I need to become more motivated and quit putting things off!
Hi, my name is Jenn. I’m 24 yrs old, I work in the resturaunt business, and have a three year old child. I left high school in 1999 because I started hanging out with older people that were out of school, and back then I didn’t think that school was important.
I want my GED because I don’t want to work in the resturaunt industry anymore. I really want to study pharmacuticals and be sucessful in my life. I want my daughter to have everything that she needs, and I want to have money put away for her to go to college.
I need to become more motivated and quit putting things off! I think that I have ADD, but I have not been tested. Do you have any ideas to help me concentrate on work, studies, and raising my child all at once?
Jenn
Jenn, thanks for sharing your story! Many people who left high school and started working now want to get better jobs, with more pay and a better future… but it’s hard because you’ve got a family now and responsibilities! The best advice to keep up with your studies is to make studying part of your daily routine. Find a time that works for you, and just put aside an hour, or even a half-hour, for studying. (Studying more often, but in small chunks of time, will be easier, and you’ll learn better!) It may be hard to stick with it, but if you do, it will get easier. It takes a few weeks to really make it a habit…something you do without even thinking about it.
Another idea: Do you have a close friend or relative who can help you out? Get them involved. Have them take your little girl off your hands for a little bit every day, and get together for coffee or a snack after you’re done studying. Go over what you did and what you learned… this could give you a structure for your studying. Or, if no one can babysit for you… try a daily phone call with a friend to chat about your progress, something to help you stick with it.
Your three-year-old may be a little young to help, but explain to her that you’re studying to get a degree. She might not completely understand, but it will help her get excited about school and learning. Talk to her about your progress, too…she’ll probably help motivate you, even if she doesn’t completely grasp what you’re doing.
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February 27th, 2008 @ 9:17 am
Hello my name is Josie,
I also need to get modivated I am going to be 25yrs old. My husband is in the military and will be leaving for 6wks and my daughter will be going to stay with my family for the duration of his absence. So i figure i would use those six weeks to try and achieve my long over due goal. My last grade finished was 11th grade but I never past but one math course in highschool. I think i took special math classes and still never passed those. I think my 11th grade year I went to a school that allows you to go to school half a day and work the rest of the day that was when i found a teacher who taught me one on one some basic math and i actually had an understanding for it. Complications then evaded my life cause me to leave school. I want to be a good example for my daughter but I get test anxiety and have a fear of failing and looking stupid for asking to be taught something i feel i should know. That and I know that I would like to test in an enviroment that doesnt have a bunch of thugs tryen to fight in classes.
February 27th, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
Hi, Josie. I just want to tell you that you’re not alone. A lot of people had trouble understanding math… and once you start missing things, you get quickly left behind and can’t catch up. It doesn’t mean you’re stupid. Most people come out of high school thinking “learning” is something hard and boring, but it doesn’t need to be. There are new innovations all the time to make learning easier and better for everyone. Find a program that will let you study at your own pace that will explain things clearly and easily. You’ll get there!
I wanted to give you some resources about text anxiety, too. That’s a tough problem for a lot of people. Here are some websites that give information about test anxiety and how to deal with it:
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/PRAXIS/pdf/01361anxiety.pdf
http://www.studygs.net/tstprp8.htm
http://www.how-to-study.com/testanxiety.htm
Take the plunge! Make a commitment to get your GED… almost a half a million people do it every year.