A small post in which I let off some steam via ranting about a recent conversation.
Monday, all my Finals are belong to you.
And really? Thank goodness. I mean, if only from a clean-and-neat point of view I’d like my desk back.
I’d also like my brain, my fiction, my clean laundry as something other than an afterthought, and my sanity back.
Of course, that last one is unlikely. I do have a teenage daughter, after all.
As I sat down to my1 desk this morning, I pondered the reasons that I am going through all of this. I mean – there has to be a good rationale behind my decision to pursue my degree at my semi-advanced age, right?
To wander a giant campus full of people2 that I don’t know?
To put myself through this sturm und drang?
As I’ve been recently asked, “What is the point of getting the degree? What are you going to do with it?”
Umm.
Display it on the wall? Be proud of myself for finishing something that I started? Round out my education and my knowledge? Discover new ways of thinking?
Apparently, those aren’t good reasons. No. There must be a fiscal explanation. A path that leads from classroom to bank, as it were.
I mean, really.
What are you going to do with the degree?
What are your Plans for the Future?
What are you going to DO WITH IT?
Man. That all sounds like lyrics from a terrible 80’s power ballad. Heh. Or a Prince song. Think about the future!
Basically, you’re asking what I want to be when I grow up, right? Because that’s what the underlying message here is. I’m in school therefore technically I am not an adult. And why? Because I am not currently earning a living.
Not earning a living = Not an adult.
What an utter crock.
Here’s a quick overview of what I can do with my Bachelors of Arts, Professional Writing focus with a minor in Psychology, you pompous asshat.
I like my answer better, though.
1 – really, astonishingly messy – the picture does NOT do it justice
2 – The whole cartoon is fabulous. Do yourself a favor. Go watch.
The Process 
Dude. I’ve been fielding the same kinda questions, usually followed by emails from helpful friends and family who want to make sure I’m aware that a Master’s degree is a waste of time and money and that I’m dooming my children to lifetime fiscal marginality or at the very least a career at McDonald’s. I would send them a list of my career options, but why should I ease their suffering? >:-} Maybe I’ll get each of them a nice selection of paper hats for Christmas….
Oh, man.
If one.more.person tells me that I can use my degree to flip burgers for $fastfoodchain, I’m gonna lose my sweet nature* and do something drastic.
It’s like they aren’t even considering that maybe – JUST MAYBE – we have already thought all of this through. That we might have weighed the pros and cons and come to our own decisions.
ARGH.
I certainly hope that you do give them some paper hats. When they question, you can reply “Oh, those are origami folding papers for rude people.”
*hugs and support*
* – Warning: may have already occurred.
I still don’t think that you’re really that old to be going to school. It isn’t like you’re elderly or something, and you’re hardly the oldest person on campus. I’ve seen truly elderly folks taking classes, and not all of them can be taking a class just to keep themselves busy. Sometimes, a person simply has something that they must do for themselves in order to make their life complete. This is your thing. Just keep plugging along and let yourself enjoy it. The rest of the world be damned. Those of us who care about you are just simply happy to see you doing something you love.
For most of the kids in my classes, I am old enough to be their mother. That qualifies me as semi-advanced. 🙂
Oh, I am enjoying it. Mostly. When I am not up at 2AM comparing and contrasting Derrida and Achebe, ferfuckssakes. ;-D
You’re only advanced in your awesomeness. It’s not your fault if they’re jealous.
Who cares at what age you’re in school? School’s cool. ESPECIALLY when you’re old enough to appreciate it.
Also? All your base are belong to us is possibly my favorite meme of all time.
I certainly couldn’t have appreciated it like I am now when I was nineteen, that’s for sure.
All Your Base is awesome ’cause it can apply to almost anything, 🙂