You know you’re an adult student when…you have mastered the skill of quiet typing!

What is quiet typing? Quiet typing is that thing you do when you wake up at 5am in a hotel room that you’re sharing with your kids and you want to get as much of your homework done as possible while they are still sleeping 8-P

Two of the kids and I spent Saturday on the Wilmington Riverfront as volunteers for the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation’s first Pirate Day. Aye!

The Kalmar Nyckel Approaching Lewes

After a long and glorious day out in the sun decorating foam swords and building wooden boats with hundreds of small and adorable little children, we took advantage of an online discount and stayed at a local hotel. At 5am the next morning, there I was, working my mad quiet typing skills to outline a plan for data collection, evaluation, and revisions on my adolescent suicide prevention skills lesson for INSYS415.

As I sat there in the bright morning sunlight that was coming in through the window and hitting the desk, I started to think about how grateful I am that there are ways and means for me to make all of this work – being a mom, a student, a volunteer…

I’ve read textbooks and articles in typical and unusual places – in cars, in lobbies, in hallways, and even in hotel bathrooms. Hey, don’t knock it. There’s a door and a light and that trumps a dark, somewhat creepy, smelly hallway for reading any night! I’ve read with a flashlight, with my phone, with a nightlight, with the interior light of the car, and with my keen new Kindle lighted cover! I have read for class while sitting at a bar with earplugs and chaperoning my kids at a concert in a dark downtown club.  I even finished my final paper for my undergraduate degree while in the car on the way to a long weekend of celebrating at Rehoboth Beach by using an inverter to power my HP laptop and a VW access point to get on the Internet. Yes, I am also thankful for willing drivers <3

The Kalmar Nyckel Docked at Lewes, DE

Life IS good! I bet there are some even wilder things that we adult learners do to make it all work. If you have any stories to share, I would love to hear them :-)

-Deb