From the key board of Sophie Maddox: (Desk top sounds so… formal, I’ve gotta be me.)

Okay here’s some information about me… a little lengthy but a little funny too, oh and there’s some great resources for you as well, so be sure to click on any link for more information.

I‘ve been involved in education my entire life, I love it.

My experience has ranged from teaching kids reading, writing and arithmetic, to maintaining my own GPA, graduating highschool, college and grad school, not without struggles mind you but… well let me just tell you about it.

I was born and raised in New Mexico, the eldest of 8, all of whom were home schooled through high school graduation. Yeah that made us real popular.
Growing up
Looking back on my child hood I have to say that it was interesting to say the least. At times it felt like I did things in reverse, I helped raise my siblings and home school them before I even dated. Growing up in a very rural area it made it hard to date, especially when it comes to taking care of the kids, I refer to my siblings as the kids I Nannied while mom raised them.
I enjoyed learning; I always pushed to be the one who was able to finish well, my grades reflected that. There is a perception that being home schooled is easy because all you have to do is get your parents or whoever is in overseeing the curriculum to grade you and then you’re all good.

Well it’s not that easy, home schooled students have to be tested two or three times more than what our public student counterparts were as we had to prove to the state that we were all staying at least current with our grade level.
As a child life was full of family, church, and school, however, most of our family was in Georgia, so yearly trips to see extended family were cherished as a child. I always looked forward to the long three day road trip to see grandparents, in particular my favorite grandma. She was the most loving, kind, generous, sweet and successful person I’ve ever met. I’m so proud to be related to her. Summers were spent often with grandparents, definitely some of my fondest memories. I only wish you could’ve tasted her cooking, it was simply to die for!

I’d definitely planned to go to college after high school I was, eager for new experiences and life on the outside of rural USA so I chose Chicago, initially the debate was between Chicago and Atlanta, but the mystique of a city I was not familiar with intrigued me, and the college funding was definitely a nudge to look more seriously at a frigid city filled with warm people, and great food.

Life in a Chicago College…

The move would be on my own, I knew no one in Chicago.

And due to the lack of finances, funding college would be on my own, the family budget was too tight to help me as the other kids were still young. This also meant that I’d be moving on my own.

Well since I’d be taking a plane packing was easy, one large blue and gold trunk and a loaded suitcase with clothes and necessities, hugs kisses from my grandma and family, then away I went to a place I’d only read and heard about.
Do you know what the funny thing is?

In spite of having limited knowledge of Chicago the moment I looked out the plane window and saw the deep immense greenery, spotted with numerous crystal clear blue pools two hundred feet below I felt a tingle of excited and knew somehow this was home; even years after that first plane trip I loved the amazing architecture, and people of Chicago.
Now I’m sure you noticed that I’m using the past tense here, (great observation) since then I’ve moved again I love to travel long distances so like my first move this was also a big move, more in a bit.
The study shock was one thing, but I was in for a huge surprise once the seasons changed.

If you’ve ever known anyone from Chicago I’m sure you’ve heard the stories, you know it’s cold when:
• Your nose hairs freeze on a simple jog in head to toe snow gear to your house from the car
• You have to not only thaw out yourself but your clothes once you get inside
• You can’t remember being truly warm
• You may not get a shower in the morning if it was too cold and the pipes are frozen solid
• Your spit freezes before it hits the ground

Yes, changing from Arizona to Chicago was quite the transition, couple this with a new study environment at a traditional college and you has a great recipe for culture shock.

Yes I was a little nervous
Initially I was nervous about my studies in a classroom setting but I found out that I could have handled the topics of study years before. It was the structure that was hard. I’d never been completely graded on my notes before; our curriculum was in a booklet format where you studied a certain number of booklets per subject before you could go on to the next grade.

Each booklet had two tests to verify the knowledge and ability to pass the subject, this in addition to state and national tests and college prep tests; so 12 booklets with two tests each and you really feel ready to move onto the next grade level.
The biggest point of debate in my experience as a home schooled student is our  socialization with all my friends and family.  I’d determined to stay as involved with friends as possible. I was involved in, choir, drama, 4-H, speech competitions, and during the summers I was almost always away for the summer.

