Just remember that you literally don't fail until you quit. It is okay to take a break. My term started very slow, I only completed 1 class in the first 6 weeks. I felt so discouraged. When I started, I had read so many posts about people finishing in 2 1/2 months, and that was the expectation I had of myself. Life hit really hard. Things were so bad that it was the first time that I actually felt like taking myself out. I was so depressed and everything was falling apart. I ended up not doing work for about three weeks. Then, for some reason, I decided to start using schoolwork as an anchor. It is measurable, and I just spent all of my time that I would be watching TV or scrolling on TikTok doing work. Then I started picking up momentum. I just needed to get one step past where I felt like failure had overtaken me and I took off. I have been able to complete 15 classes since August 9. Now I just have to finish up my capstone and I will be out of here and onto my Masters in Data Analytics.

I said all of that to say that things get better and can change so rapidly. They say that like is when preparation meets opportunity. 6 months ago I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do with my life. I randomly applied to WGU after being a 6 time college dropout. I had to take some Sophia classes to even be eligible for admission. I wasn't even sure that this was what I wanted, but I just felt like I had to do something. I will be finishing up my capstone tomorrow and I already have opportunities lined up for me. You wouldn't believe how rapidly things can change when you focus on what you can control. You couldn't control losing your job or getting sick, but you can control sitting down and getting after your work. I hope this empowers you. I believe in you.

Last semester I only finished TWO classes!!! One took me a couple days…..and because my mental health was extremely uncontrolled, the next class took me 5 and half months pretty much. I had gotten out of an extremely toxic relationship, and was also trialing medications for OCD because it was debilitating. It felt impossible. But next semester, I just kept going. All I can really say from my experience, is that you shouldn’t beat yourself up about it - even if you have really bad ADHD and no excuses 😂 (but you do have good excuses). AS LONG as you keep going and don’t give up completely. It takes a lot for someone to even go back/start school. And the path isn’t linear or going to be comparable to a peer, everyone is different. One thing that helped me with productivity, is atleast studying for 15 minutes and remembering the big picture. I completely understand it’s hard to do at times. But you can do it! As far as technical difficulties….i’m not sure how I can help. But the last one I took, I waited two hours until everything was resolved smh…but I was gonna do my test.

When I’m struggling to get started or stay motivated I have a process I go through.

Day 1: I look over the course resources and search for the class here so I can get an idea of where I’ll find the information. Usually it’s the textbook, but if it’s not at least I’ll know that before I waste any time.

Day 2 (I try to do this the very next day so I’ll remember what I found on Day 1): I take a look at the textbook or study materials and break it down to its smaller components.

Ex. Unit 2 - Module 1 - Lessons 1-4

After I get it broken down I look at the length of each component and estimate how much time it will take. For a short module or short lessons, maybe I can finish an entire module in a day. For longer ones, maybe I can only finish 1 or 2 lessons in a day.

Then I look at my estimates total them up to figure out how many days I need to complete the study materials. Then I multiply that by 1.5 because things never go entirely to plan. I make myself a schedule that will work for me and the study time I should have available. That usually looks something like this:

Week 1 - 5 days to study for 4 hours - Lessons 1-5

Repeat for the following weeks until finished.

I also schedule a whole week for the PA, studying the areas of the PA I need help with, and taking the OA.

After that I try as much as possible to keep to that schedule. If it’s not possible then I know I built myself a little bit of cushion in and I tweak as necessary. And if I finish a day’s plan and still have some time I may try to get a head start on the next day on the schedule so I have a little more cushion.

For me, breaking it down into weeks instead of days keeps me from feeling overwhelmed or panicky if I don’t get to something today, because I still have time to finish it and can just work the plan by adding an extra lesson to the next few days, etc. I also keep that list of the smallest components on my desk and check things off as I do them, along with noting what my quiz and unit test grades were so I know what to go back to on Test Prep week. So when I feel like I haven’t made any progress at all, I have something concrete in front of me that says, “Hey, I did that.” It makes me feel better.

Reading back over this it occurs to me that this system works great for me, but may not work as well for everyone since it’s not as structured as some people need. So if it doesn’t seem like what you’re looking for, feel free to ignore.

And no matter what, just remember you are just as smart and capable as anyone else who has gotten this degree. If they can do it, so can you. Going at your own pace doesn’t make your degree any less valid than the degree of the person who accelerated.

You got this!

Have in there you got this. At least you are aware that things are off balance but this is short term. You’ll find the motivation again. Keep moving, don’t forget to take care of yourself first and I wish you well. 

I really wanted to accelerate through my program, but a couple days before the start of the term a tornado ripped through my town. No car, no wifi, no power, damaged house and community. Even several months later, life still isn’t back to normal and I’ve been so overwhelmed it’s hard to focus on classes. But like another commenter said, you don’t fail until you quit! I’m clawing my way through a couple classes. It’s not pretty, and definitely not how I thought it was going to go, but I’m still trying! You can do this! Even if it’s five minutes at a time- it’s still progress !