End of an Error

You want me to do what?
Praise the lord and pass the ammo, this semester is over!

After completing what has been the most hellish of schedules I’ve ever endured for this long, I can’t tell you how happy I am to say that it’s over…for now.

It all started in the summer. I was taking one class, and my employer asked if I could concentrate all my classes to Tuesdays and Thursdays. Seemed like a reasonable enough request.

Boy was I wrong. What ensued was a series of the longest Tuesdays and Thursdays I’ve ever had to endure. In class from 8am until often as late as 6pm, there was little time for recovery. Add to that a brutal work schedule at the beginning of the semester that had me working between 30 and 40 hours a week on top of my full-time class load, and it’s easy to understand why I’m just glad I survived.

Next semester will be different…I’ll be poorer.

Still, I guess its a sacrifice I’m going to have to make if I want to ever get done with this particular rite of passage. With at least another 18 months before I cross the stage as a credentialed member of society’s social stratification regime, and a commitment to attain a status that has long been a barrier to my ability to compete in the workforce, I don’t have much choice other than pushing forward and praying I don’t lose my damn mind.

Life ain’t a meritocracy…that’s why I started this crazy journey…again.

Despite the challenges, I feel ok with the now just passed semester. Any illusions of maintaining my 3.96 left my mind sometime in late October. I’ll be happy if I do well enough to not have to retake any classes, which is a huge shift for me. I’ve always maintained high expectations of myself. This semester, those expectations crumbled under their own weight.

While I won’t get into any particular specifics, the biggest lesson I learned this semester is the difference between schooling and education.

Schooling is what many of us may remember from our time in Elementary or Secondary school. Learning by rote, for the test, then summarily forgetting as soon as it’s no longer relevant to getting the desired grade.

Education, by contrast, is actually retaining, if not the material, at least the concepts that support a particular subject and ultimately finding a way to integrate them into your daily life.

This semester was a lot of schooling. Not all of my classes were this way, but enough of them were enough of the time to make me just a little bit balder. It’s kinda sad really, because I’m not doing this to jump particular hurdles for the sake of jumping them, I’m doing this to further my education as a human being. Those classes reminded me of my time in High School some 20 years ago. It was disappointing.

Oh well, it’s done now. All I’m waiting for is to see the damage and find out if I made the Mock Trial Team next semester. If I do, great. If not, I’ve got a backup plan. In any case, I’m happy to close the books on this time of my educational life, and get ready for another chapter. It starts in just 28 short days. It’ll be here before I know it.

Now I’ve gotta get back to that screed so many people have been waiting on. If you follow me on twitter, you won’t be surprised at all.

Cheers! If you don’t see or hear from me for a while, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

One Reply to “End of an Error”

  1. Great post Steve. I’m cheering you on and proud to know you!!! Keep up your good work and Thanks for caring about your community. Merry Christmas!
    Tom

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