My Third Day

I attended my Personal Health class for the first time on Wednesday. I was feeling somewhat better prepared to tackle a new set of people, having done it three times in the previous two days.

The class of 45 people slowly filled up and right on time the instructor, Mrs. W, arrived. At first I thought that she must be a student teacher because she looked so young but after listening to her for a while I think she might be in her low to mid 30s. Mrs. W is a very energetic, vivacious person that makes health seem exciting.

She gave us two assignments that will be fulfilled over time and will be due several months from now. The first project is the Health Behavior Change Project. Everyone has to pick one health behavior to try to change. She has seven or eight different steps to the project and we will be graded, not on our success, but on the detail of the plan.

The second project is slightly more disturbing to me. Mrs. W gave us a list of support groups that are in the area. She wants us to pick one group and attend one meeting and then write a two-page paper for her on our experience. The purpose of this is to make us aware of the resources available to us.

One of the problems that I'm encountering is that most of the groups meet during the week and that is when I'm either working or attending class. If I happen to get out of class early one night, I may be able to go to one that is close by.

Another problem is going to be choosing just the right group. I know that the Prostate Cancer Support Group is out, as well as the Sex Addiction Group. (She told us of a student that had attended the Sex Addiction Group and had taken his girlfriend with him just for company. Not a good idea. It was quite awkward for both of them. He told Mrs. W that if he had it to do over, he'd go alone.) I'm not terribly inclined to attend Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous (although the Happy, Joyous, and Free group sounds interesting and how's "Rush Hour" for a narcotics group name?)...I'm just not sure how I'd deal with it. Mrs. W really encouraged the ladies (no men allowed) to attend the La Leche League, the breastfeeding support group. But alas! I shall be in class at that time.

Some of the groups that I'm considering are the Eating and Weight Disorders, Caregivers (now caring for old folks, that's something I can deal with), Women in Recovery, and the Single Parents group. The Amputees, Love & Relationship Addicts, & Gastric Bypass groups could be interesting but they meet at bad times for me. If I could choose purely for interest's sake and not have to deal with the Comfort Zone issue, I'd probably choose the Love & Relationship Addicts. Any volunteers to attend a meeting with me??

Mrs. W is very big on getting into small discussion groups. One of the first things that she had us do was get together with the person across the aisle and find out name, hometown, major, and one interesting fact; then we got to introduce each other. They started on the opposite end of the room from me so by the time I got to introduce Megan, I blanked out for a second on her interesting fact. I thought super-hard for a bit and came up with it...she loves the outdoors, camping, & hiking. She hasn't totally decided on her major so she is taking classes in two different areas, geology and fashion. Go together, don't they?

During class, we had to get into our small discussion groups at least three or four times. My group is Megan and a lady that is six months pregnant. I believe that we are the three shy people in class. We kinda sit there for a minute or two busily looking at whatever we are supposed to be discussing and then someone will manage to come up with something to say about it and we'll have a discussion for a minute or two; then we lapse into silence while the classroom around us is just buzzing with discussion. Another minute or two goes by and then someone else manages to say something and we all agree and say a few more things and then, here comes that old silence again!! Just can't get away from it. I try so hard to think of something clever and interesting to say but I think that Clever and Interesting stay in the car when I go to class. I'm not too sure that they would catch on even if I did manage to come up with something witty.

Mrs. W was giving a few of the rules for class and was expounding on the "No Visitors" rule. "We'll be discussing sensitive issues in class and we'll all be more comfortable without visitors. Alcohol, drugs, sex...all of the good stuff!" she said with a laugh. I figure that I might just as well wash my Comfort Zone real well and pack it in moth balls for the foreseeable future. I don't think I'll be in it a lot for the next four months, at least.

My Second Day

On Tuesday, I departed from work at 2:00. I have a Music Appreciation class that is at 3:30 on Tuesday and Thursday. This was the first time that I would have to park under normal parking conditions and I was a bit worried about finding a space. I went to the Park Street lot that I had located a week ago and from the road it looked pretty much like it was full. There were people leaving but whether it was because they were unable to find a space or because they had just left a space, I couldn't tell. I entered the lot and cruised the tight aisles and God smiled down on me. I found a space in the third aisle. I maneuvered my way into the spot and some poor soul saw my car moving and sat there waiting to see if I was leaving. He gave up as I got out of the car and moved on.

