Friday, September 4, 2009

Day 20 - Hitting the books

Go MSU Racers! Our football team won its season opener here in Murray last night, beating Kentucky Wesleyan 66-10. I am sorry I was not there. From all reports, the crowd of nearly 7,000 had a great time. (A win is always fun.) I have a confession. I've not expressed any real interest in football here at my new alma mater to be, because I was being short-sighted. I thought the games here might not compare to those I attended at UF as a young Gator. Well, duh! Of course they won't, but why compare? Different can still be great. Every activity I have attended here on campus has been better than I expected. Why should football be any different?

Keeping the home fires burning
Today was about taking care of business - banking, bill paying, groceries, housework, laundry, all that stuff. Boring! But with the mundane now handled, my path is clear to study this weekend. As some much needed rain falls this evening, I am taking a break to relax and look forward to Labor Day Weekend. I've got serious work to accomplish on one of my favorite subjects - "Trekkie Tech." Thankfully, three of the six books I ordered arrived in today's mail. The house is clean and I am ready to rock.

In today's news
One of the publications I regularly read is The Chronicle of Higher Education's Academe Today. Earlier, I came across a great story by Jay Premack about the increasing number of "baby boomers" (people like me) headed back to college. It's nice to know that I am in such good company. In this story, a 52-year-old Virginia school system maintenance supervisor discusses having just reached the halfway point toward a bachelors degree. Much as I did for the past two years, this gentleman goes from working around classrooms all day to sitting in them at night at his local college. I can tell you that this strategy works. Yes, the schedule takes a little getting used to, but almost immediately, the benefits outweigh the sacrifices.

Yes, I am generally the oldest student in my classes; yet I do not feel any different from the students I interact with daily. We are all the same. If anything, it is my interaction with so many bright young minds that keeps me feeling young and excited about learning ... and about my life.

I'm sending out my resume here at MSU. Another of the institution's (many) claims to fame is being named one of the nation's "Top Universities to Work For." As a past employee, I can vouch for this, too. Unexpectedly losing my job in a layoff last June definitely threw a wrench in the works. However, it was not a very big wrench. Never did I consider giving up on the education. I, too, share the dream of teaching one day. I still have a way to go. But what I know now is that life experience adds to the experience of education. Non-traditional students mixed with traditional students create well-rounded, lively and informative class discussions. I am better for being here and I make a contribution as well.

I've set my sights on another goal today, hoping to submit a proposal to "present" at a journalism conference in March of 2010 in St. Louis, MO. The timing is right and I should have two appropriate projects ready in time to meet the deadline. First things first! I'd better get to the reading.


Quote of the day:
“If a book told you something when you were fifteen, it will tell you it again when you're fifty, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you're reading a whole new book.”Ursula K. Le Guin

So true!



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