The World of Academia

When I returned to college I decided to major in history because I had always been fascinated with the past. I also had to declare a minor so I chose religion due to an interest in studying the Bible. (And I was curious to see what the Baptist professors were like.)

I still remember my four courses that semester: Speech, Western Civ, English Composition, and Old Testament. The one I dreaded the most was Speech because I would have to make speeches to a classroom full of students my children’s ages (and be graded on it!!). And speaking of grades, did I really think I was there to just learn and let the grades fall where they may? If I had discovered one thing about myself in my years of playing tennis, it was that I was very competitive. So why did I think it would be any different in the academic world?

I became a dedicated student, driven to achieve like never before. I’ll never forget the first quiz I had to take (it was in O.T.); I thought I was going to have to run to the bathroom to throw up, I was so nervous. I made 100. When the history professor told us that the top 2 students in the class would be exempt from the final exam, I became determined to be one of those. (In all of his classes, I finished 2nd to Emily, a very bright girl from Singapore.) Even though I was busy as never before, I was having a ball.

My days would be something like this: go to class (I tried to get all morning classes), go home and study, go back to tennis practice for 2-3 hours, back home to cook (maybe) and study some more until bedtime. On the days we couldn’t practice (weather, usually) we were expected to run at least a mile. So I was never lacking for something to do.

The young students were very accepting; some even asked me to study with them at their homes or the library. (That was because they knew I never missed class and always had extensive notes.) I enjoyed these relationships and got to know some of them really well.

After taking 2 years of Bible courses, I changed my major to English. The Religion instructors and I didn’t always agree. Amazingly enough, they were too liberal for me. I felt like I was at Vanderbilt Divinity School where the professors seemingly have a mission to destroy one’s faith instead of build it up. (Or so I have gathered over the years of reading about them and talking to their students.) English was a much better minor for me – I was really getting into Shakespeare and Jane Austen.

My 3 ½ undergraduate years at Belmont were extremely rewarding. I was selected to join both the history and English honor societies, and was all-conference in tennis one year. My GPA for those years was 3.9 (just couldn’t pull off A’s in biology or sociology). I had made friends with both students and faculty and had enjoyed the experience of broadening (s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g) my mind.

I don’t say all of this to brag (well, maybe a little) – my thought is that if I could achieve something in my late forties, then anyone can at any age. It was a great lesson for me in overcoming fears.

But where to go from here?