"Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more..."

(with my deepest apologies to William Shakespeare)

Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic here, but you have to remember who I'm married to! It's been about 7 years since I set foot in a real classroom as a student. Yeah, in the interim I went to all kinds of manufacturer training classes and I've taught a couple of semesters now, but that's not the same. And now I've done did it. I've registered for 15 hours this fall (and 3 this summer) at my local community college in anticipation of transferring (in a year I hope) to SIU-Carbondale in their Computer Science department.

"Why" you ask? I'm tired of knowing that I'm capable of a job and being told I'm not because I haven't received a piece of paper. I don't like the feeling I get when, after conversing with someone for a while (as supposed equals) we get to the "so, where did you go to school?" question which leaves me embarrassed or stammering, or both and suddenly knowing that my thoughts and opinions have been devalued. I've waited far too long to do this.

It's not an easy thing to do for so many reasons. First is the work involved in going to school full time again. It's a different world "inside." One that I haven't had to deal with in a while so the transition may be tough. Of course the logistics of having a family and going to school aren't easy. Did I mention that I'm going to continue to teach part time while I go to school? And last but certainly the most difficult, is the financial challenges this course of action will present.

But if it works out, if I can make it through the next 3 to 5 years (I'm probably going to continue on after the BA in Computer Science and try for an MBA), I'll be more marketable, more skilled and probably more confident that I've ever been...and probably more tired too!