No longer will I check “high-school diploma/some college” on applications: I am a college grad. One personal goal of mine down.
I’m keenly aware of that this will not throw doors open for me. Some of the smartest people I know don’t have or want college degrees, and many of them earn far more than I do. My current job is great and I had it before I even started school. In my school’s engineering program, I was in the very small minority of students already employed in their desired fields.
So why did I spend nearly every spare moment outside of work and sleep in school? I blame J.K. Rowling. Or more specifically, I blame Harry Potter.
I read through the last Harry Potter book the day it came out. Yes, it’s a series that grows in reading level with the children in the story, which is ages ten through seventeen and I realize that I am not of that age. The fact that J.K. Rowling is a decent writer but certainly no Hemingway isn’t lost on me. She is, however, a highly imaginative writer who writes highly imaginative work with strong themes: the power of friendship and loyalty in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, and the classic archetype of a hero/heroine that comes from shit but learns that they are special and they have a purpose and a destiny. This worked for Star Wars, the Arthur legend, etc… and as her well-deserved wealth and fame can attest, it worked for Jo Rowling.
But I was not compelled by visions of Hogwarts to come back to school! I put down the book, thoroughly satisfied by the ending and something occurred to me: my children will read these books. It was a profound thought. But what kind of example am I setting for these unrealized tots?, I asked myself. Certainly, I wasn’t being all I could be. I was on the cusp of 31 and spent most of my spare time playing World of Warcraft and adding to a spare tire around my waist. That one question I asked myself immediately started a long chain of events that included losing a substantial amount of weight, paying off debt, purchasing a home and going back to school.
I’m much happier now but I still feel like there’s more work to be done. The kids aren’t here yet.