I retraced my steps of last week and walked to the Fine Arts Center. I was really glad I had searched for the building last week because it wouldn't have helped my upset stomach if I hadn't known where I was going. I entered the building and went in search of room 198. The building really does have a confusing layout but I found my room without having to retrace any of my steps. I stopped at the door and peered inside. Classical music was playing and there were maybe half a dozen people sitting in various spots throughout the room even though it was another 20 minutes until class would start. I saw that "Music Appreciation???" was written on the board so I figured I was in the right spot.

The man that I assumed was the professor, Mr. G, was sitting behind a podium at the front of the room and he nodded at me as I entered. The room was laid out in a sort of semi-circle. There were curved tables on each side of a center aisle. I sat at the end of the third table from the front. It was interesting to watch people come in and sit down because the majority of them would sit at the ends of the tables and until they were all taken and then people started filling in the middle of the tables.

As the starting time approached, nearly all of the 81 chairs in the room were taken. Mr. G started out by saying that we are going to do something that we only have to do once this semester. He proceeded to call out names of people alphabetically and tell them where to sit. He started at the front of the room and worked his way back. I was quite thrilled that I would get to sit near the back of the room. If there was a person on his roll that was not there, he would leave an empty chair. The person that was just in front of me was not there so there was to be an empty chair at the end of my table and I was to sit in the 2nd chair. I was all the way across the room and by the time I got there, there was a girl sitting in my chair. I asked her which chair he told her to sit in, just sure that I was supposed to be in seat two. She wasn't really sure and didn't really care that much. So I had the honor of stopping him in the midst of his list and asking him where I was to sit. He looked back through it and said, "Second chair." The people after her were all mixed up too. So he basically had to start over from our point and tell people where they were to sit. The reason for seating us like this was to be able to take roll easily from now on. We are always to sit in the same spot and if a seat is empty, that person is absent.

After we were all seated, he went over the syllabus with us, then he laid a few ground rules out. The room had just been redecorated so there was to be no food or drink in the room. He doesn't like to see cell phone, they just annoy him so turn them off and put them away. And then he said that one rule he has because it's a personal pet peeve of his is: Never, never, never, ever put your head down on the table. He has been teaching since 1971 and over the years a lot of students have told him that they listen better with their heads down but he naps better with his head down.

After finishing with his little talk, he told us that his full-time job is as the head of music at the Presbyterian Church downtown and that is where we can reach him other than Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. He went on to tell us that there is a reason that teachers give their phone numbers and e-mail addresses to the students. He said there may be occasions that a student may be going through something and may need help or just need someone to listen or a shoulder to cry on, etc. and that help is available if we will just ask for it. He is available to talk to any time someone needs something. I thought that was very nice and a good thing he said it because I would really have been intimidated approaching him after the little speech we had just received.

It was very hot in the room and he let us go early "to find some place cool." I stayed to ask him about the extra credit opportunities he said are available. Two of the opportunities are music concerts at his church on a Tuesday and Thursday of the same week. We won't have class that day but if we show up we will get extra credit for attending. It starts at 7:30 and I have a class from 5:30 to 7:15. I asked him about the possibilities of showing up late (at the time I thought the class lasted until 8:15) and he said he would be willing to work with me on that. He also offered to find other opportunities if those wouldn't work for me. I think that he will be a good instructor if the students just act like adults.

I returned to my car and made my way down to South Campus, the community college part of WKU, where I was hoping to enroll in the Intermediate Algebra class. I had tried to enroll in this algebra class when I enrolled in all of my other classes via the internet but because I'm a university student instead of a community college student, I'm only allowed in the class if there is room on the first day of class. I did something I thought was very bold, for me, and called the professor, Mr. D, a month or so ago and told him my dilemma of working full-time and needing this evening class. He told me that he would make sure that I was able to get into the class and that I should just show up on the first day of class.

