Time on My Hands

It has been 9 months since I graduated from PSU. It still feels strange to not attend regular classes and to be in complete control of my free time. But, alas, I am still a nerd and am starting to get antsy about not taking classes.

The boy is in the Adult Degree program at Warner Pacific and has another two years before he will be finished. He is doing great and I am very proud of him for taking the plunge and returning to school. Our home is not devoid of academic pursuits.

Before he enrolled at Warner, I went to Denver to visit the Graduate School of Social Work at Denver University. They have the oldest GSSW program this side of the Continental Divide and one of the very few that offer an Interpersonal Stress and Trauma Certificate. Basically, I'm in love with Denver and the school.

I have no desire for a commuter marriage - though the boys has suggested/threatened to send me to Denver on my own so he isn't "holding [me] back" - and I'm not confident I would be accepted the first go around any way. So, here I am with time on my hands and trying to figure out how to best use that time so I am in a better position to pursue Graduate school when the time comes.

One thing that has recently piqued my curiousity is pursuing a Certificate in Alcohol & Drug Addiction counseling. It is a one-year program, would get me a foot in the door to the mental health world, give me more fancy letters after my name, and give me additional certification for working with people suffering from PTSD. Which is ultimately my goal.

Currently I am researching the differences between the PCC certificate program and the PSU one. It's the same certificate as far as I can tell, but PSU has open enrollment and classes start in the fall.

Time will tell.

On th Edge

(Post started on June 4th.)

It hit me today. In less than 9 days I will graduate from PSU with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies. I have been freely tossing around the fact that I'm graduating in a week, but today reality sunk in. And I kind of freaked.

What do I have to show for my (non-consecutive) four years of pursuing higher ed? I have learned the world is so much bigger than me and the town I grew up in. I have learned to listen to ideas that clash with my values and beliefs without accepting them unless their argument proves truer than mine. As Aristotle said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain an idea without accepting it." I hope I'm leaving my undergraduate work with some semblance of critical thinking skills.

As I prepare my final papers, tests, and project I am still left wondering, could I have done better? For some reason I feel like I missed something. Do all graduates feel this way?

Imagine My Surprise...

Today has been full of surprises. First off, I went to class and was visiting with a gal who I had two classes with last term (PSU is the largest university in Oregon with 27,000+ students, it's kind of a big deal to have multiple classes with someone of a different major - especially Senior Capstone, which only runs about 10 people). So we're talking before class and she mentions she just submitted her degree/commencement application for Spring Term. My response, "Wha-AT?!" She says, "Um, yeah, it's due the 9th if you want to graduate in Spring." And I do.

It turns out you must submit that application two terms before you graduate. Who knew? Apparently not very many people as my classmate had only found out the day before from someone who had just mentioned she'd submitted her form. I read all the e-mails PSU sends (which are few and far between) and check the webmail notices, how did I not know this?

All is well that ends well, as I had to go to Neuberger anyway to change my name. So, I changed my name and submitted my degree application. Now I just need to register for Spring Commencement. Yahoo!

In other news, I was also surprised to log on to my blog and find not one, not two, but three posts of the post I had been trying to post that I kept getting errors for. That's kinda amusing.

Happy Wednesday!