Two big thumbs up... and the Brazilian butt lift

Monday marked a HUGE milestone for me in this marathon process I am so fondly referring to as "Project Exit Strategy." (Not super creative - I know. But it was the first thing that popped in my head and it just stuck.)

I had a meeting set up with the Kennesaw State University Communication Dept. Chair to discuss my graduation options.

Side Note: In case you're lost (and thinking, "What the heck is she talking about??", my husband has just been accepted to grad school, which means we are moving to Boston. In 4 months. Super awesome for him, super complicated for me, seeing that I have 11 classes left until I graduate. If I tried to transfer to any schools up yonder, I would lose at least a year's worth of class credit - LAME. So, my "Plan A" included begging Kennesaw to let me finish school - even though I wouldn't be living anywhere close. There wasn't really a "Plan B" in place.

So, walking into this meeting, I was prepared for the worst ("No, Mrs. Hale, we don't give exceptions to students who eagerly move away from our institution, now there's the door!"), but I was believing for the very best ("Why, Mrs. Hale, you are a premier student! We would love to help you! And by the way, you are very lovely! Why don't we let you finish school for free?")

So when I sat down in the lovely Dept. Chair's office (who shall remain nameless, because I'm not sure if I'm legally allowed to mention people's names to a public forum without permission??) I was immediately overcome. With sweat.

An embarrassing outpouring took over my body while I nervously explained my situation to her. I shakily handed her my proposal for school - to take a few online Kennesaw classes in the fall semester, then take 4 classes at Boston University in the spring, and then finish up my final 3 classes back at Kennesaw in the summer. It was a bold proposal, especially because I am a Communication major - You can't teach this stuff virtually. The whole point of my degree is to clearly and competently interact with people. They don't even offer any of these classes online! I was hoping that the Boston University classes could be treated like a study abroad - they could just transfer back to Kennesaw and I could get credit for them. (I'm sorry if you are suddenly bored reading - this might be a really tough situation to follow, but if anyone has tried to get around academic red-tape before, you know that these people don't budge easily. They have grown fond of the rule book.)

Somehow, despite my sweaty shaking, that sweet woman seemed to understand my need to make this work. She smiled warmly at me and said, "This is a very exciting opportunity for you. I will be happy to help in any way I can to make this work for you." She proceeded to go through each class of each semester with me, giving her advice on when to take which class and helping re-arrange my schedule. Then she approved the four classes I would need to take at Boston University. And then she told me to keep in touch with her and let her know if I needed any help.

I think I left her office floating.

However, there was one catch.

She recommended that I take 3 classes this coming summer ( bathing suit season is t-minus 30 days away - in case anyone was wondering.) However, I am already committed to a full-time internship, and I was hesitantly signed up for two classes (thinking I would probably drop at least one when summer came around...) Her insistence that I need to take a PR Writing class so soon found me leaving her office with my brain crunching, trying desperately to figure out how to make this one, measly class work. Everything else seemed to fit together so perfectly. Then it dawned on me.

Why not ask one of your current professors to teach you this class online?

It was my second bold proposal of the day, but I was feeling more confident since the first meeting went so well. I marched right up to my PR Principles professor, stated my case, and waited for her response. She paused for a moment, and then said, "I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

Yeah. She did.

I almost melted. The sweats started creeping back.

Doesn't she know me? I sit on the front row! I've gotten A's on all my tests...

I told her my name. I smiled. I wondered what else to do.

Then she said... "If the Dept. Chair is willing to help you, then I'm happy to help you. I'll make an exception and teach you this material online."

I almost yelped with glee as we discussed the format and how we would make this work. We decided to meet once this semester was completed to plan out how we could communicate and make a web-version of her class work for me. She told me that she had been toying with the idea of making her class a hybrid, and now she had a guinea pig to try it on. I told her I was thrilled to be the pig.

All that being said, I had an extremely successful day of two thumbs up. I am feeling more at peace and more excited for my own personal journey to Boston. I am excited about what is to come for Stevie and his schooling, obviously, but now that he's been accepted to school, his path is pretty well known (at least for the next two years.) I am in the process of figuring out what my path will look like. And today was SUCCESS for me.

A happy glass of wine and a flurry of emails to write. Thanks for hanging in there with me and celebrating the broken red-tape!

Sweet sweatshirt from my kickin'-awesome parents. They wanted to dress me and Stevie in style... so they bought us matching sweats so that we could be that couple when we arrive on-campus. In all seriousness though, it is so soft and comfy.

Bless the Lord for parents who are freakin' COOL and like to buy presents.

Side Note - I've done a 5-minute version of the Brazilian butt lift for 3 days in a row and the pain is REAL. Try it out - I'm hoping to resemble a Victoria's Secret model at the end of this month.