Well, it’s official. This homeless girl completed both her poetry course and her Paradise Lost course. AllPoetry.com and Hillsdale College offer free, non-credit courses. I took a class on John Milton’s Paradise Lost with Hillsdale, and I took Gentle Beginning Elements of Poetry with All Poetry. Both courses are at your own pace. They each have lectures. They each have quizzes. Hillsdale includes video/audio lectures. Both have cumulative finals.
While some may say, “They aren’t for credit,” and point out that All Poetry is just a poetry website, not a school, I’d like to point some things out: They’re right! They aren’t for credit, but I still worked. All Poetry is a poetry website, and tests give grades. So, what you put out is what you get back. It takes a lot for a person to work hard for “less.” Education should be viewed as being part of the journey. A student’s effort also has something to do with it. I don’t get credit, as I would have from the college I was to attend (University of Arizona), and it won’t get me a B.A., but it has given me a wider and better understanding. Not only do I have such an understanding of each subject matter, but I also have insight into myself as a student and, perhaps, the lessons’ application to my life.
You have to understand, I truly believe that if you are attending school, you will encounter real-world situations that have to do with what you are studying. Take, for example, Harry Potter. Every time they study something in class, out in the real world, there is a parallel. They learn how to use their wands and hold a positive thought in class; as luck would have it, they encounter a situation that calls for just that to get away from some bad guys. That, of course, is just an observation of the book and movies, but I believe it actually happens to students. If you are taking an ethics class, for example, you might find a wallet with money in it on the street.
For me, a lot has to do with completing what I set out to do. Here is how I did it: I treated it like a real class. It was no different to me than taking an online class applicable towards my degree.
Mindset is imperative! Understanding that I was homeless, and that I had a disability, I stuck with my classes. Those aren’t small challenges, and they aren’t the only challenges I had. I had and have people in my life, appointments, hobbies, thoughts, feelings, and day-to-day stuff, to say the least. Sticking with it—something I learned in community college—means you’ll finish it.
Both courses were at my own pace, so it took determination and commitment. I was determined to complete them, and I stayed committed. I also did so without a hard schedule, but I was persistent, and I believe that is key. Even if you can’t do it every Wednesday, you can do it another time, when you have the time. Don’t make it easy for yourself to quit, because you can show that you don’t need someone telling you when to take care of your responsibilities, or to complete a piece of art that you would like to finish, for example.
Some practical things I did included reading, watching, and listening to lectures. I also copied notes by hand.
Things to consider that I had: access to a smartphone, a laptop, Wi-Fi, a pencil with an eraser, pens, a notebook, and a folder. Also, while I didn’t have a place to live when I began my poetry class at the Sam J. Racadio Library in Highland, California—nor did I have a laptop, only my smartphone for Hillsdale—I did eventually have a place to sleep, food to eat, and a shower. All of those things were huge supports in completing my educational goals. Additionally, I didn’t have to wait long for any of my grades or responses.
Read more articles from Tiffany on our Zealousness blog Tiffany Rae Starkey Archives – iN Education Inc.
