Sunday, October 5, 2014

College and middle age, what was I thinking...

I have gone to college off and on since 1984. Guess what all those classes I've taken over the decades add up to, nothing except a write off I can take when I file my taxes. I was recently taking the business ed classes that would eventually give me a certificate in Human Resources. Not wanting to overwhelm myself I had just one class every Wednesday night, "ORAL COMM IN ORGS; Develop speaking skills to effectively and confidently deliver oral presentations in organizational settings. In addition, analyze audiences, research topics, and prepare and deliver presentations." I have been diligently getting to the Santa Rosa campus every week, semi prepared after having typed out many drafts of a speech and reading the chapters of the older edition of the book I found on Amazon for $5.00. Well, last Wednesday I just couldn't take my nutty professor or her rambling emails in regards to needing to make the keyword outline perfect before I could present my oral presentation on helping returning veterans getting back into the workplace. I'm sorry but does it matter if the right section has bullet points or is indented in the appropriate spot? Well it does matter to her and from the looks of things I was never going to make my presentation. So after my head almost exploded after conversing with her, the class chiming in with their helpful suggestions as well I called it quits at the break. I drove out of the campus parking lot tossing my textbook out the window of my truck lamenting the money I had spent on tuition, parking and the gas it took to drive from work to school. I do feel much freer, not going to let myself feel like a quitter. In fact the first thing I did once I got home was get onto the JC website and start looking for another class to take next semester. I even feel like I learned something about myself, I like classes on comparative mythology and world geography not classes on business writing or organizational communication. I'm choosing to no longer torture myself with perfectionists who don't like my speech draft, so there. I might get my college degree when I'm 60 or I might not. I'll still continue to be a student of life and that's been a real education.