I’ve gone back to college, but this time around just for fun, taking only one undergraduate English class. And I’m right back where I started: the University of Southern Maine (the University of Maine at Portland in my day).
I’d thought of returning to the University of Maine to complete a journalism minor. But when I was musing about it in front of the USM transfer counselor at my workplace, my friend Amy, hearing me, said, “You don’t need to go to Orono. You can do that right at USM.” So I took her advice. Or was it really that it was a more practical solution?
At UMP, I had been under the watchful eye of my father, a professor there, for two years, so I had decided to transfer to Orono to gain some independence. That decision was one I have frequently second-guessed. I was often homesick there, whereas at UMP I had felt at home.
UMP was close-knit when I attended, and I knew many of the students in my classes. The only buildings were Payson Smith, Luther Bonney, the science building, the gym and a little bookstore. Now, with new buildings and the parking garage, there is almost a big-city feel to it.
Long gone are the professors who taught me in my youth: Drs. Cole, Whitmore, Jacques; Professors Kern and Duclos. The names on the offices now are all unknown to me.
Walking on the path to my class at Luther Bonney, forgetting I’m in the present, I sometimes look to see if one of my friends is there, Sue or Karen or Jay or Frank. Going back to college also makes me recall the younger version of myself. A lot has changed. And so have I. Gone are my days of wearing miniskirts, bell-bottom jeans and maxicoats to class. No longer do I have to stress over a GPA or wonder what my classmates think of me.
After 42 years as an educator, I feel I have earned my right to sit on the other side of the classroom. At times I have felt as if I were maybe past my expiration date. Now I feel renewed, trying something different and learning new ideas. The students in this class have been welcoming, considering I’m a generation or almost two removed from them. I participate, but am trying to keep a low profile so I won’t be known as the older student who won’t stop talking.
It takes getting used to lectures being presented on PowerPoint and assignments being on Blackboard. And the ever-present cellphones.
I’m content to ease into college one class at a time. But once I master the technology and learn to budget my time, who knows? Working on that journalism degree could become a reality.
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