It's All Happening...

Last night marked the beginning of what is going to be a long and expensive endeavor. I left work around 4:15pm to make my way over to St. Thomas for orientation into my Masters program. I was proud of my journey there. I promptly made it to 11th and Harmon without getting stuck in the one-way/light rail traps of Minneapolis. Pulling into the ramp, there was a parking spot waiting for me right by the skyway entrance. I was on a roll! I noticed a lady with a backpack getting out of the car next to me and took that as a sign to hightail it out of MY car so that I could discretely follow her through the skyway to the building orientation was being held at. Oh, the tricks we learn as we get older.

"We" successfully made it to Terrance Murphy Hall. I had about 30 minutes before I needed to be in the meeting room, so I stopped at the bookstore to checkout the textbooks for my first graduate course - Business Writing. Two small, paperback books. Not intimidating at all! I brought them up to the counter and handed them to the worker bee so I could pay for them. She rang them up and said, "$68.11." What?! Excuse me?! One of my books was $49! It's a paperback! It's a thin little book! Then I remembered... the life of an academic!

With 15 minutes left until orientation began, I parked it on a bench and started reading one of my books. FASCINATING stuff in there - how to write effectively, analyze your audience, communicate clearly... As I hit page 5 I had a revelation... A moment of CLARITY if you will. I was FINALLY headed in a DIRECTION with my LIFE! I got so excited! Realizing, my tune may change a bit once the class actually begins and I am drowing in reading, papers and exams... I packed up my books and headed upstairs to Room 203.

Walking into that meeting room was (as cliche as it sounds) like going home. There is something about St. Thomas that is so comfortable. Perhaps it was the "growing up" that happened there during my undergrad program. As much fun as we have teasing the reputations of our alma mater, I found myself proud to once again be a "Tommie."

The next two hours flew by. After a light supper, several members of faculty and administration spoke to us, giving us a heads-up of what was in store. Some people looked a little concerned. Perhaps I did as well - but that was not what I was feeling inside. For the first time in a long time, I was so excited! I knew that I had made the right decision.

So... January 30, 2008 I will officially begin my Masters program at St. Thomas. I won't declare an end date... baby steps...