I think everyone is aware, but I haven’t posted on it directly so let me just say that as of two weeks ago, I received my Associate of Arts degree. I officially have a kollege edumacation.
The only thing I really have to say is that education changes you. It changes the way you view the world and I think it does this for the better. The one thing that my instructors gave me in college, that I have walked away with and run with in my life, is the ability to question everything.
I have a list of things that I took for granted, that I no longer take at face value. The big one, for good or ill, is people. I look at everyone around me much differently than I did before. My husband is no longer just the guy that I married. He’s my hero because in addition to being a breadwinner, he’s a domestic God. He does dishes! He cleans! He cooks! And I love him for it more now than I did three years ago.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though. There are a few people that I used to admire thinking that they were so intelligent… when the truth is, they may be intelligent, but intelligence and wisdom are equal partners in any relationship. Wisdom goes hand in hand with the ability to make choices in life that will make you happy and I realized, these people that I used to admire for their so-called intelligence… are the most miserable people I have ever met. I have a much more full and happy life than those people and the reality is, they have nothing that I desire or admire anymore. Unlike them, I refuse to ride through life sitting in the passenger’s seat. Screw that, I’m taking the wheel.
It has been an interesting transition for my husband. He’s not entirely sure where I’m going, and the truth is, neither am I. I just know that where I’ve been hasn’t filled my life with joy and laughter, and the one thing that has, my children, are preparing to leave the nest and I have a whole lot of life to live after they’ve gone out into the world. I don’t intend to waste a single second of it on something that doesn’t make me happy. Anything else is a poor use of my time.
So to all of my friends, I want you to know that education does change you and it has changed me. I love you very much, and I want all of you to get out today and do something that fills you up inside from the bottom of your soul, until it hits the brim and starts to spill over. Do something for you that makes you happy that is not at the expense of someone else. I promise, you won’t regret it, much like I will never regret a single moment of the last three years. The process of getting my associates degree has been the happiest time of my life. I know my bachelors will be even better and I did it for myself. I didn’t do it to prove anything to anyone, except to myself.. and I am proud of what I have accomplished so far.
