Hello classmates! I am so excited to be here! I am Lorie Busby, I am a Kindergarten teaching assistant at Rouse Elementary in Brandon, MS and I absolutely love it. It is so great that I can say that, expecially after a "rough" day with my teacher out and little ones taking advantage of it. :) But that's ok. It's still fun. I have never loved a job as much as this one. Which would be why I decided to "go back" to school to get my degree. Let me explain.... I am 41 years old. Not your average age for a college student. I attended USM in the late 80's, but didn't know what I wanted to do. I took a break for what I thought would be a short while, but life happened. Got a job, met my prince, had two beautiful children. Like I said, life happened. I kicked around the idea of becoming a teacher assistant about 2 years ago, partially to keep my kids in the Brandon School District and partially because I was just curious. By the end of my first year, I had made up my mind to "return" to get my degree. I started back at Hinds Community College, mostly online. I made Deans list each semester. Not easy for a mom of children very active in sports and school activities, and a husband that travels. To top it off, we moved in the mist of it all and I went from DSL to ...... awful dial-up!! Thank goodness for work and public libraries. I guess momma' was right, anything worth having doesn't come easy. Good luck to everyone and God Bless us all for wanting to make a difference in a child's life!