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I wanna be a psychological counselor. I'm leaning towards children's counseling. The religion major was meant as sort of a mind-opener so that I understand where other people are coming from....

Give me a chance to brag about my daughter for a bit; you'll eventually see the relevance.

Because her father reneged on the financial support he was to provide for college, my daughter switched from her intention to enter college as a music major and instead spent her first two years of college as a math major. (She suffered because of my lousy decision to receive greatly reduced child support from the time she was 4 until she went to college in exchange for the promise he'd pay for her college. We could have taken him to court, but he was ill by this time and my daughter didn't want to "mess with it." This was 1989; he died from that illness in 1993. However, during all that time, he continued to send his sons by his second marriage to private schools, continued his country club memberships, etc. Had to get that off my chest because I'm more bitter about all this than my daughter ever was.) ;)

Continuing with my story that will eventually get to the point of this story: She'd worked as a nursing aide at a nursing home her last year of HS, so in addition to transferring to another nursing home close to the college, she could also work as a tutor in the math lab. At that point she was also contemplating a pre-med or a psychology/counseling major, but opted for the math major because she was advised of a better potential for the math lab job eventually. She weighed the options of modifying her major later.

She made good choices, because after only being at college for a few weeks, my husband died, which made a dramatic difference in the amount of financial help I was able to provide.

Once she'd completed her first two years of college, I was now ill and beyond still providing her with her car and insurance, I wasn't able to provide much financial support either. So, she made the decision to take a year-long LPN course because it would almost double her income at her nursing home job.

By the time she'd earned her LPN, she was in love and started weighing the advanced degree commitments that a counseling or medical degree would require versus her desire to get married and start a family. So, she worked as an LPN as she got her BSN -- an RN with a bachelor's degree.

Throughout all this, my daughter has taught me so much. A month before beginning college, rather than mourn the loss of her dream to be a music teacher, she surveyed her other interests and abilities, and made her choices accordingly.

So, now in addition to raising three kids (and a husband), she works as a nurse, teaches a Sunday school class, volunteers at her children's elementary school, and occasionally plays piano at church. As for her other interests and skills, she's still trying to decide whether she'll pursue a Masters of Divinity degree or a Masters in Religious Counseling. Whatever choice she makes about future plans, I'm confident she'll make a wise choice.

In the meantime, she may be getting some counseling experience: She was one of the technical editors and wrote the introduction for my diabetes cookbook. Next Friday, she'll be interviewing for a position as diabetes counselor at the hospital where she now works. That position would give her more family friendly work hours, so I'm praying that it works out for her. (There'd be a downside for me though: Right now we get to take advantage of her cell phone free calling time as she drives home from work late at night. Besides, I'm sure she'll still call her mom a lot.) ;)

In addition to getting the chance to brag about my daughter, I guess my final point is that I know why my daughter remained responsible during her college years. I always gave more credit to the work ethic that kept her working towards her goal. I think the one thing that you and the other students we have visiting the Dose (directly and via reports from their parents) have taught me is that a lifelong values foundation is every bit as important as the financial support. (I still have trouble getting past the guilt that I wasn't able to provide both, but I guess I can at least celebrate the fact that I evidently did do some things right.)