I passed my first WGU class. It took three days for the performance assessment to be reviewed and graded. I was able to watch it progress through the queue though, so I knew the delay was not because they didn't get it, but because there were 300+ submissions in front of me.
During those three days, I had quite the weekend at work. I'm thoroughly convinced the recent full/blood moon had a lot to do with it.
I got the notice that the assessment passed on Monday. Some areas of my performance assessment met expectations (score 3 out of 4) while others exceeded expectations (score 4 out of 4). I admit, I was hoping for more 4s.
Overall, the assessment's score was met expectations, or a 3. Which I suppose is on par with a B. I also admit I was hoping it overall exceeded expectations, or a 4. Or an A. But even it were a 4, the course would still appear as "Pass" on my transcript and my GPA would still be a 3.0.
This "no-GPA" is still taking some getting used to.
Overall, I'm glad to put this first class behind me. The assessment was very introspective which, while it did come up with valuable insights, always feels weird for me to do because I feel like they're looking for a certain answer in these courses. No matter what program I took this type of course in, it always feels like The Powers That Be are looking for a certain answer. Like my goals in the next 10 years always have to be something lofty like becoming a NP or nurse executive.
To be honest, I don't know what I'll be doing in 10 years. I'm still not 100% sure I want to do Education. I'm 95% sure. The other 5% of the time, I wonder if it would serve me better to do Leadership or Informatics...I mean, I could still teach with either one of those concentrations. But I have time to change my mind if I want. The courses for all the MSN programs are the same for at least the first two terms.
I had to take a few days off before I started the next class, partly due to the high patient acuity at work and partially because I needed a mini-break from school. I admit, I like this about WGU--I can pace myself. The arbitrary start date for this next class was 7/29. But as long as I finish these four classes by 12/31, it doesn't matter if I start the second class on the 29th or the 1st or the 15th.
Now, it's Translational Research, which I started yesterday. I like research classes. I even like doing the research for the research studies. This course, I decided to use their 21-and-Done schedule. So far, I'm keeping pace. I had a productive appointment with my course instructor and narrowed down the topic for my performance assessment to a couple of contenders. I'm going to see which topic pulls up more research studies and would be more doable.
Oh yes, I also learned I did win one of the WGU scholarships...the one for nurses, actually. Fitting.
