Just wrapped up my last "101" class (Physical Geography) so, now that I'm a
Junior, I'm officially done with my freshman classes! Of course I've taken most of the sophomore ones, too, along the way, but it is strange how they all get interspersed. We even had a couple of
graduated seniors in there! So at least I didn't wait that long.
Years ago when I would discuss college with peers, someone would always say, "Yeah, but you've got to get all those general education classes out of the way before you even get to the ones in your major." And they would wrinkle their nose like it was the worst thing they could imagine. Turns out, "those gen-eds" are the
REALLY FUN classes and I'm sorry to be done with them!
Still have one sophomore (200 level) science class to take - probably next summer - and could probably fit in a couple of non-accounting electives at some point but I've already decided, when I've got my degree in my back pocket,
THESE are the classes I'll keep coming back to take again and again ...just for fun! ...until I'm 90!
Oh, speaking of which... The obligatory article in our local newspaper regarding the lucky kids who graduated last month had an age breakdown of those getting bachelors degrees. Of the 4,200 or so being awarded degrees, 1% were age 50 or older! Woohoo! So I'm not as alone as it appears when I look around the classroom. In fact, if I can do my math correctly (and I
did pass college algebra!), there were at least 42 of us oldies kicking around campus just last year.
In my Business Ethics online class the get-acquainted emails indicate there are three of us over 50 in that course. But I always knew that community college is where I'd find more peers - not that it really matters. What I
am looking forward to next semester is rubbing elbows with the kids who are a little more serious about their education. I'll let you know how that is.
Five classes, seven textbooks and this is the bill for my upcoming Fall semester if I were to purchase everything at the UA Bookstore! I usually don't. Half.ebay.com is a great resource, and sometimes other websites. Fortunately I've already found two of the seven for nearly half the used price listed, but a couple I will probably end up getting at the Bookstore as they often require the accompanying CD or internet code. Whenever it says "textbook bundle", I at least have to go in and see what all is in the bundle. Oh, and they almost never have books available at the "used" price.