When I was 16, 17, and 18 I participated in an outreach program where I traveled overseas for the entire summer. More on this later…

Overall I felt pretty well connected socially; however, I did began to see slight differences as in my mid and late twenties. I saw l little things that I was just picking up on socially, and realized that the subtle careful reactions from others were clues and even abilities learned in junior and senior high school.
Did I excel with homeschooling?
Here’s the plus side academically I excelled, in a four year time span I went from average reading and comprehension for my second grade level to college level and stayed there consistently. I learned the discipline necessary to put my nose into almost any book and understand the topic as well as pass tests on not only the content but the application as well, I graduated high school with a 3.8 GPA, and college with a 3.2, then grad school with a 3.6.
Oh wait I hear the question…
I bet you’re itching to know if I’d home school my own children, well actually no, there is no way I have the patience of a Saint like my mom does. But I do advocate it, for some it’s right, I’d just caution against having a child go all the way from preschool to high school graduation in a home school program, in my experience students should attend a high school outside of the home. This makes a huge difference in those whom I’ve known throughout my life that were homeschooled. I’d either recommend schooling outside of the home or offering a choice at least.
I support my parent’s decision I know my parents did what they believed best, and I respect their decision after years in hind sight; but growing up when homeschooling was anything but popular was very difficult. The good thing is that I learned so many things and have so many valuable tools from being homeschooled, and Nannying, my siblings. However, I’d recommend giving a choice and educating to the pros and cons of each choice.
The valuable tools I gained.
Adaptability and the ability to apply myself to any topic came in very handy when I decided to set my major aside and pursue business, something completely outside of my studies. I wanted to take a different career path and reasoned that sales were the best way to get money to support myself. Other places I looked were willing to pay me less than half of what those in sales were making.

Now although I’ve learned a lot and had some great experiences growing up.

I’ve definitely been through some very tough times as well.
Moving to Chicago was a great decision for me, but there were so many obstacles that came up, I had no place to go outside of college or on the holidays, and I couldn’t always afford a trip to see my parents, studies were challenging, working 2-3 jobs at a time to finish my degree all can take a toll.

I ended up staying with generous friends and learning about the midwest sense of hospitality (this was surprising to me because I’d been raised to believe that Northerers or more commonly Yanks, were not so hospitible). These generous friends were a family who was so kind that they told me that they didn’t even want me to pay for anything, and they let me live with them on more than one occasion. This was the most honest generous and sweet couple I’d ever met. Because of their kindness I learned a life lesson in being generous.

Little side note: I love that my husband is an advocate for generosity as well, he’s also taught me much about giving.

The ‘friends’ who weren’t so kind…I’ve had terrible ‘friends’ at times who decided to back stab me as well. There were many times that living along in a huge city was extremely hard.

My first rock concert in Chicago:
I met some interesting people, my first concert I ended up stuck at the Rosemont theater, hours after the concert I learned that the friends I’d come with were in the hospital after a mosh pit experience. So here I was in a new city, and in a part of the city I didn’t know, following a cop to the hospital who forgot that I’d mentioned I was very new and hadn’t driven in the area before. I’m surprised that I made it to the hospital; the cop drove like a bat out of hell for lack of a better expression, running stops signs and rounding corners on wet streets at night at break neck speed; to reach the hospital where my friends were being treated for head injuries from the pit.

So how was dating for me?

