Day 55 - What the *blog* was that?

I have a confession to make: I've been holding out. Yes, it's true. I've lost my nerve on a number of occasions and held back; I could have been sharing a lot more juicy detail in this blog. And, there's more. I admit once again that blogging is incredibly time consuming, possibly too time consuming for me to excel both in class and here on-line. (Whew, I feel better having gotten that off my chest.)

When I dove head first into this project I simply hoped to share my experiences as a non-traditional college student. I believed I had something to say that might help others. I had no idea I would be spending three to four hours every day looking for subject matter, reading hundreds of other blogs, fleshing out ideas that sometimes didn't work, then writing (and re-writing) the daily post. In retrospect, a weekly post would have served my purpose just as well and taken up one seventh of the time! But foolishly, I made a public commitment to post something every day for 99 days, so that is exactly what I am going to do. Learn from my mistake, people!

Thankfully, I'm more than halfway to that magic number and Graduation Day. I've just 44 posts to go....oh, wait...I must also complete a massive survey, tabulate the results, and research/write 150 more pages for three different classes. How will I possibly give equal time and attention to each commitment? I only know that I will. And hopefully, you'll stay tuned just to see how I master this balancing act. My great fear today is that succeeding in school may mean that the daily blog will suffer from time to time. Fingers crossed. I'm not throwing in the towel on anything!

I woke up this morning feeling guilty. Guilt is a useless emotion. I'm feeling guilty, for starters, because I also set out to entertain you with amusing anecnotes and motivating prose about higher education and second chances. Have I done any of that in this blog? It doesn't feel like it. If only there were more hours in the day for the classwork, the reading assignments, the research projects, and most of all, for coming up with great copy for the daily blog. The truth is I am only human, just like you. Some days, nothing much happens. Some days, I don't feel like writing. (Note: I do it anyway.) Some days, there really isn't anything funny to talk about! Other times I am so deeply engrossed in mass communications that frankly, to share my research with you would also mean boring you to death. So, I will continue to stay far away from anything that might come back to haunt me, any story that is too depressing and anything that might be embarrassing to another student or friend. That means I must leave out some of the best (I really mean "funniest") material.

I do apologize for posting too many "newsy" articles. That's the journalist in me. But let's give ourselves a break today. By sharing my challenges in writing this blog, perhaps I am making the best contribution I can. A great upside to writing every day is having time and space to cover a variety of topics. It's great practice, too. You should try it. That's right. Anyone can be a blogger today. Whether blogging is for you or not, I hope you will continue to check in here regularly. Surely, there are posts here that you can learn from or relate to in some way. In future, my goal is to write shorter, faster and more honestly about what's going on - in class, on campus, and in my head. OK?

(Hang on. It's going to be a bumpy ride!)