September 13, 2004
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Topic: Furthering education
Being back at Wash U. has been an amazing experience thus far. What separates me from everyone else here is that everyone else is a student, and I am not. However, I am finding myself more thirsty for knowledge and discussion than ever before, and that’s what makes being back in an educational community a great thing.
There’s almost this odd feeling that either I was supposed to learn everything in four years, or that now that I’m done with school, I am no longer supposed to concern myself with things like economics, public policy, and the educational system, when in reality, now more than ever, all of those things are relevant to me.
There’s a feeling that i’m too old to be a student, and a feeling that since i’m not a student, i can no longer act as one. That’s crap though. If I was paying money, I could be a grad student, and I would feel normal because that is the accepted way to continue one’s education. The thing with me, is that I’m in this weird no-man’s land, forced to give myself structure where there is none. And, although it’s unsettling, I really think it has strong advantages to being a traditional student.
1) I’m not spending money (although i’m not making much really, either)
2) I am bound by no classes or assignments
3) I am 100% free of any of the pressures associated w/ being a student
The book is going well. I sold one to a friend I saw as she was walking away from campus, and I’ve given copies to some former professors, and to some important people in the Outward Bound organization. While some may see what I am doing as exceptional, all I can see is what I have not yet accomplished. I haven’t blanketed the campus with signs. I haven’t organized or had any discussions on campus yet. I haven’t established myself as someone to be taken seriously by someone who can actually stand-by me and allow me to take part in the discussion on how to improve education. Already, the present situation has shifted my plans, and I realize that I will be spending a considerable amount of time here in St. Louis the next few months, which is an idea that I find very exciting. I am here with goals, but no expectations as to what may happen, and so I’m just enjoying the ride as it comes. Hope you’re enjoying your ride too.
Comments (2)
I am finding that I do make it an effort to learn things and research something new everyday if I can. I am finding that when school ended I felt more free to learn about anything and not constricted but the subjects just they would chose. Look at how you have that much more free time and you can do anything with it. You can learn anything about the world and you can go anywhere in the mind’s eye. I found after rereading my journal that I go to so many different places it is amazing what you can learn…
Thanks for subbing to me
. Your college system is so different to our system in the UK . I wish you had seen my photo of me on a climbing wall after reading all the out door things you like to do .So are you a Redskins or a Rams fan 