Why I'm Back In School

This August 23, I started my first "counts toward your GPA for your AA" class in Anatomy in Physiology. I'm trying to take in stride, but the amount off information that requires rote memorization is overwhelming. Community college classes, this one in particular is on an abbreviated schedule. It is certainly not the schedule nor learning style to which I am accustomed.

I'm a former programmer, 25 year Technical Writer and trainer, and forever science geek. I'm currently a parent, a Yoga Educator, and enthusiastic volunteer for multiple abilities related charities. I'm here to broaden my knowledge working towards my PTA so that I can help people find freedom of movement, and mitigate pain as a functional movement specialist. Truth be told, I feel really "old" going back to school at 55. My undergraduate experience created a lot of longstanding trauma. Despite this, I excelled at my former technical profession but completely changed gears once I had my son at age 43. I've put almost 400 hours of post-graduate self-guided study, into my current work, but now am ready to commit to a formal education. To keep anxiety at a minimum, I need to remind myself that it's about the quality of the information I absorb, not the GPA.

I may ask for your help reminded me of this. My high school biology class was (carry the six, divide by the time constant) in 1980, forty-one years ago. That's a deep memory bank from which to draw information about the endoplasmic reticulum, and try to add to it the subtle differences between epicondyles and tubercules. 

If I drop anatomical references into everyday conversation, I'm not being pretentious nor erudite; I'm struggling to keep the jargon fresh in my mind. I'm not trying to appropriate Latin or Greek, and certainly not even Sanskrit since that is used as the common language of yoga. I'm just on a quest to learn. 

I thank you in advance for your support.