A House Full of Students

It's that time of year... a new semester of school. It's hard to believe I am back at school again. So many people I started this journey with are finishing their dissertations or working on them. Some have graduated. I am pretty much where I started, just many more classes in and have a lot more knowledge. With a lot of hope, I think I can graduate in 2018. It will be a lot of work, but I believe I can.

It is not just a new semester for me, it is a new semester for everyone in my house. T.S. is back at school as a college Junior. She is consistently on the Dean's List and I could not be prouder. I would be proud even if she was not earning such top grades, but it is nice to see her work so hard and earn good grades. She takes her studies serious and I know that it pays off to work hard. She lives in a real apartment this year with roommates and is starting to learn what it is like to live like an adult. Guess we have done something right in that direction!

Sporty is also a student this semester! She is starting with a graduate certificate in Addiction Studies!! She will earn that in one year and meanwhile she is applying to MSW programs. We are all full-time students in our home now. We figured that while we live in a low cost of living community, now is the time to take these opportunities and we are doing it!

I am still working at my same graduate assistantship with a slight raise. I also am so grateful to return to a teaching/research fellowship I had before I was incarcerated!!! I started last week and it is SOOOOO good to be working with undergraduates again! Right back where I love to be! It is so fabulous because everyone knows my story and they want to work with me. Same graduate assistantship. Same fellowship. I'm just in a different program of study, but I am happy in my new program of study! I loved my independent study this summer and I'm looking forward to continuing on with it even though it is not for any more credit.

We have another full-time student in my household. You have not heard of her before. She just moved in with us from across the country and is a high school Junior. She is bright, talented, capable, and incredibly sweet, but was not necessarily highly achieving in her high school. She is very close with T.S. and we spent much of the summer with her. After a lot of talking with her and her mother, it became clear that she, I will blog her name as PennyB, would not necessarily graduate high school on time if she continued in the school and staying where she was at. So, it was an opportunity to "pay it forward..." PennyB needed a new chance in life and Sporty and I had the space and passion to offer it, we are now the guardians of PennyB.

She moved in last week and things are already going great. T.S. is so happy to have PennyB here and the two of them haven't stopped smiling since her arrival. We have PennyB registered at a top hybrid high school that she will attend 16 hours/week and do the rest online. It is an amazing program that has received the highest marks from U.S. News and World Report. I am here to help tutor and guide her. When I was young, I needed to be mentored. Now, I get to do that for someone else.

Our lives are about giving back, paying forward, recovery, and gratitude.

I had not told my P.O. in advance that PennyB had moved in. Then I did my monthly report and added her name. I was not worried. I knew that my P.O. would just look at it and smile. There's Dragonfly Hazel helping another youth... I hope I do, I hope I do... Here's to a good semester for us all!

I saw this on some social media site and loved it - so I am sharing it here! Live by it!!