Traffic was really snarled but I still arrived by 5:00. I was sitting in my car when I noticed another Mennonite girl several cars over get out of her car and go inside. It was Carol and I decided not to bring attention to ourselves by hollering at her.

I went to the Dean's Office to find out where the class was located. I found the room and was relieved that Mr. D was in the room and told him who I was. He pulled a paper out that already had my information on it and all I had to do was sign it. It made me feel so much better that he had actually remembered me. I figured I would get there and he would draw a blank on who I was and it would be a big hassle but all I had to do was sign my name and sit down.

Mr. D seems to be a very easy-going person. His full-time job is teaching at the Juvenile Detention Center downtown. I had talked to Mr. D's father, whom I had called by mistake when trying to reach Mr. D, and he told me that Mr. D has a heart for people getting back into the school setting. His father was just sure that Mr. D could do wonders for me. So far, he seems to be correct. Now the trick will be whether he can actually teach me algebra or not.

He gave us a diagnostic test and I might just as well have blindly filled in the bubbles on the Scantron for how much I knew. He had told us that we aren't supposed to know this stuff but still...I wouldn't mind having something look familiar. I have my serious doubts that I should even be in this class. When I took the math placement exam, I knew how to do maybe 4 or 5 of the problems. You had to get 6 right to qualify for Intermediate Algebra and I think I got 7 right so 3 or 4 of those correct problems were total guesses. I guess if I flunk, I flunk. And if I flunk, then I'll know for sure that I should take Math 055 first.

He dismissed us after we finished the test and as I was walking out to my car, who walked out in front of me but Carol. She reached her car first and was inside before I got out there and she didn't see me until I was unlocking my car. She motioned for me to wait and pulled up next to me and rolled her window down. Now keep in mind that I know who Carol is and may have talked to her a few times but we aren't more than casual acquaintances.

"I am so glad to see you," she said.

We talked for a few minutes and Idiscovered that she is intending to become an RN and that she had eitherstarted school just that day or on Monday.

"I just told my sister the other day that they say Western has 19,000 students but they should say they have 18,999 normal students and one Mennonite,"she said.

"Make that 18,997 students and three Mennonites," I said.

"People tell me that I'm so brave to go to school, but if they just knew how I feel..." Carol said.

"...then they'd know just how brave we aren't!" I finished.

We both feel that we aren't qualified to be in our respective math classes so we just enjoyed a few minutes of commiserating. How, out of 19,000 students, did Carol and I happen to be at the same place at the same time? I know that Kris is attending but unless we make an effort to be somewhere at the same time, our paths don't even cross. I think God knew I needed a few minutes of commiserating and wanted me to realize that I'm not alone in my feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. It's interesting how a shared experience can make two people, that normally have nothing in common, really glad to see each other.

My First Day

Well, as of 5:30 on Monday night, I truly became a college student. I left work at 4:00 for my 5:30 English class. I wasn't really sure how long it might take me to go from Russellville to Bowling Green via Franklin so I went straight there, stopping only at a convenience store for a drink and a snack to try to calm the nerves. (I think that is called emotional eating.)

I made it to campus in 55 minutes and was planning to park in faculty parking right near the building but that is only allowed after 5:00 so I decided to cruise around the block several times to keep from violating that rule too badly. Kris called me just as I was approaching campus and said she was on her way to park in the same lot and if I would wait, she would walk with me to my building. Given the amount of students milling about, I didn't mind the offer for company on my first trek through the teeming masses. I cruised the block once but it was only 4:57 so I decided once more around would get me close enough to 5:00. I was chatting with Kris on my phone and rounded a corner and, not realizing there was a crosswalk there, nearly creamed two Indian students. The poor fellas jumped backed frightened, as I jolted to a stop and waved my apologies, and they proceeded across the street. I cruised the second time and that brought me to 4:59 and I decided that was close enough to 5:00 that I'd better park rather than attempt a 3rd time around...who knows I might actually smoosh someone the next time.

