2008 Woodie Awards
Nothing wrong with nontraditional students
Rebecca Bauman
Issue date: 8/23/07 Section: Opinion
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I used to be bothered by those individuals who braved the college classroom long after they'd settled down, birthed babies and seen their families blossom. There was something about non-traditional students that left a bad taste in my mouth - as though they were blindly invading my territory, as though someone's mother had crashed the basement slumber party and wanted to engage in "boy-talk."
When a woman who'd been a housewife since 1985 came cheerily padding into my 100-level Gen. Ed. class, I'd furrow my brow and think: "You don't belong here. Your time is over. Just deal with it."
It was this sort of prejudice on my part that left me feeling stuck when I first had trouble completing my early college courses. Age 18, age 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 - I remained a freshman.
By this summer, I'd resigned myself to the fact that I'd never get a college degree. And why?
"Because I don't want to be some deluded, old sad sack who thinks she can get her BA after already having gone through the rites and rituals of adulthood. It's like those people who get bar mitzvahed at 40. I don't want to be the grown-up among the whipper-snappers. I don't want to seem horribly out of place."
In effect, my narrow-mindedness had doomed me. It was completely unreal, completely invented, these rules and regulations. But I was determined to play by those rules, just as I was determined not to wear bikinis, thinking I was far too fat to be seen in such a state of undress.
"This is for your benefit, folks."
Through God's will, I managed to snag a job this summer, one right up my alley, seemingly rooted in some form of meritocracy. They wanted me despite my lack of degree. They wanted me for natural talent. This was good, because, darnit, it was the only thing I had left with which to sell myself.
I thought: "I'm going to be OK. I don't need a degree. I'm at the top of the mountain, and all I needed was to flex a muscle I've had since grade school."
It took about a month for me to realize that my one "natural talent," though perhaps very real, was not in fact my one, natural passion. Not at all. I could do the work - but I didn't love the work.
When a woman who'd been a housewife since 1985 came cheerily padding into my 100-level Gen. Ed. class, I'd furrow my brow and think: "You don't belong here. Your time is over. Just deal with it."
It was this sort of prejudice on my part that left me feeling stuck when I first had trouble completing my early college courses. Age 18, age 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 - I remained a freshman.
By this summer, I'd resigned myself to the fact that I'd never get a college degree. And why?
"Because I don't want to be some deluded, old sad sack who thinks she can get her BA after already having gone through the rites and rituals of adulthood. It's like those people who get bar mitzvahed at 40. I don't want to be the grown-up among the whipper-snappers. I don't want to seem horribly out of place."
In effect, my narrow-mindedness had doomed me. It was completely unreal, completely invented, these rules and regulations. But I was determined to play by those rules, just as I was determined not to wear bikinis, thinking I was far too fat to be seen in such a state of undress.
"This is for your benefit, folks."
Through God's will, I managed to snag a job this summer, one right up my alley, seemingly rooted in some form of meritocracy. They wanted me despite my lack of degree. They wanted me for natural talent. This was good, because, darnit, it was the only thing I had left with which to sell myself.
I thought: "I'm going to be OK. I don't need a degree. I'm at the top of the mountain, and all I needed was to flex a muscle I've had since grade school."
It took about a month for me to realize that my one "natural talent," though perhaps very real, was not in fact my one, natural passion. Not at all. I could do the work - but I didn't love the work.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Raymond
posted 8/28/07 @ 3:42 PM EST
Book learnin' got me a degree, but it didn't get me a job.
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