Not Your Typical College Student (Revised)

I started going to school at Delta College when I was 15 years old in January 2010. Granted, I would turn 16 about a week later, but I was in fact 15 years old when I started school that winter semester.

I hated middle school. It was such a huge change from what I was used to in elementary school and I could not deal with it. I think a big part of this had to do with the fact that, since I was in the PAT Program (Program for the Academically Talented) at my elementary school, I was with the exact same group of students for five years. They became like my family. Several of them went to the same middle school as me, but many went elsewhere. Add in the hundreds of new students around us on a daily basis and it was just too much change for me. This led to me missing a lot of school in sixth and seventh grade, and then finally becoming a homebound student in eighth grade. I had a teacher who would come to my house twice a week and give me the homework I was to complete.

My School Experience

I didn't want to go back to regular school the next year, especially considering I would be starting high school. However, my parents did not give me a choice, so I went. I hated it just as much, if not more, than middle school. I had several classes where didn't know anybody or just knew one or two people. I hated those classes in particular. It was eventually decided that I would go to school for half the day and complete the rest of my classes at home. It was like this for the rest of my freshman year. It was not ideal to me, but it worked better than the alternative.

My sophomore year was worse and I began missing a lot of school again. I hated going to school. I felt like I had no freedom and it was hard for me to be around that many people for so long, since I am not a very sociable person, but rather very shy.

January 4^th, 2010 was the last day I went to school at Central High. It was the day after winter break had ended. After one day back, I knew I could not handle it any more. I was done. I knew that I was about to turn 16 and for my graduating class, the legal dropout age was 16 years old. This time and what exactly I said are quite blurry to me, but I basically told my mom that I wanted to drop out of Central and start going to school at Delta.

And that's what happened.

My mom works as a math professor at Delta. Because of this, I get free tuition, which is why this was an option for me. I would not have had this option otherwise – I would have had to suck it up and get through two and a half more years of high school. Sometimes I wonder how things would be different if I had stayed in public high school, but at the end of the day, I'm content with the decision I made.

My mom's office at Delta

Just a day or two after I dropped out of Central, my mom signed me up for my very first classes at Delta. They were both online classes. The tests were in the testing center, which was still in the library at the time. My first semester at Delta went okay. I didn't do great in the classes, but I didn't do terrible, either. I don't think I was fully motivated at the time, which may have caused me to do worse than I could have done otherwise.

For the next semester, spring 2010, I signed up for my first face-to-face class at Delta. I was nervous. It was four days a week and it was a math class. I knew the teacher really well, because of my mom working in the math department at Delta, so I wasn't concerned about that at all. I was more concerned about being around a bunch of college students who all seemed so much older than me. But, as it turned out, it wasn't all that bad. I sat by the same girl every day and she helped me when I needed help. She also thought it was cool that I was the same age as her younger siblings. I ended up surviving my first face-to-face class at Delta and I was so grateful for that.

Since those first two semesters, I have taken classes at Delta in eight additional semesters (including the current one and also including spring semesters). There have been good and bad experiences during this time.

The Good: I got to take a class with my aunt who is also a student at Delta. We took fitness walking together. I was dreading taking that class, but having her with me made it so much fun. I've also had some amazing professors, including some that I liked so much that I have taken their classes multiple times.

The Bad: Whenever other students in one of my classes would find out that I was 16 (or later, 17), it would become a huge deal. After this happened two or three times, I tried to avoid telling people my age. It made me uncomfortable. Additionally, I felt as if people treated me differently once they knew I was under 18. When I turned 18 last year, I was able to blend in with everyone else a little better. This was a welcomed change.

Me working on homework

Since I've been at Delta, I've gone to school every morning that I have class with my mom. Sometimes I'm able to do homework in her office before my classes start, which is nice. It's very quiet so I'm able to concentrate.

The G-Wing entrance, where I walk into Delta every morning

After many years of hating school, Delta changed this for me. I don't hate school anymore. I love going to Delta. I love having the freedom to choose my own classes. I love being able to schedule my classes at the times that work best for me. It has been such a better fit for me.

I will be graduating from Delta after this semester. I'm really excited about that, but I won't quite be finished with Delta. Before transferring to another school, I'm planning on completing a couple certificates, so I will be sticking around for another year or so. I'm very much looking forward to the next year and all that I will learn.

Closer and Closer.

As we close in on April 29 (only a little over two weeks away!), All My Children and One Life To Live fans are being treated with more and more information on the returns of these beloved dramas.

Hulu recently posted a new video for OLTL (shown above). It's a "first look" video and it gives viewers a sneak peek at new scenes from the show. The thing that I noted upon watching this video was how much Llanfair (Viki's home) looks like it used to. When OLTL wrapped production on ABC in November 2011, all of the sets were destroyed, which means that all the sets had to be rebuilt this year. I was worried that the sets that OLTL fans all know and love, such as Llanfair, wouldn't look authentic. I can rest easy on this now, because Llanfair looks great.

Additionally, the first spoilers have been released by Prospect Park for AMC and OLTL. To me, these spoilers seem very vague, but still interesting nonetheless. The Online Network also has a countdown to the returns of AMC and OLTL on their homepage. As I'm writing this, the countdown shows 15 days 3 hours 50 minutes 15 seconds. We're getting so close!