Kris got there a few minutes later and we went to Cherry Hall, right across the street. After wandering down some stairs and through several sets of double doors, we finally found my classroom. Kris then headed off to her own building as I wandered back down the hall thinking that I had seen a bathroom on my way. I couldn't find it on my floor and, rather than confirm that I didn't know where I was going to the people sitting in the hall, I simply went back to my room and cautiously entered.

There were three ladies sitting in the room and I asked if this was for sure English 100. They said it was and one of the girls asked me where I am staying. Unsure of what she wanted, I replied that I live in Franklin. "You Amish?" was her next blunt question to which I replied that I am Mennonite. She stared at me blankly for a second and then went on to her next target. My entrance to the room evidently gave a few girls in the hall the courage to come in as well and they entered a few seconds after I did. She turned to them and asked them where they are staying. They told her the name of their dorms and she said "Oh, good!! That's my dorm. We can study together." Several more girls entered and each one got the same question, with anyone that was in her dorm getting the same pronouncement as a study partner. Previous targets were exchanging looks and smiling behind their hands as each new person was targeted.

She turned to me and wanted to know again where I was staying. I told her, again, that I'm from Franklin. "Is that on campus?" she asked. I smiled kindly as a few people in the room snickered a little and told her that Franklin is actually a town about 30 minutes south of Bowling Green. One girl told me that her family is from Franklin and another said that her mother works at a factory in Franklin. Somehow (in the fluster of the being the only person in the room being grilled, I kinda forget how) the subject of me working in Russellville came up so I got to give those present a short story of my life at present: work south of Russellville, work for O & S, working full-time, long drive to BG, etc. I definitely was not in my comfort zone of being a silent observer. Eventually, enough people arrived that other little conversations broke out and the heat was off of me.

It was beginning to storm outside and the last few people into the room were drenched. Mr. C, the teacher, finally entered the room a bit late. He had been waiting for the storm to abate and when it finally did, he made a run for it, just as the skies let loose another torrent of rain. Mr. C started handing out the syllabus and as he came around, he paused, looked at me, and said "You look familiar" and proceeded on around the room. I was very grateful that he didn't expound to the class on the fact that he had previously taught two of my sisters and that, yes, they were very smart and how he was expecting the same thing out of me.

Much to my dismay, it turns out that I'm the only non-traditional student in the class. Usually, night classes are made up of more non-traditional students but could I be that lucky? I think not!! When talking about e-mailing us information, he asked if there is anyone that comes straight from work and there I was, the Lone Ranger. He said that he'd talk to me after class and went on.

And, of course, the book of essays that both Kris & Sara used...extinct. They have revised it and now I have to pay around $45 for the new book. Mr. C didn't have the new one so he looked through it and found one that exists in both books and gave that as the assignment. He plans to look through it and if he plans to use any of the new essays I may have to get the new book. Grrr

He had us take a diagnostic test and then dismissed us early. I waited until he was through with other the students and then approached the desk. He then inquired about my sisters and said he was surprised that they hadn't scared me away. I told him that they both said that he could teach me to write essays and since that is what I'm after, I chose to take his class. I told him that the thing that could have intimidated me was the fact that Kris & Sara had both taken that class and that he might have Great Expectations for me. He laughed and promised that he would not bring up my sisters. He came after three siblings and two came after him so he knows what it's like. How comforting.

We left the room at the same time so he walked me to the front door and we chatted about various things on the way. He seems to be a very nice man and I think that I'll like him, although I'm not so sure about the class. Actually, I'm pretty sure I won't enjoy the essays part of the class.

Oh, and the essay? Gay Marriages: Make Them Legal, how's that for a hot topic?

Obsessions

I kinda feel like my freedom is on a countdown. I know there are lots of things that I Need To Do Before College…but I’m not sure what all.

I know that I need to get my car with it’s squealing brakes and 2,000 mile overdue oil change serviced, but when?

I should get about a dozen new dresses made, but I’ll be lucky to get the one finished that I’ve got partially done.

