I loved going to school. Loved it. I remember sitting in my Intro class the first day, almost giddy that I was finally going to school for something I was really interested in. Can you believe they had entire classes about color?
The Intro instructor asked everyone the first day of class to introduce themselves and tell everyone why they were here. The class was made up of basically two different types of students. The first type of students were the more traditional 18 year olds- your typical college students. And then there were the rest of us. We were over 30, and this was our chance at a second career. (Oh yeah- and then there was the token guy, who when asked why he was taking the class replied: "To meet girls".)
The over 30 crowd pretty much stuck together and I have to say, for the most part, we excelled. We weren't geniuses or anything, but we had about 20 years of life experience on the young ones. We knew how to manage our time. After all, we had been managing households and kids. We knew what was important. We knew when an assignment warranted staying up until 3 am, and we knew when to let it go. And if we didn't, we had husbands that would lovingly point it out to us. And most importantly, we could recognize good advice from your instructors when we saw it.
I feel really lucky that I was able to go back to school at this time in my life. I had a new perspective. I was not only a student, I was a consumer. I wasn't so passive this time around. This time it wasn't just about the usual college experience. My future livelihood was at stake. I took it personally. This time I owned it.
And as a serious consumer, I think I got my money's worth for the most part. (Out of all the classes I took, there was really only one instructor who was so disappointing and I learned so little, I still cannot be in the same room with her and be polite. So, I make sure I am not in the same room with her.)
But, all in all, it was a fantastic experience. I learned a ton of new skills, and learned I possessed skills I never even knew I had.
The only thing I regret is that I did not follow this path the first time through college. I get sad when I think about the 20 years of experience-time and skill building-time I wasted. I would be so much better now, if I had just followed this path from the beginning.
But I am glad I chose to do it, albeit late, instead of spending the rest of my life wishing I had. And I am glad AJ saw me do it. There were many nights in the past 5 years when we were both working on homework at the same time. He saw me get frustrated and overcome it. He saw me crumple up drawings and throw them across the room. He saw me redo projects because I knew they could be better. And I hope he learned by my example. But most importantly, he saw me start something and finish it.
Yeah you! well done! do you work long distance? is that even do-able? I SUCK at interior decorating (oh and Marc believes if it doesn't have a function it doesn't belong in the room no matter how cute or cool or color coordinated said object may be).
ReplyDeleteI remember at school the "non-traditional" aged student always did better and were really into the class (um and very annoying too). Can't wait to see you at work. Do you have a job lined up? is that question as annoying now as it was in College the first time? you could go on a reality show like Design Star or something like that.