• Please listen to or read this NPR story, “Moms Head Back-To-School To Pursue College Dreams”, and then respond to the following questions:
  • In the NPR interviews, most of the women pointed out the need for support from family and friends when going back to school. What kinds of support from family and friends have been most helpful to you in your own experience of going to school?
  • In what ways do you need more support from family and friends? What tips do you have for asking for help?
  • What social networks have you found to be helpful outside of your family and personal friends (classmates, mentors, work colleagues, etc.)?

SAMPLE ANSWER

Success and Supporting Your Juggling Act

Introduction

Juggling is a great way to stay active, have fun and make money. But it takes work to be successful at juggling. Here are some tips for how to do just that:

Do what you love

As you’re learning how to juggle, it’s important that you find something that you are passionate about. This will help keep your mind off the work and allow it to focus on the activity at hand.

When I was younger, I took a class called “Juggling 101” at my local community college in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was a great way for me to learn some basic skills while having fun! The instructor taught us everything from throwing clubs around our heads (yes we had clubs), catching them with both hands (this was tricky) and even juggling with rings! He also showed us how easy it is for beginners like myself who aren’t used to any kind of physical activity outside of school work or home chores around the house where we could easily injure ourselves if not careful enough out there doing this stuff which may help build up muscle strength while they are learning too!

Have attainable goals

The first step to achieving any goal is having an idea of what those goals are. If you don’t know where to start, it’s best to define the problem before starting on a solution. Your goal should be attainable and realistic—you don’t want your life consumed by its pursuit only for it not turn out like everyone else’s (or worse yet, like some other person’s dream).

So how do we define our own goals? Well first off, don’t worry about what other people’s goals are or what they think yours should be! You need to create something that fits into your life; this could mean anything from losing weight and becoming fit enough that you can juggle six clubs at once without getting tangled up in them all (which would require a lot of practice), but also doesn’t necessarily have anything directly related with juggling itself such as running marathons or reading more books than ever before in your life time period because those aren’t necessarily related either!

Once again though…this isn’t going into details right now because I want us all focused on getting back into shape instead…so let me give an example: if I wanted my main focus would probably fall under physical fitness since this applies more directly towards helping improve my current level of physical abilities while juggling multiple objects simultaneously.”

Be positive

A positive mindset is an important part of your success. You need to be able to think positively and see the glass as half full; otherwise, you run the risk of getting stuck in a negative cycle. If this happens, it will be very difficult for you to achieve any goals or reach your full potential.

It’s also important that you pay attention to what people say about themselves, because those words are often self-fulfilling prophecies—and they can affect how others perceive us as well! When someone says “You’re so successful,” chances are there’s some truth behind that statement: maybe they mean financially successful? Maybe they mean socially successful? But whatever meaning applies here (or doesn’t apply), don’t let them influence how much value/worth we place on ourselves!

Remove yourself from negative situations

As you become more successful and find that you no longer need to juggle so much, it’s important to start removing yourself from negative situations. If a person is constantly bringing you down, the best way to deal with them is simply by cutting ties with them—even if they are family members or close friends. This can be difficult for some people because we tend not to want our loved ones’ lives being affected negatively by our actions; however, it’s more beneficial for everyone involved if these people stop bothering us!

If there are negative people in your life who keep dragging down your moods and causing drama at work or home (or both), then take action: tell these people exactly what they’re doing wrong and give them an ultimatum: either stop being so miserable all the time or leave voluntarily! Don’t let their negativity affect yours anymore by avoiding contact altogether; instead focus on getting better at juggling instead of allowing other peoples’ negativity affect YOUR happiness

Set boundaries for your time, energy and commitment

• Set boundaries for your time, energy and commitment.

• If you want to juggle more than one job, family and friends, set limits on how much time each thing requires. For example: “I’ll commit to this project for 10 hours a week.” Or “I will spend no more than 20 minutes on this call.”

• It’s also helpful to set limits on the number of people that you will commit yourself to. If someone asks if they can help with something but doesn’t have enough experience or training in the area yet, explain that although it would be great if they could do it now, there’s no way for them really understand what needs doing until after some training has taken place first—and then try again when there’s time later on down the road once things are better understood again (or even better yet!). This approach works especially well when dealing with emergencies because there isn’t always enough warning beforehand so sometimes having flexibility built into our plans just makes sense!

Become more efficient with your time

• Set a schedule

• Use a calendar to keep track of your schedule

• Create a to-do list that is prioritized and organized by time frame (i.e., “Get coffee at 9:00 AM” vs “Return phone calls”)

• Plan your day the night before so you can be more productive during the day, even if it means getting up earlier or staying up later than usual!

• Prioritize tasks based on importance—the most important tasks should always come first; everything else should be sorted into groups based on importance until all are complete, then move onto another group until done as well

Stay organized

As you begin to juggle, it can be easy to lose track of things. You might be juggling a lot of balls, or you might find yourself juggling multiple balls at once. Either way, keeping organized is essential for success in your juggling act.

Here are some tips for staying organized:

• Use a calendar and pen/pencil (or smartphone app) to keep track of your goals and practice schedule. This will help ensure that you don’t accidentally miss an important event or practice session because it wasn’t on your calendar!

• Write down any new skills that come up during practice sessions so they’re easier to remember later on down the line when they need remembering again!

See how you can juggle more and better.

Juggling is a lot of fun. That’s why we do it. It’s also a good way to make some money, and you can use the extra income to support your family or pay off debt. But juggling isn’t just about being entertained by yourself; it’s also a way of making other people happy too!

You’re probably wondering how exactly you can juggle more and better – but before we get into specifics, let me ask one thing: what do YOU want out of life? What are your goals? What kind of person do you want others (and yourself) to see when they look at the person who lives in their house?

Conclusion

As you can see, juggling lots of things at once is not easy. But if you’re committed to being successful at juggling, there are plenty of ways that you can make it work for your goals. The most important thing is to keep yourself positive and focused on the things that matter most—and remember that success comes from hard work and dedication!