In 2004 I started my undergrad at Carleton. In 2007 I opted to do a three year general degree instead of an honours degree and graduated assuming that I would never go back to do any sort of post-secondary.

I got married, eventually found a job that I fell in love with, a couple of years later we had a baby. That baby changed a lot of things for me and in 2011 when Jack died I decided that I needed to spend some time at home, being with my family and taking care of myself.

And then two years after that she was starting school, I was growing my business and trying to figure out what was next. I was considering some kind of school and then an offhand comment made by my father started me thinking. In the years since I first graduated, Carleton has added a Masters in Political Management. Within a month I had applied to Carleton to complete my fourth year of undergrad so that I could apply to that program.

Fast forward 10 months – seriously, fast forward, I’m finding it hard to believe that second semester even happened – I write my final exam tomorrow.

And it just so happens that my final exam is Research Methods – the class that I avoided taking when I opted for a three year degree instead of a four year.

The exam is worth 40 per cent of my mark, I’ve got my labs and my essay back and I know that basically as long as I write it I’m going to pass the class.

And when I walk out of the field house tomorrow afternoon I am probably going to cry. I am excited about what’s to come next year, I am thrilled to be finished.

This has been one of the hardest things I have ever done, and this week of exams has been brutal. My kid misses me and I miss her, but I had to tell her that studying had to be my number one thing and that soon I would be done. And now I really almost am.

Her and me

I am so excited for the spring. I’m ready to read for pleasure, watch TV, knit, play with my kid and even volunteer at the kid’s school. It’s going to be awesome.