I love school. If I could have stayed in school forever (without racking up a helluva lot of fees) I would have in a heartbeat. What’s not to love? Going to class in whatever you happen to be wearing, and no one judges. Doing research on whatever the topic happens to be and learning so much more than you knew before. Having those school friends to hang out with, to study in the library with, and to pull those all-nighters together.
It’s been 10 years since I was last in a college classroom, and as the years continue to roll by I realize how much I miss it. I wasn’t the typical student either, going through three schools over a 9 year span of time. By the time it was all said and done I had a mountain of debt (but not nearly as much as some people), but I had traded in the comfort of school for the realities of two degrees and everything they were promised to bring me in the real world.
Then 10 years happened, and a whole host of experiences, both positive and negative, with them, and school faded into the background, just memories of a time when I was fresher, when I was newer, and when I still felt like everything was a sparkling experience waiting to happen. Now I guess you can say I’m a bit jaded by life, but I’m starting to come out of it. And it’s funny how that’s dovetailing nicely with my return to school… in a non-traditional sense, anyway.
Now that I’m taking on-line courses from the University at Albany it’s all flooding back, in a wonderfully nostalgic way. At first I was worried that it had been too long, that I had been on the other side of the equation for too long, but I think now it was all for naught. It’s all coming back to me, and I’m enjoying everything about school again, even though this time it’s on-line and my classmates are furloughs away from me. The research is back, along with the trips to the library, going to “class” in whatever I happen to be wearing, and the learning. Oh the learning. I’ve missed this.
And when I do venture back onto campus for a week at the end of this month I know it’s going to be like the second coming all over again. I’m looking forward to it, even if it means I’m going further into debt because of it. Okay, I’m trying my best not to think about that. I’m back in school, and that’s what matters most.
Sam
P.S. – It’s just a bit harder to pull those all-nighters and party with my classmates like the old days. A bit harder, but not impossible.
Sam's Online Journal 