Well …let me tell you, did I ever attract some of the worst guys, check out this dating list of guys:

• I had one who was a bit psychotic, and obsessive it turns out he was manic depressive.
• Another who spent a lot of time with me, by that I mean we were very close, I’d spent some holidays with him, I was he came to after every girlfriend, we’d talk for hours at a time, we were leaders for the same youth group etc. it was about four years that we spent together, all to end with this excuse I was too short for him. The odd thing is that most guys I’d met liked petite women, and didn’t consider six inches such a huge gap, go figure.
• Another who wanted to be with me even after he’d slept with his ex and she was having his baby… Hmmm.
• I found out one was an extreme racist, who’d decided yelling at me was a great way to convince me to join his ridiculous ideas.
• Yet another wanted me to act like we were together so he could have his ‘needs’ fulfilled. Then got back with is ex and sent me a hand written nasty letter telling me what a bad person I was for not being more like him. Huh?

And now ironically…

I’m still stunned, especially after who I was attracting,  that I’m married to an amazing, loving talented man who, cares for me and respects me. Although I have to say he’s not without his concerns and problems, but he wants to talk about these no matter how hard it is, this is what makes the vast difference to me.

So get this…after we decided to go out, we were constantly meet people who knew both of us in different capacities, there were so many of them that we stopped being surprised after a couple of years of constantly meeting mutual friends and family, yet years later we were learning just how close we came to meeting on several occasions but didn’t because I believe that we weren’t ready.

For example friends of mine in college, had a brother who was a very close friends with my future husband, they hung out all the time. But the timing wasn’t right so we never met. Another example is my personal mechanic was a close person friend of my hubbies. A good friend of mine was the girlfriend of his boss at work, encounters like this and many more individual confirmations told us we were meant to be together.
Now to take a look at my life after college (I should clarify here, I actually met my husband several years after college.)
I’d decided to stay in Chicago after college to pursue a career, I visited and kept up with family, but I had changed so much in college that moving back had no appeal.
One hard thing for me was realizing that since I’d moved out and moved on not everyone else did and not many had my experiences that I did so relating to them was difficult for me. My peers I’d grown up with even felt foreign to me, not many had moved to a big city and only some finished college. Only one or two were homeschooled, and yes they’d all moved on too, the rest had attended local colleges after high school.
Thus I’d decided that I needed to make a career for myself, so I picked up books on business and sales. I had little idea where all this would take me, both personally and career wise.
Check out my interesting career path:
Just after college I worked as a temp until I began working for a large insurance company as an underwriter and sales assistant. I was getting ready to begin studying for the series of tests to become an underwriter when a number of friends suggested that I look into fitness training for a career.
As a kid I know I drove my mom nuts with this I had an interest in physical activity since I was very young. Climbing trees, running, riding bikes, attempting every trick I could come up with to do on our jungle gym, and when I was inside I’d climb everything in the house in my down time.

My brother and I’d see who could climb the hall way walls like a monkey the fastest. We had a foot and hand on each opposing wall as we pushed ourselves up quickly scaling the walls to the ceiling and then from there the game turned into whom could stay up the longest.
Once up we’d turn and press both feet against one wall and push our backs into the opposing wall, so that we were in sitting position, sometimes we’d even bring a small hand held Pac Man game up and play each other. The contest would typically end when mom noticed us missing and came looking. She was never happy to have shoe prints on the wall especially one she needed to get a latter to clean off.

This love of being active carried itself out through high school, where I began weight lifting, through college and beyond. I loved running, weight lifting, bike riding, plyometrics, jump rope, or whatever I could think of with the following exception.

Rollerblading… thank God You Tube wasn’t big then. I thought I’d purchased every guard that I could get, helmet, knees, and wrist.

Yet I’d have been better served by dressing like a hockey player. I’d often thought that this was one sport I could’ve gotten into, who cares if you fall; you have your own personal mattress hugging you.
Now I’d jumped on my fair share of beds as a child and falling on a mattress was fun…

Shhhh, I think this is one my parents would rather forget about. Needless to say I had similar experiences with ice skating except they don’t give you as many pads you just become the immediate ice comedian if you’ve little to no experience.

