SCHOOL

I don't have a degree. Shocking, I know. But it is true. I had a misspent youth and also couldn't afford to support myself and go to school, so I dropped out and started working. I have had some ups and downs and am extremely lucky to have worked my way up in a company that is very successful (albeit a little 'wheels off' sometimes). I have a great career and work with some incredible people so I don't "need" a degree to advance there. It is always something that has bothered me about myself and I finally decided to do something about it. I decided to just go back. With my lackluster academic history, my advisors and I decided it was best to wipe out my previous work and start over. In Texas we have "academic forgiveness" if you haven't been in school for 10 years so it allowed me to start with a clean slate.

The only problem with being 34 and starting over is that all of the people in my 1st-year-level classes are 18 and 19 years old. If you have ever needed to gauge just how far away from 18 or 19 that you are, just surround yourself with a group of them. I like to think of myself as young, or at least "not old", buuuuuut apparently even though I look like I am in my 20s, I am NOT.

I look at these kids and think "thank God I am not back there", which is odd because I used to think it would be great to start my life back at that age again. What I realize now is that if I were given the chance to start over, I would be an idiot all over again. I am really beginning to recognize that youth is wasted on the young.

One of the oddest things I have discovered is that kids in my school are completely addicted to using the handicap door controllers. When I was younger and doors had the handicap button, you didn't touch it unless you were ACTUALLY handicapped. I mean seriously, I wouldn't be caught dead touching that thing unless I really were handicapped. When I started going to school, I noticed that the students who appear to be not-physically-impaired all used that button to open the door. If it were SUPER FAST, I could maybe understand. But it isn't. So we stand there and wait an excruciatingly long amount of time for the door to open. At first, I thought it was a fluke. Now, after a year, I basically see everyone under the age of 25 doing it every time they enter or exit the building. It used to go like this:

Good-For-Nothing-Lazy-Kid walks up to door and hits button.

I walk up and wait for person in front of me (as a polite gesture of not pushing past someone to get in a door).

GFNLK stands there and watches the door o.p.e.n s.u.p.e.r s.l.o.w.l.y

I look back and forth between the kid and the door.

We both wait. And wait. More waiting.

Is it really that hard to open a damn door? Just grab the handle!! Now when I see it happen (which basically means, any time I am not at the door first), I just open it myself and walk through while the GFNLK just stands there gawking at me. Amazed that my arm didn't fly off of my shoulder because of the sheer force required to open a door? ME TOO!!!

Don't even get me started on the shit these kids say in class, that'll be a post for another day.