Recap/Sneak Peek Videos For AMC/OLTL Posted

Just a couple days ago, The Online Network posted two new videos on their official YouTube channel. One is for One Life to Live, the other for All My Children. The majority of each video is a recap of things that have happened over the years, but at the end of each video, we get a sneak peek at some of the new scenes that will be airing later this month.

It was cool to watch these videos, since it has been so long (over a year!) since AMC and OLTL have graced our screens. Some things that were recapped in the videos, I had completely forgotten about. What really got to me, though, was seeing the short clips at the end of each video with new material.

With the AMC video, I particularly loved the clip of Dixie (Cady McClain) and Adam (David Canary). They are two of my favorite AMC characters, and I still almost can't believe David Canary has joined the reboot, considering his retirement in 2010. Seeing him back as Adam in that little clip made me smile!

Then with the OLTL video, I loved seeing the clip at the end with Clint (Jerry verDorn) and the clip with Dorian (Robin Strasser). Jerry verDorn is my favorite soap actor ever, and I have greatly missed his presence on my television screen over the past 15 months. It'll just be a little over three weeks and this presence will be back! I couldn't be more thrilled. Then with the Dorian clip, I was just thinking "Yeah, that is so completely Dorian." She's holding a painting of herself and has one of her "Dorian" hats on. OLTL is nothing without Dorian, and this was made quite apparent during the final months of the show on ABC when Robin Strasser was no longer on the canvas. I'm happy that Dorian will be back in full-force very soon!

04.29.13. Save the date.

Not Your Typical College Student

Intro Audio Clip

I started going to school at Delta College when I was 15 years old in January 2010. Granted, I would turn 16 about a week later, but I was in fact 15 years old when I started school that winter semester.

I hated middle school. It was such a huge change from what I was used to in elementary school and I could not deal with it. This led to me missing a lot of school in sixth and seventh grade, and then finally becoming a homebound student in eighth grade. I had a teacher who would come to my house twice a week and give me the homework I was to complete.

I didn't want to go back to regular school the next year, especially considering I would be starting high school. However, my parents did not give me a choice, so I went. I hated it just as much, if not more, than middle school. It was eventually decided that I would go to school for half the day and complete the rest of my classes at home. It was like this for the rest of my freshman year. It was not ideal to me, but it worked better than the alternative.

My sophomore year was worse and I began missing a lot of school again. I hated going to school. I felt like I had no freedom and it was hard for me to be around that many people for so long, since I am not a very sociable person, but rather very shy.

January 4^th, 2010 was the last day I went to school at Central High. It was the day after winter break had ended. After one day back, I knew I could not handle it any more. I was done. I knew that I was about to turn 16 and for my graduating class, the legal dropout age was 16 years old. This time and what exactly I said are quite blurry to me, but I basically told my mom that I wanted to drop out of Central and start going to school at Delta.

And that's what happened.

My mom works as a math professor at Delta. Because of this, I get free tuition, which is why this was an option for me. I would not have had this option otherwise – I would have had to suck it up and get through two and a half more years of high school. Sometimes I wonder how things would be different if I had stayed in public high school, but at the end of the day, I'm content with the decision I made.

My mom's office at Delta

Just a day or two after I dropped out of Central, my mom signed me up for my very first classes at Delta. They were both online classes. The tests were in the testing center, which was still in the library at the time. My first semester at Delta went okay. I didn't do great in the classes, but I didn't do terrible, either. I don't think I was fully motivated at the time, which may have caused me to do worse than I could have done otherwise.

For the next semester, spring 2010, I signed up for my first face-to-face class at Delta. I was nervous. It was four days a week and it was a math class. I knew the teacher really well, because of my mom working in the math department at Delta, so I wasn't concerned about that at all. I was more concerned about being around a bunch of college students who all seemed so much older than me. But, as it turned out, it wasn't all that bad. I sat by the same girl every day and she helped me when I needed help. She also thought it was cool that I was the same age as her younger siblings. I ended up surviving my first face-to-face class at Delta and I was so grateful for that.

Since those first two semesters, I have taken classes at Delta in eight additional semesters (including the current one and also including spring semesters). There have been good and bad experiences during this time.

The Good: I got to take a class with my aunt who is also a student at Delta. We took fitness walking together. I was dreading taking that class, but having her with me made it so much fun. I've also had some amazing professors, including some that I liked so much that I have taken their classes multiple times.

The Bad: Whenever other students in one of my classes would find out that I was 16 (or later, 17), it would become a huge deal. After this happened two or three times, I tried to avoid telling people my age. It made me uncomfortable. Additionally, I felt as if people treated me differently once they knew I was under 18. When I turned 18 last year, I was able to blend in with everyone else a little better. This was a welcomed change.

Since I've been at Delta, I've gone to school every morning that I have class with my mom. Sometimes I'm able to do homework in her office before my classes start, which is nice. It's very quiet so I'm able to concentrate.

The G-Wing entrance, where I walk into Delta every morning

After many years of hating school, Delta changed this for me. I don't hate school anymore. I love going to Delta. I love having the freedom to choose my own classes. I love being able to schedule my classes at the times that work best for me. It has been such a better fit for me.

I will be graduating from Delta after this semester. I'm really excited about that, but I won't quite be finished with Delta. Before transferring to another school, I'm planning on completing a couple certificates, so I will be sticking around for another year or so. I'm very much looking forward to the next year and all that I will learn.