I am so confused............

[v_clar]

I am a 45 year old college freshman. Yes, this is as scary as it sounds. I am working towards my degree in Human Services with an emphasis on Drug/Alcohol Dependency. You see, I want to help our children get through the morass we call life without having the need of self medicating.

But this is not why I am so confused. Let me explain;

I am taking an English Writing course this semester (which ends in about 4 weeks) and I have to do a research paper. I have chosen to write about the state of American Families in relation to the Women's Movement of the 1970's. Basically that's a fancy way to discover if women were sold a bill of goods by the founders of the movement. Did Gloria Steinem leave women with the idea they could have it all and everyone would be happy and no one would suffer? Or were women who were happy and quite fulfilled in their chosen roles of wife and mother convinced they couldn't possibly be complete women unless they had everything. And who has suffered the most because of it. Does that make sense? I hope so.

ANYWAY, I am sitting here at my computer reading all sorts of articles and essays on the subject and am totally frustrated. I can't seem to get anything organized. I have my note cares and am taking notes on each piece I read, I am printing out things so I can highlight things I may need later, I am keeping the cards for each article separated, etc.

This is my very first ever research paper and I don't have a clue as to what I'm actually doing!!! Maybe it's because I'm trying to write my paper while reading all the research. Maybe it's because I have pre-conceived ideas regarding the Women's Movement. Maybe I'm just in way over my head. I wish I knew.

Maybe I just need to take a deep breath and keep trudging through all of this stuff and hope that eventually I will get a complete and comprehensive paper out of it in the end (7 - 12 pages, double spaced, thank you very much) and maybe just maybe impress my professor enough that I get a decent grade out of it all. *sigh*

[Ewadun]

Nov. 7, 2009 at 7:16 PM

Take a deep breath and keep chugging along. You sound as though you are very organized and, eventually, it will all come together. Besides, let's not forget you are an "A" student. Good luck!

[brmjt51975]

Nov. 7, 2009 at 8:40 PM

I am a 34 year old college Freshman and i know where you are coming from. I can tell you what really helped me turn out those "A" research papers. I am adding you as a friend here and I will PM you or you can PM me either way. I have a very easy solution for you! It has worked for me everytime.

DeeDee