I did get several things out of the way though. I have pretty well eradicated all the weeds from the flowerbeds. I was sooo proud of Kris on Saturday evening. She voluntarily helped me weed the front flowerbeds. She chopped at the weeds and got them as loose as possible so I could grasp them and pull them out by their roots. She stood for quite a while, holding back the flowers with the cultivator so I could get at the grass that had successfully invaded most of the one flowerbed. She endured the chilly air without too much complaining so I could finish before dark…or just at dark. What a Trooper!! It’s just too bad that the neighbor that had come by the other Saturday and exclaimed about not being able to get any help didn’t come by and see her helping. He would have been proud too.

I managed to get a whole 6 gallons of Roundup sprayed around in various places. Craig wanted to know why I don’t just do some weed eating and I told him it takes so much more time to have to weed eat weekly. This would definitely be the time to come check out our meager landscaping. I’m sure it won’t remain weed-free for long.

Tonight, Kris & I went to WKU and wandered around campus trying to familiarize ourselves with the treks that we will have to make starting next week. First,we drove around and identified the places that we could park without getting ticketed. Kris was already familiar with most of this but I wasn’t. We identified a few buildings and then parked and started walking.

Now it doesn’t take a person long to figure out why WKU is called “The Hill” and the sports teams are called “The Hilltoppers.” Within five minutes we were quietly beginning to huff and within fifteen minutes we were loudly puffing. We quickly located two of the buildings that my classes are in but had to do a bit of searching to find a building that Kris needed to locate. We went up hills and down flights of stairs and up a few stairs and down a little hill…well, you get the picture. We finally found Kris’s building but by that time we were well below car-level.

On the way back to the car, we took a shortcut out to the street to see if we could figure out where the shuttle stops. It wasn’t too bad at first but suddenly the street started to rise sharply. We were puffing our way to the top when we suddenly heard voices bearing down upon us. I did a glance over my shoulder and, in my peripheral vision, I could see four young women power walking up the hill behind us. It was quite humbling to have to move out into the street so as not to get run over by the youngsters. I have a feeling that I will get overtaken on those hills quite a bit in the future.

After returning to the car, we ate some vittles and went to get Kris’s car and on the way Kris said “Sharon, do you ever wonder where your degree will take you?”

“Well,” I replied, “I just wonder if I’ll ever get a degree.”

Sometimes it would be so handy to see a glimpse of the future so you would know if it is an exercise in futility.

I have this fear (and some of you may think that I’m silly, but it’s my fear so don’t even think about ridiculing it) that in three or so weeks, maybe less, I’ll suddenly, with startling clarity, see The Great Deception revealed. The great secret being that everyone has kept my own simplicity of mind from me. Now, how’s that for a fear?!?

There is a man named Pat that has an office in the same building that O & S has an office in Bowling Green. I have covered for our salesman on the occasions that he has been out of town and since the two offices have connecting doors, Pat will come over and visit occasionally. In our many and various discussions, the subject of college has come up and I’ve expressed to him my fear of not measuring up, etc. He, of course, thinks that I’ll do just fine and that I’ve got a good head on my shoulders. Well, today I called up to the office to talk to Mervin and he was outside so Pat answered the phone. He went to get Mervin and, when he came back inside, he quickly asked me if I had started college yet. I told him it starts a week from today and he said, “You’ll do just fine! Go get ‘em, Tiger!!” Oddly enough, I found that to be quite encouraging. If someone or something intimidates me, I’ll just have to growl at them/it.

At what point does a person become a real college student? When they enroll in classes? When they get their student ID? When they pay their tuition? When they get their parking permit? When they buy school supplies? When they attend their first class? I’m not sure but I’ve done all of these so far except attend my first class so if I’m not really a college student at this point, in one week I will for sure be a college student. What a scary, yet kind of exciting thing!

Um…in case you can’t tell by now, I’m kinda obsessing over it at this point. Maybe I’ll use this as my Wailing Wall as time moves on.

I gave in to my pen fetish this evening and purchased two retractable, fine-tipped, blue-inked pens; five highlighters with a bonus permanent marker; and two twist-erase automatic pencils with two free eraser refills. Guess I’ll go look at my newly purchased school supplies and see if I can find just the right place in my backpack for them.