Rosalind Bulman
Meet Rosalind Bulman
Name: Rosalind Bulman
Age: 44
Marital Status: Married
Kids: Boys 14, 12, 10, 6; and one 3 year old girl
Future Goal: Become a school psychologist
School: Liberty University
Target: B.S. in Psychology, Spring 2009
Rosalind is an administrative assistant to a director of a metro area emergency center. She answers the phones, greets visitors, makes copies, and sometimes when she is sure no one is looking…she attends college thousands of miles away.
The busy mother of five lives in Texas, but is earning her degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. And doesn't have any plans to relocate. She is pursuing her bachelor's degree in Psychology via distance education, the least disruptive means of achieving her goal.
The very last thing Roz would want to do is disrupt the lives of her husband and their family. If all goes according to plan, she should graduate in three years, be on the path to her new career, and no one will be worse for the wear.
"I'm a mom first," she declares. "I always put that before anything."
It has been a challenge to achieve balance between her responsibilities at home and her schoolwork. To that end, Roz completes almost all of her coursework outside of the house.
"I have no time once I get home. When I get home that time belongs to the kids." With four boys aged 14, 12, 10, and 6, and one little girl who is only 3 years old, there wouldn't be much space to study anyway. The four school-aged children have the kitchen table covered with textbooks, folders, homework and permission slips.
Roz has had to become hyper-organized. She can't afford to forget anything. She recently purchased a PDA to keep track of her own assignments. And she has a bulletin board for each child. On it she pins their school and activity schedules, important notices, bus schedules, and even lunch money.
Her husband is supportive; he does all of the cooking for the family. However, his muscular dystrophy limits his ability to participate as much outside of the home. "[It] leaves all the driving to me." With four children at four different schools, extra-curricular activities, and school functions - that's a lot of driving.
"I take advantage of every opportunity away from home," she explains. "I read in waiting rooms at doctors' offices, at the dentist, at football practice, wherever I can."
She has a portable DVD player, and recently purchased a portable VHS so that she can listen to all of her pre-recorded lectures when she is on the go. Still, the juggling act seems to get harder, not easier.
"Although I took four classes last semester and am taking three classes this semester, this semester seems harder," she says. "Perhaps it is because all the classes started on the same date." The eight-week course is already finished. The two others end on October 24.
She strategized a way to make the work more palatable. The courses are self-paced, so she has a great deal of flexibility. She is going to focus on Western Humanities throughout the month of September until the required work is done.
Then she will move her focus to Intro to Psychology and have that work completed by the October due date. Even when the going gets tough, Roz keeps going. She doesn't have the luxury of contemplating how busy she actually is. "I can't think. I just do. I have to."
What spurs her on? "Knowing that I have a deadline," she says.
Upon retirement she would like to teach and then become a school psychologist. I want to be able to work in one of my children's schools. "If I want to do anything other than be an aide, I have to get my degree."
Last term she had the benefit of all on-line courses. The format worked well for her mobile lifestyle and she felt more connected to the other students. This term there is no on-line component.
Tests will have to be proctored, by her boss who agreed to be certified by the university, and snail-mailed to the campus. It was her boss, in fact, who encouraged her to return to school.
The second eldest of six children, Roz didn't readily have the opportunity to attend college right after high school. "My parents put all of us through Catholic school. When I graduated, I had to help out."
Returning to school was an idea she had been tossing around for some time. She began to seriously consider it as retirement inched closer. It is just eight years away. My boss asked, "Would you rather retire with a degree? Or without?"
She decided that there was no time like the present. Now she already has 12 credit hours under her belt. It would not have been possible without distance education.
"There is a junior college right down the street from where I live." It is physically close, true. But mentally and emotionally it is just too far. "[Enrolling there] would take me away from my family. And that's what I don't want to happen."
So she continues to work hard and set an example for her children. She is making online education work for her. And they are impressed. The kids are already asking, "Mom, can we go to high school that way?"
