Back to School.

The leaves are just starting to turn color, and all the back-to-school stuff is flooding the stores. Yesterday, in the Dollar Store- I had a momentary pang of regret. Not having a teaching job this Fall is bittersweet. It's the first August in four years that I am not decorating a classroom and making plans for the new year. I wanted to go home, get online, and see if there were any positions left, but I reminded myself that I was back in school for a reason.

I never really did traditional college, contrary to popular belief. I was married at 18, and things worked out a bit differently. I had a presidential scholarship to attend University of the Pacific (UOP) in Stockton, California, and had been admitted to their accelerated Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D.) Program to become a Pharmacist. I had really good grades out of high school, and honestly could have gone to a number of places without a problem. I decided one day into the 3-day orientation that I had no desire to be a Pharmacist. Oh , it sounds nice, and they make really good money-but I hate math and chemistry is okay, but definitely not a favorite of mine. So, I went about 1 1/2 years full-time to the local community college, majoring in...pre-nursing. :) I also changed my mind a lot, and eventually got a job at a local elementary school as a Librarian, and then began to attend night school. One huge move, and two jobs later, this would become my normal. Work during the day and class at night-homework on the weekends. I remember my first year of marriage way back when, and how I got to go visit my close friend at her college in Utah. I was so jealous of her. I had turned down the traditional college route, and wondered what I was missing. I stayed there a week, bunked in her dorm room with her and another girl, sharing a communal bathroom down the hall. While I loved visiting her, I hated it! I hated the cramped room and the shared bathroom. I hated the weird hours they kept- up almost all night, then class, then likely a short crash in the afternoon. I missed my organized, scheduled life.

Being back in school and at a traditional college is interesting. I like some things, but not others. The campus is pretty, and I love the courtyards and the planted areas. I hate (ok dislike strongly) the young kids here. Their biggest worries seem to be a crappy roommate or whether or not to go out on a school night- which they do then whine about the next day. When I was their age I was married. I had responsibilities. They take very little seriously which makes me miss my adult night classes. And the girls are skinny and pretty. I don't blend in, and have only made a handful of friends, but I'm only passing through...and my life is different now, as it always has been as an adult. It's ok though, I'll take my life any day. :)