Skip to main content

Back to school.





Notebook?  check!

 Writing utensils?  check!

 Snacks?  check!

 More snacks?  check!
Ok!  Perfect!  All ready for school!

 I gathered everything up, walked up the short flight of stairs to my office and threw everything on my desk.


Yes, you heard correctly.  I said "my" desk.



I..........ladies and gentlemen..........went back to school.  


I'll pause for a moment while you get your gasps out.


........... 



Ok....you're probably done.  I'll continue now.



 After a year of having no luck in securing a job, I decided, back in June, to take an online course.  I figured that this was the best way to become more employable in a world that has literally, thousands of people applying for every one position.

 Signing up for this course was the best....and worst decision I've ever made.

 As if I didn't have enough going on with my life, I decided to add yet another challenge to my plate!  Sure!  Why not?!  Pffftt!!  :/

 At first I was very excited.  I went down to the college and eagerly stood in line with a slew of 20-year olds.  I watched how they stood there like zombies, glued to their phones.  They all looked so unhappy and boring.  I obviously didn't want to stand out in my new setting, so I casually took out my phone, took my cute Gwen Stefani ponytail out, messed up my hair, turned my smile upside down and started texting people.  And then to blend in even more, I looked at the girl next to me and said "I'm sooo over this line-up."

She looked up from her phone and said "I know right??"


Excellent.  My first college friend.  Things are going just as planned.


It took me a while to register, but after all was done, I was BACK IN SCHOOL! 


As I drove home with my registration papers, I reminisced about the last time I took a course.  I had to delve deep into my memories...... it was a LONG time ago.  But soon thoughts of biology and chemistry classes at my Alma Mater bounced around in my head.  I got a teeny bit nervous as I thought of how stressful the exams were.  But I quickly put that thought aside.  I ace'd university....and I was gonna ace this simple little course.

3 days later I received my textbook in the mail.  I excitedly signed the Fedex tablet while announcing to the driver "This must be my textbook!  I'm taking an online class!  I haven't been in school, for like, 20 years!  Crazy eh??"

 He looked at me with a blank stare.   "Yeah.  Crazy".  And he walked away.
I ran inside and ripped open the package.  I pulled out the most gigantic textbook ever.  


I was flipping through the 600 pages over a glass of wine that night when I got a text message from my BFF.

 I still can't believe you're taking a class.  I'm so proud of you babe!  Good luck studying tonight! xo

And one by one, family members and friends all sent messages and emails saying how proud they were of me.  And how they couldn't believe I was back in school after all these years.


I suddenly started getting really stressed out.  Why was everyone making such a big deal about this?  Should I be worried?  

And then my nerves REALLY set in.  

What if I didn't pass?  What if I blanked during the final?  When would I find time to study?  Would I have to miss episodes of Bachelor Paradise for this??  Oh brother...I'd better not!


But even though I had doubts, I knew I just had to do it.  There was no turning back now.  


And then I started doing the calculations that every student in university does halfway through their course.....

If I average 70% on the assignments,   then I'll only need a 60% on the final to pass.  Ok....I think I can do that......




The night before each assignment was due, my girlfriends sent me "support" texts:

How's the studying going?
Don't worry, you'll do great!
I'm going to the liquor store, do you need wine?

Honestly, what would a girl do without her besties?


There were 4 assignments in total, so every 3 weeks one was due.  I'd put the girls to bed, and then go straight to my laptop where I'd work for hours and hours until everything was completed and submitted.



It is now September 2nd, and exactly 3 months since I first registered for my class.....and since I first met my new best friend in college.  Who, by the way, never texted me?  I'm sooooo over her.
Anyway, I'm almost ready for my final exam.  Turns out I scored just a tad higher than what I had originally hoped for.......




And once I finish this exam, I don't think I will EVER take another course again because I am sooooo over school!
 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remember when you used to blog?

"Remember when you used to blog?  Those were the days....." This is what a dear old friend recently wrote to me on Facebook.   I was shocked.  Shocked that this person who I respected and liked so much even read my blog, or even knew that I had one.  And incredibly humbled and honoured that he took the time to send me that simple little line. I stared at the computer and re-read his words over and over again.  His comment had sent a wave of emotions running through me. And I'm sure he had no idea, but he had said exactly what I had been feeling for the past year and a half.   I must have re-read that sentence 20 or even 30 times.  And when I finally felt l like I had tortured myself enough,  I closed my eyes, took a deep  breath, lifted my head, put my hands on my keyboard.........and starting writing.   Again. -------------------------------------------------------------- Writing had always been a source of healing for ...
5 comments
Read more

Standing in the Dark.

“Are you sitting comfortably??   ….then we’ll begin.” Song:    It Doesn’t Really Matter. Artist:   Platinum Blonde. It was a quiet afternoon at the cottage.  Lola was reading on the hammock outside and Molly and I were coloring at the kitchen table. My cousin Julie suddenly barged in.  “Do you know who’s playing in town tonight??” she announced. Molly and I looked up startled. Julie yelled, “PLATINUM BLONDE!!” I gasped and dropped my fuschia-coloured crayon. Next to Guns N’ Roses, Platinum Blonde was a close second on my favorite bands list.   Songs like Standing in the Dark , It Doesn’t Really Matter and Situation Critical  were the theme songs of my youth as I regularly blasted them on my boom box in the 80's. I couldn’t believe that this iconic band would be playing in our tiny town of Haliburton!?  I could only hope that my...
2 comments
Read more

This. Is. London.

The year was 2000.   I was 24 years old. I had a huge job in a pharmaceutical company and was quickly heading up the corporate ladder.     During the week I busted my ass at work, which meant I made the rich corporate big wigs even richer (insert eye roll here).   It was very stressful but I worked damn hard every day to prove myself.   But on the weekends, well….. the weekends were a different story.   The weekends were my escape.     After university, my best friends and I quickly became infatuated with the Toronto nightclub scene.   It was the perfect escape for us.   The music, the people, the clothes, the dancing…..it was all so grand, so loud and so fun.    Completely the opposite of our corporate lives. We just craved it all the time.   We couldn’t get enough! You can imagine that going back to work on Monday was just awful. Not only was my body still filled with Red Bull and Vodka, b...
1 comment
Read more