Thursday Thirteen

I took a long time to get both my bachelor's degree and my master's degree. My bachelors took me eight long years to obtain. It came from Hollins College, and two years later, the college changes its name to Hollins University.

I began working on my master's immediately after graduating with my BA, but then decided I needed a break. I went back to it in 2002 and finally finished it in 2012. I took it a class at a time, as I could afford it and as my work and my health allowed. They were long-term goals, and I met them.

So, without further ado, here is what my effort to obtain both degrees taught me.

1. A degree is not a finish line, but a conversation with time. The degree is just a piece of paper, but it represents the culmination of many hours of work.

2. Eight years can be a pilgrimage, not a delay. While I was at the college for a very long time, that allowed me to seek out different professors and also to become personal friends with some of the professors that I saw from year to year. In a way, I became a fixture at the college because I was there off and on so much.

3. Learning is not linear, and neither is becoming. It took me a long time to find my footing when I went back to school. I was an older student at the age of 22 and married. My life experiences were different from my classmates, who were younger (and generally not as dedicated because they weren't paying for their degree, their parents were).

4. Returning to the classroom, especially years later, is its own kind of courage. It was hard to go back for my masters, but the experience was incredibly rewarding. And there was a great change in the way students interacted from 2002 to 2012. In 2002, I made friends of my classmates during breaks. By 2012, everyone veered off into their own little corner to check in on their phones with family and friends. The classroom experience changed in those 10 years.

5. A BA earned in 1993 and an MA in 2012 are not endpoints, but waypoints. They are markers in my life, ways I can remember what happened when. 

6. The voice you find at Hollins may take years to fully claim. Hollins has a strong creative writing program, but it also could be snobbish. Hollins may not be the place for someone who really only wants to write Nancy Drew books or romances. Hollins is the place to write the Great American Novel (think Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard). It took me a while to find myself and make sure my voice was my own, and not the reflection of my professors or some other writer.

7. Education is not just what you study, but what you survive. Hollins had a major flooding event in 1985, my first year there. The Flood of '85 wiped out the school library and classes ended up being cancelled for at least a month. It was an abbreviated semester, for sure. I personally had to survive many surgeries and health issues that forced me drop out for several semesters. Yet I kept going.

8. The institution may change names, but the imprint remains. I was not all that happy with the name change from Hollins College to Hollins University, but I understood it. The college didn't change with the name change, but it has certainly changed over time as the world has changed. One big difference? When I graduated in 1993, the cars around the campus were BMWs and Mercedes. When I graduated in 2012, the cars were Toyotas and SUVs.

9. Some lessons wait patiently until you’re ready to hear them. One of the courses I took, Imaginative Thinking, stuck with me for a long time. But it wasn't until I was in my 40s that I realized what the professors were trying to teach me - that I could be freer in my expression and less controlled.

10. Your story doesn’t need to match anyone else’s syllabus. I did the lessons, but my homework definitely was different, thanks to my age. Some of my professors appreciated having an older and quite dedicated student in class, others, not so much.

11. That persistence is a kind of artistry. Honestly, if anyone had told me I'd stick to working on my BA for eight long years, I'd have said no way. I used to think I didn't do things long term, but that was definitely long term. (And this blog has been here since August 2006, (19 years!) happy birthday, Blue Country Magic!)

12. That time itself can be a teacher. I learned so much about myself during my journey at Hollins. I learned to think, to understand, to be empathetic. I learned to give myself grace when I was ill and do the same for others. And I learned that eventually, with enough patience and dedication, I could do anything.

13. I wasn't late. I was layered. I took a different route, one I never expected, toward my degrees. I hadn't anticipated marrying at 20, getting a two-year AS degree in 1989 (I took classes concurrently at Hollins and Virginia Western Community College, transferring credits back and forth) and finally my BA in 1993. Nor had I predicted that I would spend so much time in the hospital or have so many surgeries. Lots happened to me. It all made me who I am.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 919th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.