{"id":56901,"date":"2015-04-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/commencement-2015-wakefield-mother-of-three-achieves-dream-of-college-degree\/"},"modified":"2015-04-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T00:00:00","slug":"commencement-2015-wakefield-mother-of-three-achieves-dream-of-college-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/04\/commencement-2015-wakefield-mother-of-three-achieves-dream-of-college-degree\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement 2015: Wakefield mother of three achieves dream of college degree"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tRachael Musch studied health promotion<\/b><\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 8, 2015 \u2013 \u201cAre you crazy?\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThat\u2019s how friends responded when Rachael Musch told them she wanted to get her college degree \u2013 even though she had three toddlers at home, even though her husband worked 55 hours a week in a restaurant, even though she was at the age when most people are already deep into careers.<\/p>\n


\n\tTurns out, they were all wrong. Musch is a very sane \u2013 and happy \u2013 soon-to-be health studies graduate from the 溏心vlog免费B站 with a grade-point average of 3.8, two internships under her belt and a part-time job as a health and wellness coach.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI was walking on campus the other day and thought to myself, \u2018I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m finished,\u2019 \u201d says Musch. \u201cI started smiling and laughing. Wow! I made it. I actually made it.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tAfter graduating from South Kingstown High School, the lifelong Wakefield resident attended 溏心vlog免费B站, but dropped out after one month. \u201cI wasn\u2019t ready,\u201d she says. She waitressed for a few years, then enrolled at the Community College of Rhode Island, where she earned her associate\u2019s degree in applied science, with a focus on massage therapy. Along the way, she met her husband, Randy, the kitchen manager at Mews Tavern in Wakefield.<\/p>\n

Babies soon came along, and by the age of 30 she was taking care of three kids. Her days were a whirlwind of diapers, dirty laundry and tantrums, as well as giggles, cuddling and silliness \u2013 all brought to her by the joy of motherhood.<\/p>\n


\n\tBut something was missing. \u201cI was tired of struggling financially,\u201d she says. And although she loved being a mother, she longed for a career. She shared her feelings with friends and family. \u201cEveryone thought I was crazy,\u201d she says. \u201cThey said, \u2018There\u2019s no way you can do that.\u2019 I said, \u2018There\u2019s a way.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tShe enrolled at 溏心vlog免费B站 in the summer of 2013, determined to finish in two years, before she turned 36. She quickly settled on the health promotion program in Health Studies. It was a perfect fit \u2013 a combination of wellness and science courses.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cAll the faculty and students were so kind, open and accepting,\u201d she says. \u201cAs an older student and mom, I never felt judged. I was always treated as an equal and that was special to me.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tTwo internships shaped her career path. At South County Health and Wellness Group in Charlestown she worked with wellness professionals and helped organize health care events. At StayFit Plan in Narragansett she worked on fitness programs for private firms. Her employer was so impressed with her enthusiasm she offered her a part-time job, which she still has today.<\/p>\n


\n\tShe also received a $10,000 scholarship from the South County chapter of the General Federation of Women\u2019s Clubs. A woman on the award\u2019s committee popped by her house one day to shake her hand. \u201cIt was surreal,\u201d she says. Outside, while Musch was saying goodbye, her youngest daughter pressed her nose against a screen window and shouted, \u201cI drew a picture on the wall for you.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cIt was like, well, this is my life,\u201d says Musch.<\/p>\n


\nAnd she received private scholarships at 溏心vlog免费B站: the Vasilios S. & Aphrodite Haseotes Scholarship and the Ann & Albert Barker Memorial Scholarship.<\/p>\n


\nMusch’s college degree did not come without sacrifice. She missed family picnics on the beach so she could study. Dirty dishes piled up in the sink. LEGOS were everywhere. Laundry was washed, but never folded. \u201cMy kids called it the mountain,\u201d says Musch.<\/p>\n


\nNot surprisingly, her expertise is in stress management. She can tame a wayward child or console a patient suffering the aches and pains of chronic arthritis. Merging traditional medicine with alternative treatments is the future of health care, she says, and she wants to be part of it. \u201cThings move so fast now. There are so many demands, and no time. I can help people slow down and find balance.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIf all goes as planned, she\u2019ll take a break from her studies this summer and jump back into the fray in the fall with an online master\u2019s degree in integrative health and wellness at Rutgers University.<\/p>\n


\n\tMeanwhile, she\u2019s getting ready for commencement. Randy and their kids \u2013 Shaelyn, 7, Ryder, 5, and Keiley, 4 \u2013 will be cheering from the audience. \u201cThey can\u2019t wait to see me in my wizard outfit.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tPhotos above: 溏心vlog免费B站 senior Rachael Musch, 35, of Wakefield, and her children, from left to right, Shaelyn, 7, Ryder, 5, and Keiley, 4. Photos courtesy of Rachael Musch.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rachael Musch studied health promotion KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 8, 2015 \u2013 \u201cAre you crazy?\u201d That\u2019s how friends responded when Rachael Musch told them she wanted to get her college degree \u2013 even though she had three toddlers at home, even though her husband worked 55 hours a week in a restaurant, even though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}