 |
|
|
|
 |
|
Mothers Who Dream |
||||
|
Home
About the Author
|
Rebecca Marshall-Courtois:
The Language of Dreams Like many young adults, Rebecca Marhsall-Courtois got her high school diploma and started college. But her turbulent adolescence in New York hadn't given her a good emotional foundation. She got caught up in partying and didn't fare well that first year. Her father and step-mother refused to pay tuition for a second year, so she headed home to her mother's. There, she went through a long series of jobs and boyfriends she says "aren't worth mentioning." With her life going nowhere, and the candles taking up more cake space each year, Marshall-Courtois enrolled in school again. This time, she applied herself, and the intellectual stimulation sparked new ideas and ways of thinking. She set goals toward an AA degree that would allow her to transfer to a university. Then she met a handsome French man, and like many, changed her plans for love. When her boyfriend moved back to France, she agreed to marry him and go along. But as Marshall-Courtois packed her suitcases, she made herself a promise. No matter what, she'd get a college degree. Easier said than done--she spoke no French and found herself dependent on her husband for everything. Marshall-Courtois signed up at Poitiers University for French classes aimed at foreigners, and attended for three years. Then she had a baby, and finances dictated she go to work. Faced with necessity, Marhsall-Courtois tucked away her dream of a college degree and got on with the business of day-to-day living. Another pregnancy resulted in twins born three years later. Although the couple had a house payment and faced new expenses for the babies, issues of childcare, time constraints, and a stressful job atmosphere led her to quit. During that time, Marshall-Courtois remembers nursing one baby while bottle feeding the other. Exhausted, she kissed her husband good-bye each morning then settled in on the sofa with her babies. As she gazed into their dreamy little eyes, her mind would drift. "I kept thinking back on my life and career," she says. "I'd made so many mistakes." But Marshall-Courtois didn't let all the "should haves" plague her for long. Instead, she decided to fulfill the promise she'd made to herself back in New York. Somehow, she would find a way to finish school and get her degree.
"My twins were only six months old when I signed up for classes again,"
she says. Doubts threatened her determination. How could she pass
classes without a good command of the language? Struggling to keep her
eye on her goals, she put those worries aside for the moment. Just
getting to her first class felt like a mountain climb. She looks back
and laughs now: "When I approached my first classroom, the eighteen year
olds moved away from the door," she says. The students mistook her for
the teacher! "What was I doing here?" she asked herself, putting one
foot in front of the other and taking a seat, though she felt like
running away. Despite the hardships of time away to study and attend classes, and simplifying the family's needs and wants to live comfortably on one income, Marshall Courtois persisted through the Masters program, garnering high honors. She is now pursuing her doctorate, because what she really wants to do is teach literature at the university level. Recently, her financial situation became worse. She needs an income in addition to her husband's if she's to continue her schooling. Mastering control of her thoughts and harnessing her creative energy has become "old hat" to Marshall-Courtois. She looked into her bag of tricks and began a translation business. Jobs began rolling in. Her hard work, determination, and stick-to-it attitude didn't go unnoticed. A former teacher at Poitiers University offered her a job, filling in for a professor who had decided not to return. She took the position, and will soon hold her doctorate, thus fulfilling both her dream to teach at the university and gain the highest degree. Along the way, Marshall-Courtois found that her dreams were important, but they continue to mix and mingle with new ones. "My house is not always spotless, the laundry is not always put away," she says, touching then on the important things besides fulfilling her own dreams. She mentions sitting with her kids on the weekends, and doing household chores as a family. "I wasted about ten years of my life after high school," she says. "I have a lot of catching up to do." Once Marshall-Courtois returned to her dreams, she didn't squander another minute. Rather than dwelling on what she hadn't accomplished, she set her sights on the future. And through positive thinking, belief in her abilities, and hard work, she achieved what she set out to do.
May we all be inspired to pursue our own goals no matter what the
obstacles. When we do so, whether it's French, English, or some little
known dialect, we're speaking the language of a woman's dream,
fulfilled. |
|||