Saturday, April 14

Suck It Up & Get It Done

I faced the music, so to speak, yesterday and did placement tests so I could make my third attempt at completing my college education. The results were as I had expected. The majority of my classes will transfer. But I still have to do 4 maths. I hate math.

My other half told me math would increase my capacity to learn. No doubt. Anything that you have absolutely no interest in--when tackled--is a real brain challenge. We're programmed with our likes and dislikes. We know what excites us and what disgusts us. And the bulk of the time, we are the boss and make the decisions. Maybe I'm put out because someone else is running the show and telling me what classes I must have in order to complete my degree.

I'm not even sure why, at this point in my life, I feel compelled to finish. I just feel like this is what I need to do.

Inspired by a sense of outrage, Jane Stillwater, a 64-year-old self-described "flower child, 4o years later" ate peanut butter sandwiches for months to save for a ticket to Kuwait. She then convinced a small Texas newspaper to help her secure press accreditation and boarded a troop transport to Baghdad.

This grandmother, with no formal journalistic training, reports from Baghdad via blog. (You can see all posts here.) Her local city councilman had this to say,"Having know her for many years and seen her do things that nobody else would think of taking on... she's a pretty irrepressible force of humor and passion."

I can't think of any better compliment.

5 comments:

Imperatrix said...

Good luck on the classes! The Consort says some of his best students are non-traditional students because they are serious about being in the class.

S said...

I'm so impressed that you are doing this! And imperatrix is right -- in all the classes I've ever taught, the continuing education students are hands down the most motivated, the most conscientious, and the most interesting.

Anonymous said...

I HATE maths. But I desparately want to be good at it! I do so admire you for facing up to this - four units of maths - ugh! Oh, and great links to the Baghdad grandma.

Anonymous said...

I would rather be poked in the eye than take a math class.

Well, OK, just poked once and not very hard, but still...

Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Congrats. I have had "issues" with math since Mr. Cooley's 7th grade math class in which I received the one and only D of my career. I decided to tackle my math aversion in college. Took Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus which was doable but then took THREE quarters to get through the first quarter of Calculus. The C - I got in that class was the best grade in a transcript full of As. Go for it.