Balancing Penn Foster Studies with Work and Family Demands Essay

My name is Julia and I am in my early twenties, and I would have never have imagined that I would one day be going back to school to earn my college degree. My mother and fiancà © encouraged me to pursue it, because of my love of art and talking to people, marketing and public relations and that it would be very expensive since I wanted to go to college in America but could not afford it at the time. They were very supportive from the start; my fiancà © assisting me in writing notes on flash cards and giving me pop quizzes and my mom reminding me to complete homework assignments when I was busy doing household chores. To me, my life was going great as I advanced further toward my future goals. Everything that glitters isn’t gold, I’ve learnt. My job as a Procurement Assistant became too demanding since the Procurement Manager left for a much better paying job. So I had to play both roles of Procurement Manager and Procurement Assistant as the directors hadn’t f ound a replacement yet and brought home extra work from the office. This left me no time for my studies. Fortunately my directors saw how stressed out I was with performing the duties of two positions and promoted me to Procurement Manager and had gotten me a competent and understanding Procurement Assistant who I trained to take over my workload when I was completing my coursework or studying for examinations so that my evenings were free. As if work wasn’t enough, I had to deal with my family and my fiancà ©. In the evenings, I had to do the household chores because my mother was taking care of my sickly grandmother and I had to run to do groceries, pay the bills and ensure my baby brother did his homework assignments and take him up in his revision as it was close to exams. Plus I had to cook dinner and since my step-father was away at his security job. If that weren’t enough, my fiancà © and I bought a small condominium after I went to oversee the work being done to by the night workmen because my fiancà © was in the Coast Guard and was working the whole week on patrol. When I returned home I was mentally and physically exhausted. I tried to study but it was no use. With my mother gone and my stepfather away at his job, my baby brother was quite the handful. Eventually when I had enough, I spoke to my parents about the household chores and they agreed that I was doing a lot  and decided that my mother would take my baby brother with her to my grandmother’s; even talked her into interviewing nurses so she can handle purchasing the groceries and paying the bills. My stepfather would step in to see to the household chores before going to work. In the little spare time I had to myself, I tried my best to complete all coursework required and tried to study for an upcoming exam. The day came when I thought myself to be well prepared for the exam and decided to take it. However, my fiancà © called me and said he was unable oversee the work that was being done that evening; so I took my laptop computer over to our condo and logged on. While I was mid-way through the exam, one of the workmen called me asking that I come and review a part of the house plan. While doing so, one of the workmen, being idle, fiddled with my laptop causing my exam to be submitted and when I discovered I had failed the exam, I had literally broke down. I was trying my best to ensure that I could cope with everything that was going on in my life but this was my limit. What was I trying to accomplish here? Two weeks, after that disastrous event, I eventually calmed down and called the school concerning my exam. Fortunately, they understood my situation and told me that I should have locked my computer when leaving it unattended and I was able to retake the exam and I passed with a good grade. I sat down with my fiancà © and told him what happened and he immediately replaced the workmen with a more responsible and sensible group of work men and even gotten his brother to oversee the work being done to our condo. My fiancà © was given annual leave so he is at home for a month and he is assisting me with my studies as before. Now that I had a plan set in motion that would help ease my stress and give a peace of mind; I think that I would be able to accomplish my goal of earning my degree in Business Management. My advice to students and persons who are considering returning to school to continue their education at the tertiary level is that when you have responsibilities that need to be taken care of you will need to find a way to make everything work together; sit with your parent or significant other and create a weekly planner and jot down the responsibilities that you are capable of handling and you are not capable of; this way you will not be stressed out. Also there are events that we are unprepared that will take place in life such as a loved one falling ill with a terminal disease or an accident. You will need to take extra care how you are to deal with these  kinds of situation. Always remember this is one of your goals to attain your degree and don’t let anyone or anything get in the way of your dreams!