It's beginning to look a lot like...the end of the semester!

What a pleasant surprise to wake up to snow today!  Granted, it was just a light dusting, but it was enough to put me in the holiday spirit.  Snow is a perfect beginning for the Christmas season, and we'll take what we can get in the way of snow 'round these parts.  The change in the weather reminds me of other changes coming...my son will be turning thirteen next month (yikes), classes are almost over with finals just around the corner, and the next semester holds a new adventure for me - graduate-level courses!  Yep, I finally got registered for two English classes.  One is a writing workshop, the other, "The Romantic Movement," a literature course.  One writing, one literature seems to be a good balance, but I still don't know if it's a good idea (for me) to have two classes at once.  Right now, I can only work after about nine p.m. because that's when my kids are asleep.  It's hard to give your best when you're quite sleepy.  I'm sure some of my discussion board responses this semester have been a little hard to follow because I was only about 80% coherent as a result of sleep deprivation when I wrote them.  Next semester, however, will be a bit different.  For the first time in several years, I'll have to actually go to campus, park my car (sigh), and walk to a real building for class.  That may or may not work to my advantage.  Either way, I must admit to a bit of nervousness about this new venture.  I'm planning to pursue a Master's in English, and I hope anyone who may read this doesn't think "Girl, I've read your writing.  English?  Are you kidding?"  No, I'm not kidding.  English has always been easy for me, and while many subjects were fun, English is the one I always come back to when I consider my favorite classes.  So, I'm probably pretty rusty right now, as you may have noticed.  However, I really think this is the right path for me.  Since becoming an adult (legally, fourteen years ago; mentally, considerably later), I have said many times and for various reasons that had I just taken my dad's advice, things would have turned out much better.  My dad advised me when I first started college and was trying to choose a major just to pick something I like, not to worry about what job I think that major will or won't produce.  Well, as we adults all know, that's SOOOO true.  If I had listened at the time, instead of thinking, "I really love English, but I don't want to be a teacher...." I would never have become involved in the BIS program.  I might have had a clear path to graduation and not taken so long to finish up (this, of course, is debatable).  On the other hand, I would not have taken so many really cool classes, I wouldn't be able to speak Spanish (stilted and slow though my speech may be), and I would have missed out on a lot of really cool experiences along the way.  By studying "Humanities" instead of narrowing my focus to simply "English," I gave myself a broader lens for viewing the world.  I will be able to grow old more gracefully because I understand and will not buy into our society's image of beauty that tries to keep women powerless, thanks to "Psychology of Women," among others.  I know how to do a decent charcoal drawing and discuss the difference between Impressionism and Cubism because of my Art Classes.  And, I understand that the way our country structures its involvement in world affairs is nothing new thanks to my history classes.  I am glad I chose the path I did, and now I'm glad to have a more focused path ahead of me.  Looking back, I still think ol' Dad's advice was good.   For me, though, the time just wasn't right to settle down and study one subject.  I needed some time to figure "me" out first.  I guess after twelve years it's about time make the commitment and give my loyalty to my first love, academically speaking.  English, I'm all yours.