing anxiety, and the kids immediately flew into action as taskmasters, right down to imitating my mantra to them, “Now, keep studying and you’ll get it eventually, and no dessert until you finish”! I made it a point to watch what I said to them regarding their own schoolwork from then on, knowing most likely it would be used on me.

Looking back, there was not one person in my life who wasn’t excited and proud that I had made the decision to return to school. I think most of my friends and family expected it to happen, but when it finally became a reality there was a sense of “wow, good for you!” from all.

Tags: children, family, friends

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Family, Friends, Employers, and Returning to School, Student Voices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.