It was a cold, rainy and all around crappy day at work when my husband asked me what was - in his mind - a relatively simple question:
"When we PCS, why don't you go to school?"
Having grown exhausted with the job search at our upcoming duty station, I agreed.
In April, we (along with our 2-year-old son) arrived at our new duty station. In May, I enrolled in our local community college. In June, we said goodbye as my husband left for a yearlong deployment. In those first few months, a few things became very apparent:
- Being a parent, a spouse, a solo homemaker and a full-time student can be very rewarding ... but they are also very grueling.
- Gone were the nights of studying in a dark, silent library until 3 a.m. and then surviving the next day on Red Bull and youth. Replacing them are the days filled with academia, hugs from tiny arms, exhaustion and what can only be described as tireless devotion.
Cut to me, standing in a room while everyone else sits, wondering who the heck I am, or why what I'm about to say is important:
My name is Sandra. I am a 31-year-old mother, Army wife, and full-time student.
Please, feel free to gasp or shake your head sadly for me. Feel free to judge me. It's cool. We don't have to be friends. In fact, we can part ways here.
But, if you didn't gasp, or you didn't shake your head, stick around. If anything about my journey strikes a chord with you, whether you empathize with my plight or are interested in starting down your own back-to-school path, spend some time with me.
