my careless contagion

I am done. No more classes. No more books. No more teachers' ... emails.  As much as I would love to continue my education, it's okay if I don't. I miss my son, and the time I spent reading and doing assignments and tests and discussion posts can now be spent with him.  I feel grateful to have finally finished a two-year degree. I know it's not a real degree, but it's something . It may not mean anything in the real world, especially at my age, but it feels good. Once upon a time, I took an academic scholarship to a community college (based mostly on my ACT score of 29) for granted. Now, I am extremely grateful to have finally completed an associate's degree and to have completed it after more than 20 years' hiatus. How ironic. How I've grown. It's anticlimactic. It's just over. Part of me will miss it. Part of me was ready for a break. I've been taking classes on and off since 2017. I've barely had time for living during the ...

Jimmy Eat World's The Middle was released in 2001 on the album Bleed American. The lyrics to this song were important to me, as they spoke of peer pressure and the need to conform. I was at a point in my life when I really started missing my education. I was wondering if I'd ever get a chance to go back to school. I saw everyone moving on with their lives, getting real jobs, and I was just a hardcore kid paying the rent. So, too, Jimmy Eat World's A Praise Chorus spoke to me. I remember listening to this song when I was 24, 25, 26. So, when the song says, "Even at 25, ya gotta start sometime," I agreed. I felt like my time was coming, but I also felt it was too late to go back to school at the age of 25. And 26, well, that was really old. Here I am, 41 and taking classes. Clearly, it's never too late. These songs are important to me still because they reveal a lesson I started learning a long time ago. It doesn't help to compare yourself to...