The primary goal I set out to accomplish was to dive back into college full time, as a non-traditional student and a single mother of two sons still in school themselves. This decision was complex because I also set out to quit smoking just two months prior to the first term at Chemeketa Community College. The motivation there was that 2011 was the first year the entire campus went smoke free. It was a tremendous stride forward for the college and community and I wanted to lead and support the positive change. Again I knew my success in college academically needed no distractions and smoking would have been one of them. To begin the cold turkey removal of smoking in my life, after indulging for 25 years, was in and of itself one of the most daunting and ambitious tasks of my life. But my love for academics and drive and desire to succeed with college was all I needed to fuel the discipline required. I found that I met the challenge and even filled in the void with another ambitious undertaking and that was raising ten chicks to become hens. The rest is history after I created the Restless Hens Co-op and Blog that shares my story and their lives which is still a current project and the primary reason for my success. I wanted to reach out and share with others, the plan I instilled to succeed and all the details along the way.  I am blessed because the love my hen’s give me help me decompress from intense academic schedules and their eggs go out to the community to reduce the purchase of factory farmed chicken eggs.  My work ethic shows with the health and recovery of my hens, when they are stricken from time to time. My diligence is evident because not only was it my first time with barn yard critters but I also did all the research, planning and execution on my own, while handling my new academic load.