Memory Jogger Monday - September 7

Southern Utah University

If you went to college or a vocational school, what school did you attend? Describe what memories you have of those years and what subjects you studied.

I started taking college classes in the fall of 1988 at Southern Utah State College (SUSC) in Cedar City, Utah when I was still a senior in high school. That fall I took a sewing class to keep my skills up and a couple LDS Institute classes as well as my classes in high school. In spring I wasn't able to take college classes as I had to finish high school.

I applied to the Nursing program that was taught at SUSC but was through a cooperative with Weber State College. I received a full tuition scholarship for Weber State and was on the waiting list for the Nursing program. The deadline for accepting the scholarship came and I didn't know my status for the Nursing program. I wanted to attend school at SUSC and didn't want to go to Weber State; I just needed the scholarship for the Nursing program. So on one day I declined the scholarship and on the next (very sad) day I found out someone had dropped from the Nursing program and I was in! However, now I didn't have the scholarship to pay for it, so I couldn't do it. Also, I would have to take a full summer load of pre-Nursing courses and I didn't want my first summer out of high school to be filled with college classes.

Looking back and now having years of experience working for colleges and universities, I have learned that students can accept scholarships everywhere and then wait to the last minute to decide for sure where they really want to register. If only I knew then what I now know.

Fall of 1989 I took the pre-Nursing classes with the intent to reapply for the Nursing program. In the Spring I also certified as an EMT. As the semester ended, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with school. Did I really want to be a nurse or did I want to do something else? That summer I had the opportunity to visit some family and friends in California and while in Sacramento I interviewed and accepted a job working as a teller in a bank where my friend worked. Two weeks later I moved to California.

I lived there during the fall of 1990 and had some wonderful experiences and met some great life long friends. I remember one day, while working at the bank, I was looking out the window at the parking lot and had the thought that I needed to go home and go back to school; and I knew then that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher.

Right after I returned home, SUSC became a university - Southern Utah University (SUU) in 1991. I started taking Early Childhood Education classes and in the spring of 1992 I graduated with an Associates of Applied Sciences in Early Childhood Education. I then started taking core Education courses with the plans of being a teacher. Also during this time I took a few extra Math classes; just for fun! I love math and numbers!

One day in my required "Math for Elementary Teachers" class, I was whispering to help another student understand something. We were in the back of the classroom. Apparently we were disruptive; though I don't remember us being disruptive. The professor stopped lecturing and told us to stay after class. Very strange for a college course!

After we explained the situation to the professor, he then told us that if I didn't let him teach the students in the class then we both should really "rethink" being teachers. His comment really bugged me. I wasn't doing anything to take away from him or his teaching. I was trying to help another student understand what he was saying. It bugged me so much that I looked ahead in the curriculum and realized that I would have to take an entire block of courses from him in the near future. Did I really want to teach? Did I want to deal with this professor for the rest of my education?

I started reading the course catalog for all the classes that were taught at SUU; something akin to reading the dictionary! I contemplated dozens of different degrees and changed my mind almost daily. I knew the description of nearly every course on campus and what was required to graduate in every academic department. This "craziness" went on until the end of the semester.

The next semester I took a beginning Accounting course. One day the professor wrote a note to me on one of my homework sheets ... that my work was really good and that he hoped I was considering a degree in Accounting. It was a positive comment at a time when I was really confused about what I was good at and where were my strengths. His comment really helped me focus my schooling.

A few semesters later I officially declared my major to be Business Administration with an Accounting emphasis. I graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Sciences in that field.

I was burned out from going to school. Looking back, if I would have just taken one more semester of 3-4 more classes I would have had a double major in both Business Administration and Accounting.

I love learning. Even though it has been 20 years since I graduated from college, I am still learning and I still have a desire to learn more. Now I want to focus on learning more about Social Media.

See this post for more information about "Memory Jogger Monday": 

Writing a Personal History or Keeping a Journal