Game Changers

I don't think I actually outlined my game change plan.... I don't know how many of you noticed that my side bar changed just a little bit. Where it says "Personal Trainer in Training" you may have missed that under that it says, "Currently Pursuing AS Chemistry and AAS Fitness Technician:Personal Trainer at SLCC."

A bit of background here... I was very involved with science throughout high school. I took regular chemistry my sophomore year and instantly fell in love with it. My teacher recommended me for a special program for high school students at the University of Utah that summer and I attended on scholarship with several of my friends. We went to class five days of the week, on campus, and got a good feel for what college level study would be like.

In my junior year I, unfortunately, didn't have room in my schedule for any kind of science; however, I had caught the bug of science love and my parents were able to connect me with a group of researchers at the University of Utah to work as an intern in a lab studying properties of magnetism the summer of my junior year. I also had the opportunity at the end of that summer to go to Peru for two weeks on a humanitarian service project - we took food and supplies to the people of Cajamarca.

By my senior year I was seriously considering pursuing chemistry as a career and so I took both AP Biology and AP Chemistry. I passed both AP exams, was the Science Sterling Scholar at my high school and was accepted into the ACCESS program at the U specially for women in science and technology. Once again, I spent the summer at the U going to classes and immersing myself in science.

After that summer I was lined up with another research opportunity studying DNA and RNA at the Emma Eccles Medical Research Center. I was continuing to pursue a degree in Biochemistry at the U on a full tuition scholarship and spent almost all day, 5 days of the week, on campus.

And you know what? I wasn't really happy. I felt incredibly lonely on campus and in the lab and knew that that wasn't the kind of life that I wanted to live. I didn't want to be a researcher - I liked to teach and be around people. And chemistry was no longer fun and interesting - it had become a chore.

So I dropped out. And I got married. And it was wonderful and I was at peace with the decision. I needed time to reevaluate my life and figure out where I needed to go.

Fast forward to now. Because of all of the work I already put in at the U I am only 4 classes away from earning my Associates Degree in Chemistry. FOUR. And it just so happens that I am only 5 classes away from fulfilling all of the science requirements to smoothly transition to obtaining a Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science. Yes... these classes are: Intermediate Writing (no problem), Human Anatomy (not too worried), Calculus 2 (PROBLEM!), Organic Chemistry 2 (PROBLEM!!!) and College Physics I (PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!!); however, it would be foolish of me to not tough it out, finish it out, and open the doors for me to get even more education. Getting a Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science would open the possibility of going for a Master's Degree someday. I'm not saying that I definitely will, but I love the option that I COULD.

The two degrees/programs that I am looking at the most are BS Exercise Science at the University of Utah or BS Exercise and Wellness at BYU. I will be honest, the degree at BYU seems to fit my interests more closely; however, if I were to go to BYU I am pretty sure that we would have to move in order to work it out. We wouldn't leave the Salt Lake Valley but right now we live further north and would need to live further south.

So there are still a lot of questions to be answered. The plan is to finish up my AS Chemistry AND AAS Fitness Technician with FALL 2014 being my last semester. My girl [A] will be in kindergarten by then and my boy {N} will be in preschool so that will allow me a little bit of flexibility to even start working as a personal trainer at that point while I go through my Bachelor's degree.

I am sure that this plan will change with time but this is the plan for now. I am nervous and excited about it and I know that this is what I am supposed to be doing.

QUESTIONS FOR MY DEAR READERS: Have you faced "Game Changers" in your life? What would you pick as your biggest game changer?

Loves...Shayla