Amazing Math

The title of this post might be a little misleading.....I actually DESPISE math! But, I wanted to write about the math class that I just finished so that I can remember what a hard, but amazing experience it was for me.

The decision of me going back to school was not something that we were planning on doing until all the girls were in school, but sometimes, well, most of the time, life doesn't go how we have things planned. I was excited to start back into school, but I also felt a heavy weight on my shoulders. There is so much weighing on me doing well school, and getting my degree. I don't have any room for re-taking classes, or dilly-dallying around :) I was also worried about the toll it would take on my family. Going to night school mean't that I would barely see Chad at all, and I wouldn't be there to help with the night time routine. I wouldn't get to kiss my girls goodnight 5 out of the 7 days a week. I wouldn't get to just sit and talk with Chad about our days, and how we were doing. He walked in the door, and I walked out. But, I decided to be as positive as I could because we both felt like this was the right move for our family.

As with every other program, the nursing program requires certain classes to be able to get in to the program. I have been able to cruise through most of the classes, but one of the classes that I was required to take was a math class specifically for health-care professionals. For most people this wouldn't be a big deal, but for me?? HUGE deal!! Just the thought of a math class makes my heart start to race, I start sweating, things start to get foggy....well, not really, but you get the idea :) But, I really do have a hard time with math. Just ask Chad. Give me a addition problem and I can do it, no problem. But, if you start to throw in subtraction, division, multiplication etc. I start to have issues. Imagine my reaction when I went to class the first time, cracked open the book and saw LOGARITHMS, MOLES, EXPONENTS.......I started to panic! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to pass this class, when this was the one class that had so much weighing on the outcome. How I did in this math class would determine if I would be able to continue on into the nursing program, or have to retake it and lose my spot in the nursing program.

The first day didn't help squash any of my concerns. I found out that the head over the department was going to be the one that would write all of our tests, including our final. So, we would be taught by our teacher, and then have to take a test from someone that has a very different teaching style. He was also requiring us to do around 100 homework problems per chapter, when we were covering about 4 chapters every class time. On top of that, he also wanted us to write a service-learning paper. Thats right, a PAPER in a MATH class! But this wasn't any normal paper. He wanted us to go to a hospital or a clinic and volunteer doing something that pertains to our medical math for 15 hours and write our paper on our experience in serving. Okay, 1) We are in night school. OBVIOUSLY we have something that we do during the day that makes it so we can't go to school, so what makes him think that we have 15 spare hours? And, 2) You can't do anything "volunteer" in a hospital or clinic that has anything to do with anything medical. It is against the law. I needed to figure something out because this paper was worth 5% of our grade! Ridiculous! Fortunate for me, I have recently done my CNA certification and I was able to use my clinical hours for my paper. I was wondering what other people were going to do. But, relief came soon for all of us. There must have been a lot of complaints, because about half-way through the semester we were told that the paper would now be extra credit, and not required. I decided right then and there that I wasn't going to worry about doing it. I was already SO overwhelmed by all of the math crap that I was going to have to fill my brain with.

This is where the "amazing" part comes in (and a little bit of bragging :) ). I have worked SO hard this semester to learn the things that are going to be important for my career, but I have also had SO much help! This is where it might get a little mushy for some of you......But, I KNOW that my Heavenly Father has been watching over me and helping me through this class. I was constantly asking for help throughout this semester to not only do well in the class, but to make sure that I was also able to juggle keeping the house clean, getting my homework done, making sure that I was spending enough time with the girls, and being able to spend time with Chad. I know that Heavenly Father is blessing me to be able to juggle all of these things because this is what I am supposed to be doing for my family at this point in our lives. I have had a feeling of calmness every time I have gone to take a test, and I have been able to recall the things that I need to know, and I have been able to REMEMBER them! (that is amazing all in itself!). Chad was MORE than amazing! He was always willing to help me when I had questions, and never once complained when I was studying or doing homework and the girls were melting down. His constant support and love is always amazing to me! He is really is a dream come true!

I was feeling pretty good about how I was doing in the class, so I was still thinking that I wasn't going to do my service-learning paper. It seemed silly to me. But, I kept feeling like I should. I decided that I would just do it because, what could it hurt? At this point I was excited because I knew that I was going to be able to do well in the class. I figured that doing the paper would just boost my grade a little bit. So, I did the paper and turned it in on the day that I took my final. I felt really good about how my final went and figured that I would be somewhere in the range of "A to A-". When I checked my final grade the next day I had an overall percentage of 95% (which I was thrilled with!) but as I scrolled over I saw that our teacher had just tacked the extra credit to our final percentage. So instead of having a 95% overall in the class I passed the class with 100%!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I am so glad that I was prompted to do the paper. Not because I wouldn't have been happy with a 95%, but with how much I have struggled with math in the past, this just filled that whole in my heart, where I didn't feel like I was smart enough. I feel confidant that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. I might not understand why my family is in the position that it is right now, but I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and that he is looking out for us!