Life is anything but normal…that’s why i’m pursuing a degree in psychology
by Bethany Royer, B.A. Applied Psychology
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the course of my 38 years it is that life is anything but normal. In fact, life is chaotic and complicated. That’s what makes it so interesting. It is also why I am pursuing a degree in psychology. I may be a little late to the game, being that I’m almost 40, but as they say better late than six feet under. Plus, I figured if there was one area that was going to give me at least some clue as to why people do the things that they do, if I really want to help people, psychology is the ticket.
Going back to school after my divorce in 2010 was not only the most logical thing to do after ten years of marriage and two kids, but practically a requirement. It seemed the judge not only handed back my maiden name two years ago but an order that I had to go back to school or else. It was the thing to do as a newly single mother of girls and for the most part my pursuit has been received with accolades.
It really makes sense. I’d been a stay-at-home mom for three years after having left the newspaper business to attend to my daughters full-time. The girls were eight and six years old and we had nothing really to show for our troubles but a lot of clothes, a really old car and more positivism than should have been warranted at the time. Especially when I had no other choice but to move in with my mother, which is probably the point in this story when I should exclaim over how embarrassing it was to return to my childhood bedroom after nearly 20 years. However, I’m far too grateful that my mother was not only open to the idea of embracing three extra people in her home but crazy enough to think it was a great idea.
It’s been an eye-opener and when the need to pursue psychology came into the picture it only took a few inquires from a doctor and a lawyer to discover FIT. While I’d gone to school every other year to every two out of interest at my local community college, I had yet to find anything that really caught my attention long enough to nail down that ever-elusive degree.
At least, nothing has ever interested me as much as writing. I’m currently a reporter for the Piqua Daily Call here inOhio. So while publication has always been a dream, I was shocked to discover after my divorce a seemingly endless interest in what makes people tick– to understand why people who once upon a time would turn heaven and earth upside to be together, suddenly want nothing to do with one another and split.
That may seem like an easy enough question to answer on the surface as there’s everything from people falling out of love to cheating and lying. Ten years of blood, sweat, tears, mortgage and car payments, not to mention children, all labeled as irreconcilable differences on paperwork.
What I soon discovered is that answers are not always easily attainable or understandable, as I’m learning not only in my psychology class but in life. After two years I find myself now dating my ex-husband, life is anything but normal.
