John Shearer's column, 599 words
Back to the Future--in College
By John Shearer
IPS Features
Well, I actually did it. I completed my first semester
as a college graduate student.
After being out of college nearly 18 years and thinking
I would never go back, I began work on a master’s degree this January. I have
not yet received all my grades for the term, but I feel confident I did well
enough not to be shown the door.
Such an accomplishment is a far cry from my
undergraduate days at the University of Georgia, when waiting on my usually poor
grades to come in the mail was as
tough mentally as Chinese torture.
I did not mind seeing them, but I hated knowing my
parents would see them as well.
Being in college again has been interesting because I
have an opportunity to see how much I have matured. I may not be any smarter
than I was as an undergraduate, but I am wiser. And that has made all the
difference.
For starters, cutting class has been a definite no. As
an undergraduate, I had more absences than George Jones used to have at his
concerts.
Even the slightest interference would be reason enough
to skip class. For example, occasionally I would skip a 10 a.m. class because I
had not received enough sleep. If I have trouble getting up at 9:30 a.m., you
can deduce that I did not go to bed the night before as early as a preacher.
Nowadays, even a major obstacle would not keep me away
from class. As I was on my way to one evening class this semester, for example,
I came upon a wreck. Quickly deducing that I might be sitting in traffic awhile,
I turned around and took a different-and-longer route.
I drove as fast as Mario Andretti but still
arrived 10 minutes late.
In the old days, I was lucky if I came to class within
the first 10 minutes.
And even when I did go to class as an undergraduate, my
mind was often absent. I could daydream with the best of them. Looking back on
those years now, I may have had a mild form of attention deficit disorder.
But now, I realize how important the class lectures are,
so I try to pay attention. On several occasions, my hands have become cramped
from writing so much.
And I received quite an ego boost from doing well on a
couple of the tests. Usually if I did well on a test as an undergraduate, it was
simple enough for grade school children.
As a graduate student, I am even starting to dream a
little and imagining myself
graduating cum laude.
In the old days, I probably thought cum laude was a
Mexican food item, like con carne. “Yes, waitress, throw a little laude on
that enchilada!”
Regardless what happens during the rest of my college
experience as a middle-aged adult, going back to school has certainly added
spice to my life.
-30-