In My Opinion
By Caroline Porter
Where are those big, shiny apples?
Ébecause IÕm going to need them. If it
werenÕt for the fact that I canÕt even miss a county board committee meeting
without hitting the front page of our daily newspaper, you might wonder if IÕd
died and gone toÉ well, whatever. IÕm going to school. ThatÕs right, in my late
sixties, (very late, in fact, as late you can get); IÕm attending Western
Illinois University to work on my MasterÕs Degree in Political Science,
something I intended to do about 30 years ago.
IÕm older than the other students, the
professors, the administrators, the staff — just about everyone on
campus, but I donÕt feel it. IÕve never worked so hard in my life, taking three
graduate level courses, two of them ÒcoreÓ courses, which have to be part of my
curriculum to get the degree. Everyone has been wonderful to me and the
experience is invigorating and fun. Not only can I mix with young people, in my
two core courses are students from other countries who are studying
international relations. There are students from Japan, Turkmenistan, Chad,
Turkey, Croatia, Mexico, and what a nice group of people they are. In my third
course, some of the he students are seniors, so they are even younger. I think
they are a bit startled when I refer to some part of my life in the 1950Õs but
they are getting use to me, and I, them.
How many of us get to go to graduate
school the same time as our grandchildren? My granddaughter is in the graduate
program for Social Work at Loyola University. We expect to graduate the same
time, about spring of 2007. Her goal is to do well and continue her career in
crisis counseling and management.
My goal is to do well and live long enough to finish and maybe teach
about government and politics at the community college level. Because IÕve been
active in politics and government for 45 years, I think my experience, combined
with more education, might be valuable to young people. Over the years, IÕve
spoken to students in colleges and high schools and for some strange reason,
IÕm not cynical about the subject. The students have reacted with interest and enthusiasm.
In fact, some still keep in touch and tell me about their internships in
Washington, D.C, for example, or some other interesting project.
IÕve been convinced for years that if
students really understood the reality of our rather laborious and inefficient
system of representative democracy, they might not be so shocked and negative
when they reach voting age and beyond. ItÕs also healthy to listen to someone
whoÕs had practical experience and lived to tell about it with some enthusiasm.
When my granddaughter and I were
discussing school, I told her I would have to buy a backpack, hip-huggers, tank
tops (that donÕt reach the waist, of course) and get some jewelry in my navel
before I hit campus. She didnÕt seem worried. The most amazing sight on campus is a group of students
walking together, but talking on their cell phones to someone else instead of
each other
IÕm thankful every waking minute that I
forced myself to learn to use a computer in the early 1990s. As a commuting
student, I can download reading assignments from the Western Illinois
University website, order parking permits and accomplish a lot of other student
business. Then, of course, there are the papers. I have three 20 page research
papers to complete and final exams in the next two weeks. And when I say
research, I mean RESEARCH! IÕve already received one first draft back with so
much writing on it I may have to start over. I never thought at this late stage
I would get so excited about hypotheses, dependent and independent variables
and operationalizing my concepts. Yeah, I thought I knew what those words meant
too.
For years when people asked me ÒWhaddya
know?Ó I would answer, ÒLess every day.Ó Now I can answer, ÒMore than I ever
dreamed, thank you.Ó
Boy, am I going to need those apples.
Caroline Porter is a freelance writer who can be reached at cporter@galesburg.net.
Other columns are online at www.thezephyr.com.
12/01/05