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Welcome to my blog!!!

My Name is Nephtalie Numa I am currently a student at Farmingdale State College. I want to share with you my experience as a non-traditional student. Keep in mind that English is my third language, Creole and French are my two primary languages.

For my thirtieth birthday I wished to get a college education. At first it seems unrealistic to even think that I was going to be able to go to college because money was very tight and we are kind of thrifty. However, after spending years doing a job that I knew I had the potential to do something better I was not going to let anything on my way of becoming the person I wanted to be.

March 2015, at 31, mother of 2, with a full-time job, I made the intrepid decision to go to college. As a non-traditional student it was/is a tremendously difficult experience but not impossible. I tend to credit my successful college experience to my determination however, there are many more reasons that lead to my success.

First,

          it was/is my determination. Without being determine I am sure I would have not got to where I am today, and no one would have helped me. It took me too long to realize that I needed to take control of my life. Thanks to a video posted by GaryVee on Instagram I realized that I needed to be responsible for my actions. Taking responsibility helped me put myself on a mission to better Nephtalie; which automatically allows me to be confident and determinant.

Second,

             it was/is how I prioritized school over everything else. Yes, I said everything else. This might sound selfish when you know that I have two kids. I’ve always said the only thing that can stop me from doing school work before everything else is if one of my kids has a medical emergency but, when it comes to “having fun with mommy” I always have the perfect excuse. “Mommy loves you a lot but, for the next two to three hours mommy has homework to do. Now, go and have fun with daddy.” School comes first because school will help me give my kids a better future.

  • By the way I did not have a challenge between my school and my job because they are both equally important. The moment that my job interfered with my school I got myself another one.

Third,

          it was my support system. My loves one were/are very supportive always there for advice and help. My husband has carry out some mommy’s duties while I was busy being a student. Without a support system it will definitely be more difficult for you but do not let that stop you. I have to be completely honest with you… my “support system “started to build only when everyone realized that I wasn’t going to be stop. At the beginning, my closest people had a thousand of “realistic” advice for me as I mentioned in one of my post already “This is not a good time to go to school… you don’t have enough money to pay the tuition…the kids are too little they need their mom…” off course I didn’t listen. When they realized that their words had no power over my determination guess what happened? They became my biggest supporter. This is why I think that Rachel Hollis is very much right when she said in her book Girl Wash Your Face, “No body care about your dream the way you do” When you care you must demonstrate and silent everyone who does not understand, because soon they will be on board.

Fourth,

         it was/is my wonderful professors. From Suffolk County Community College to Farmingdale almost all my professors were actively helping me digging out the best of me. As a non-traditional student I knew first hands it was going to be difficult however as a non-native English speaker… My Lord!!! It was hard… No, it was very hard. I always had a feeling that people cannot understand my accent. Then, my Communication 101 Professor walk into my life. Professor Weekes allows me to understand that I have what it takes, and I should stop thinking about my accent. She helped me understand that I should au contraire work hard to present good contents and improve my speaking skills not my accent. Thanks to her, now I can have a conversation with anyone without thinking about my accent.

Fifth,

           How can I not be grateful for FAFSA? Yes, I had to take a loan but without FAFSA it would have been a different scenario. So yes, thank you FAFSA! of course I think I could have made it without FAFSA  ,many did, but my student loan would have been garnish with way more numbers:)

This blog is about empowering anyone who wants to go or go back to college but have doubt because of their responsibilities. I want to show you “If I did it so can you.” 

You have what it takes you only needs to change your mindset.

“Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else; it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being… There are NO limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”

Bruce Lee