Going Back to School

It is official, Brent is going to school full time at Boise State studying Mechanical Engineering and I am super excited! Maybe it is because I am living through Brent and I loved going to school, or maybe because I am excited for him and the opportunities that this will bring him.  This is a decision that has been in the works for a long time, I would say ever since we got married. I have always been of the mind set to quit work and drop everything so we (Brent) can go to school.  I would often get frustrated because Brent does not think the same way as me.  Going to school was easy for me.  I don’t mean that the classes were easy but that the whole concept of registering, financial aid, going to class, ect was comfortable for me.  I just got it.  Brent didn’t. He is super smart, but it had been almost 10 years since he last attended college, so going back to school was a scary new adventure and something that he was not familiar with. 

Fall of 2012 Brent started going back to school and he was hoping to take a couple of classes and go part time, but we were only able to fit one class in his schedule because he was traveling a lot for work. It was an English class that Brent hated, but at least it was a step in the right direction.  In late Brent came to the understanding for himself that we were on the 20 year plan and that if we kept up at this rate, the odds of Brent actually finishing school were very slim.  We crunched some numbers and we realized that we could survive off my income alone and that would allow Brent to quit his job and go back to school full time.  As soon as we came to that understanding, things started moving forward so fast.  Brent is currently taking 15 credits and only working part time.  It is such a great feeling to be moving forward.  I am very excited for Brent to be getting a degree in something that he loves so he can go to work everyday and do what he wants too.  I work at a company in the technology field and I get to work with the engineers and see just how nerdy and excited they are about work and their projects.  I want that so badly for Brent, because he is such a nerd!  I want him to be able to go to work every day and love it (well, most days that is).

I am grateful that we are no longer on the 20 year plan, but we are actually on a 4 year plan!!  Miracle!  I remember talking to Christie one day and being frustrated because Brent was not willing to just quit his job and go back to school.  It made perfect sense in my mind.  I didn’t know how it would work necessarily, but I knew that it would work. I am grateful that Christie helped me put some things into perspective for me by helping me see that Brent takes his responsibility as provider of our family seriously and he was not willing to just throw that away.  Brent had a good job and he had a hard time moving away from that.  I am so grateful for that perspective because it helped me have greater love and respect for Brent and the person he wanted to be and to see things through his eyes and not just mine all the time.  So here we are 15 credits down with many many more to go!