Friday, May 09, 2008

Disasters, mitigated and otherwise

In my life, I've learned there are things you share with the world and those that are best kept to yourself. This, of course, is beyond the usual categories of starting salaries and social diseases - though those are good places to start in the keeping your mouth shut business.

Ernest Hemingway supposedly said that the surest way to defeat an unwritten novel is to start telling people that you're writing a novel. Apparently, applying for colleges is kind of like that, too.

When I showed up for my meeting two weeks ago, the meeting with admissions lasted roughly eight seconds. For those who are looking for the breakdown there, eight seconds will qualify as a good ride on a bull, but is only long enough for someone to open an envelope, shake their head and say they're sorry.

With the admissions standards, my failing grades from a decade ago meant that a standard undergrad transfer was out of the question. Luckily, there were a few options available, including a continuing education school, which meant a crash course on the differences between mitigated and unmitigated disasters.

With a week between the first meeting and a second one with the School of New Learning, there was plenty of time to be angry and annoyed and to openly question why a school that prides itself on education for all would put so much weight behind a series of grades from nearly a decade ago.

In trying to decide exactly how much effort would be too much - much like deciding how much money to bring into a casino - I surprised myself at just how much things had changed for me, primarily in the newfound premium I was placing on education's intrinsic value.

The difference is nothing short of night and day.

After a week's delay, the pieces are back in place for a fall/winter return, with the course load looking completely manageable. I'm really looking forward to the math requirements. It's almost impossible to go 0-for-4 in college level math courses, right?

No, tell me, I failed statistics at least once.

(Image from: TurningPointBooks.com)

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