A curious mystery… I’d always wondered why I loved being physically active in so many ways, but when it comes to wheels or blades I looked like a textbook illustration of cartoon humor. (insert falling video)?
Anyways all that to say that I loved fitness! I’d never been on a sports team since that wasn’t feasible growing up, so in college I was too shy to try out for any teams.
I decided that this wasn’t a bad idea and I took to studying for my Personal Training Certification like a duck in water despite the fact that I’d never studied human biomechanics before. It just made sense to me somehow; I passed the test and talked to a couple of clubs about working for them part time, I wasn’t crazy about the hours and most trainers worked off of commission so I initially wasn’t interested in that.

The manager was fairly persuasive; I was promised that as a trainer I’d be able to double my income in a very short period of time on full commission, all the support in the world was promised for me to make sure that I made money.

Well… six months later I left the club, the demands of working an eight our shift, plus the hours my clients needed me could make for a very long day. This had me running many days from 5 am until my last client at 9 pm. I made just enough money to pay my bills, but I was exhausted!

Even worse the thing I loved became something I simply liked. I loved my clients, but the pay and hours were killing me. I finished up with my clients and began working part time at a private studio, while working my new gig as a sales rep for a boring equipment company. Day in and day out attempting to make dull technical specs interesting to customers who were typically as uninterested in the subject I.

I liked learning new things, but seriously… I couldn’t care any less.

Next I began working as an Insurance Representative, oddly enough this was also purely commission based so I had my own insurance business. I had to go out get my clients, and sell the insurance to the business owner, the Human Resource manager and individually to each person who was interested in the policies. I learned so much and it was so much more interesting than mindless machine specs. The licensing was in life and health so this felt like a natural transition for me.

Did you know that there are excellent resources where you can get medical care for free? After years in insurance I wrote a book on how to get money for medical care even if you have no insurance. Check this out.
Several years later, I moved on to sales for education, working as a recruiter for a university. It was job that fit me like a glove for years, I loved helping people find out what they wanted to do with their lives, and helping them get everything in order to make a difference in their lives. And watching so many graduates was simply amazing! I made some great friends and saw what a difference an education made for them.

Back to the work world:

I’ve worked under very, mean domineering bosses, that made my life miserable, I’ve found myself with no place to live, and ended thus up staying with friends who turned out to not be real friends after all.
The Perks…
In my full times sales positions I earned the top sales recognition for the companies including their annual trips all over the USA.
I absolutely loved staying in swank, classy, hotels pampered with the best treatments, receiving spending money, black tie dinners and gifts, what amazing experiences.
From there I moved on to start another business. In reflection I guess this is what I was meant to do.

Waking up:
Little side note, pursuing a career in sales was very lucrative for the ol’ pocketbook, but 10-12 hour days under heavy pressure and empty promises made for a very tired Sophie. Needless to say I my fitness took a back seat, especially as I attained my master’s degree, and my health declined.
I’d put on 30 pounds and that really looks significant on a small frame!! Sitting at a desk day in and day out, and coming home to an amazing homemade meal incorporating many traditional Chicago favorites really put on the weight.

Although that all aside I gotta say I love having an excellent cook for a husband, but the odd thing is that he’s actually proud that he put some of that weight on me.
But to fully understand why he was so proud, you have to step back with me for just a second, when we met I didn’t even taste food I thought was bad for you, no fast food, red meat, no starch (bread, potatoes, noodles etc.), and very little sugar which meant even no fruit.
Ya know just like you’d expect from someone who feels alive when working out.
When I finally woke up and realized what I looked like, I freaked out! How could this happen to me? I was supposed to be impervious to this! I was the one who’d helped client’s loose 14 percent body fat and hundreds of pounds! I felt so down, the best thing I had to help me through this was my husband he really kept me from sinking back into old bad habit’s I’d developed years ago where I starved myself and work out like crazy every time I thought I needed to lose weight. Let me tell you that can be so hard to keep from going back to that again! I never thought 30 pounds could be so hard to lose! I’m still working at it, but I’ve some great tools in place to help me now.  Check out what I found useful!
What am I doing now?
I still love education and fitness but now they’ve taken a different role in my life.
In fitness, I’m getting ready to pursue a master’s degree in kinesiology, in my new home of Southern California my husband and I moved here so he can pursue his career talents. He’s extraordinarily talented many of which are a perfect fit in southern California. See I really don’t know how to make small moves.
I love the beach, and we’ve met some simply amazing people here and made some great friends and that’s on list of priceless, aren’t those master card commercials great?
The warm weather is a welcomed change; I had to get rid of almost a complete wardrobe! You really can’t do much with a Columbia Jacket, snow boots, over coats, long under ware, winter hats, snow gloves, and multiple fleeces.

