School. What can I say? It has been going great, and almost even better than I had actually anticipated. I'm very interested in everything I've been learning and even the things I'm not so interested in learning, I still find myself paying attention and just trying to get my work done. Now I know for sure that transferring schools and resuming my education was a great choice at this point in my life. Everything can only go up and up from here. I'm starting to find my way back to being the happier version of me that I used to know.
Which brings me to my next point.
In my past, I never took school as seriously as I should have. I remember going to college with the "I don't really care, why am I here anyway?" attitude. I went to class when I felt like it, partied and went out until all hours of the night and day, and just flat out didn't care. If I was in a bad mood, if it was raining, if I was hungover; I didn't go to class. You name it, it was probably one of the reasons I gave for slacking off.
Never once did I think about the money involved, the time wasted, or how rewarding it would actually be to finish my education. I'm pretty sure it was the time in between leaving school and going back that I got the wake up call I needed. I partied. I had part-time jobs. I had a serious full-time job. I didn't have a job at all. I drank. A lot.
I watched people around me either completely hit rock bottom, lose their way, and stop caring about everyone and everything.
On the flip side, I saw people have more success than I could have ever imagined possible, with their education, jobs, homes, kids, etc.
Well, I got over the bullshit. I got over the excessive amount of time I spent worrying about my social life and other people. I got out of relationships that were bad for me. It clearly wasn't getting me anywhere. Even though I tend to take the longer path to do things, significantly mess up, and learn things the hard way, I do believe everything happens for a reason and I am where I'm supposed to be now in my life.
Sitting in some of my classes, I do have those classmates that remind me of myself years ago. They don't take it seriously. They're spending class time talking to the person next to them, texting, surfing facebook, or even leaving the classroom several times to answer phone calls for 10 or more minutes at a time, if they even show up for class at all.
Its also interesting to hear some of the conversations they're having, such as "I'm not going to do the work for this assignment" or "I'm still going to pass this class if I never come," and "I'm so bored why am I here?" This of course is only a small example of the things I've witnessed.
Like I said, it reminds me of myself in my past when I didn't know how valuable or important my classes and degree were. Its almost amazing to see people who remind you of the person you used to be, and didn't even realize the mistakes you were making or about to make.
Sometimes people aren't ready to come to college right after high school and I get that. If I had thought about it or known then what I know now, I would have certainly taken at least a year off right out of high school. It makes me want to share my mistakes with people. I'm fortunate that I was given another opportunity to come back to school and try this again. Not everyone is that fortunate or granted another chance to succeed. I guess I just want to tell them not to take the opportunity to obtain their education for granted.
A Change Would Do You Good - Sheryl Crow
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