Graduation Thoughts

I went to school in the traditional route, straight to college after high school, and my master’s degree after that. I was very lucky in my own education, but sometimes I think it would be interesting to go back to school. I wonder if I would have made the same choices in which courses I took. I was an English major and while I do think that was the best choice for me, college gives you a chance to explore some fascinating subject areas. Art history turned out to be one of my favorite courses. Professor Rosenberg was a powerhouse of information. My hands were literally smoking, I took so many notes in his class. And later, when my husband and I traveled to Italy on our “real” honeymoon, I had a better appreciation of what I was seeing. Some other classes I really enjoyed were astronomy (loved looking at close-up pictures of the moon and the planets), and of course, Fiction Writing. The strangest class I took was a semester of Irish Gaelic. My parents thought I’d lost my mind, but you know, it’s actually been quite useful in my Irish medieval romances.

I bring up college studies because my sister-in-law is graduating from college this weekend, and I’m so very proud of her. She got married, worked for many years, and just a few years ago went back to school. I have the deepest respect for someone who can brave the college campus again, after having a full career. It takes courage and I applaud anyone who ever goes back for their degree. It’s hard enough being in college the first time, but there are new sets of challenges when you go back. So congratulations, Marie, and know that we are all behind you 100%.

Yesterday my local newspaper wrote up a nice article on me. I had to laugh because (although you can’t see it in the article), there’s a photo of me in my classroom. My students came into the classroom, beaming because their DESK was in the photograph. And one of them gleefully told me that her preposition frog made it into the photo. She felt quite famous. Kids are great.

Anyway, back to the college discussion. If you could go back to school and be completely frivolous, taking any course you wanted, what would you take? For me, I think I’d love to learn painting or pottery.