Although the funny thing to me is that I’ll see people walking around with a scarf and hoodie on when it’s eighty out. I seriously don’t get it.

Now… here is what this blog is all about.

My years of experience in Adult Education, professional training, and love of helping people are now here to benefit you.

You’ll find Expert resources tips advice on every aspect of adult education.

Even if you’re unsure if it is or are just curious to help someone else that’s great I’m so glad you’re here, this blog is for you too.

Have you had minor to extreme difficulty navigating the educational waters?

Then this blog is for you.

Here you’ll find Expert resources tips advice on every aspect of adult education with a personal touch.

Over the last fifteen years I have been involved in some form of adult education, and helping adults find the education they need, whether that be somewhere around the corner or across the world, from community colleges, to community education, from traditional colleges and universities,  online colleges and graduate school. According to my students I’ve been the best asset they’ve had to understanding how to navigate the confusing educational world.

I’ve counseled interviewed, and coached hundreds of adult students through:

• Discover if college is right for you,
• Learning about other options to move ahead
• Choosing a degree
• Choosing a college
• Online College, what is it? Is it legit?
• Are you in the military? Do you know what funding options are available to you?
• Learn how to accessing military funding, you know you have it so how do you get it?

Knowing what to look for and what questions to ask in making your decision

Understanding what sets apart a community college, a four year college, a private college or a public college, and a graduate school. I’ve been in all of these at some point.

Finding funding, defining what your options are and the pros and cons of each

• FAFSA,
• Grants
• Scholarships
• Private funding

Understanding Accreditation, what it is and why so many employers are so big on a college being accredited.

Types of accreditation, did you know that there are different kinds? I’ll help you learn about these.

Once you’re in college now what?

• Professors
• Understand the different departments and what they do
• Classes, what if a class is too hard, would it be better to drop it or keep going?
• What resources and benefits are available to you as a student?
• What is an Academic Advisor?

Graduation now what?

• Career services
• Alumni Services

I’ve helped students through all this and more

I love learning, and going to college but… before we go any further realize that college is not for everyone! And that’s perfectly okay.

But if you want to learn something there is more than one way to get the information, and I can show you how.

I am your personal Education Expert.

However, I think that college and education should be fun! If you are not interested in the subject you are studying you are wasting your time, money, and energy. Stop; let’s find something that suits you better!

There are so many things you can do… make sure you are not just going through the motions of getting a degree if you are not interested.

True Story:

The funny thing is that my husband had no college education when we met, but he was one of the most educated men, and still is I’ve ever met!

He knew that college wasn’t for him… and that’s okay! He wanted to change his career direction so he began looking into certificates, a few classes here and there, crash courses (a concentrated time focused on a topic to learn the basics in a few days, say a week to a month or so) he wanted to change his career direction. So we worked to discover his options. He’s had some amazing life changing experiences with these courses!

He did decide later that a college education was for him, but we had a very clear understanding between us that if he decided to go to college is was purely because he wanted to. I’d still love him anyway. He was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed college even as an adult. He found a number of advantages to being in college, for one thing the professors had a different respect for him, he wasn’t attending just out of high school so there was much more in common. Also he found that there were a number of adults in college too so he wasn’t just the anomaly.

If you are looking to improve your career options with ANY type of education you must follow this blog, click on the big orange button and keep up with information and discussions. Be sure to tell your friends who are considering joining this blog as well… share this with them.

I’m confident this is the BEST Personalized Educational Advisement blog on the web.

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