Looking back over the archives, it amazed me to realize there isn’t a lot here about where I’m from…at least not where I’m from educationally. It’s amazing because the Cajun Princess and I talk about these things all the time. In fact, it’s pretty much how we bonded. So, grab yourself a cup of coffee, a beer, or even champagne and I’ll tell you a bit of the Tale of Little Miss Someday. (By the way, I’m still waiting on some good pseudonym suggestions.) This tale is inspired by Dr. Crazy’s “College for the Underclass” post. There are several ideas in there I’d like to address, but first I need to provide the background.
As with everyone, my educational genealogy begins with my parents. My Mother never finished high school, but got her GED when I was around 7 or 8. My Father graduated from high school and was eventually sent to some further vocational training by one of his employers.
(Aside #1 – Isn’t it fascinating how we do this? Construct educational genealogies for ourselves. It’s as if our parents’ educational level should both provide some indication of what our own educational potential should be; but, it should also be the level we seek to surpass.)
I think the most important thing about my mother’s education is that when I was 10 she went to the local Community College (CC) and got a business certificate. Basically, it meant she was able to work in an office doing a number of things like basic payroll and accounting. In fact, she worked in the business office of that same college after she graduated. At an early age the idea that education could get you a decent job you didn’t hate too much was ingrained in me. Even to a 10 year old it’s pretty obvious that a low level office job is better than cleaning houseboats. My Father was talented at what he did and always had a good paying blue collar job. So, during my high school years we were pretty solidly lower-middle class. It was assumed that I would go to college, but that instead of going away to school I would start out at the local CC. I didn’t even apply to any four year schools. While we didn’t have enough money to send me to a four year school, according to my Dad’s taxes we had enough that I didn’t really need financial aid.
My staying in the home town turned out to be a good thing. During the spring of my Senior year my parents divorced. I did go to the CC that fall, but I didn’t even last a full quarter. Life was just a little messed up for me. So, I took the first of what was to be a couple of ‘breaks’ from school. I’d work for a while, go back and take a few classes, and then work for a while again. There was a rather long break where I followed John Boy to the northern end of the state, but eventually I returned home and to the CC.
To me, this is where it gets interesting.
Dr. Crazy is candid about her goals as an undergraduate, “I was no fool: I knew that I needed to graduate from college and to make some money. Period.“ It is the sensible perception of education when coming from a working/lower-middle class background. It probably should have been my goal. Education, job, steady income. When I came back from North Hippy-ville, I knew I was going to finish at the CC and transfer to a four-year school. Sounds right on track, except that I was going to be a theatre major. Oh yeah, you want to know what degree is at least as useless, if not more useless, than an English degree, that would be a Theatre degree. The craziest thing is that I did it. So, not only did I not get serious about school until I was 24, when I did get ‘serious’ about school, it was in an entirely not serious way. I was pursuing a dream.
Maybe my desire to pursue my acting dream influenced the rest of my education, because even at the CC, I took courses that sounded interesting to me. My schedule was always eclectic. Yes, I took a lot of English and Drama classes, but I also took beginning Russian and a biology course on Modern Day Plagues – and, I LOVED it! When I finally really left home to go to a state school on the Prairie, I conceded a little to sensibility and supplemented my Theatre major with an English minor. It was a little about the fall back, but mostly because an entire semester of nothing but theatre and dance classes made me feel like my brain was atrophying. So, I supplemented with things I liked and wanted to learn English and French classes and even some Sign Language. It wasn’t until after I’d decided that I’d finish the Theatre degree, but that I didn’t want a career in the theatre.
(Aside #2 - I don’t mean that to sound like I thought I’d have some grand career. It was just that going into my final year at
So, I set a new goal. I wanted to teach English at a Community College. My experience at my CC was great and I thought that teaching at that level was an attainable goal. I’d get my MA, find a job at a CC like mine, and do theatre on campus or in the community. Two things happened – I met Dr. Snarky and I worked for a year at a CC here in
So, why the life story?
Well, I just wanted to illustrate yet another way that “college” means something different to everyone. I’m guilty of trying to convince my students that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is good – or, at least not a complete waste of their time. I’m guilty of this not because I buy into any sort of “de facto elitism” (which does exist), but because I want them to enjoy learning of all types. It’s a silly goal, but I think that if they can enjoy learning, then they will be able to see life beyond their paycheck. They’ll still be nurses, and whatever it is business majors become, but maybe they’ll also figure out how to do something they love as well.
Another reason for the life story:
Now you know how apt a title “Wandering the Academy” really is.
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