Getting an education in getting it done

nce upon a time I confidently traveled the fast lane of fame and glory. I was a golden boy in a promising new program at a fledgling state college. My name graced the dean’s list and the honor society roll. I caught the eye of my department chairman. I was hired to grade papers, began filling in for professors, and eventually became adjunct faculty.

But time and experience took its toll. Marriage, children, and a career made keeping up in school difficult. I soldiered on for a long time, but with each passing year my heart was less in it. What began as a few months off from school grew to become years.

During that time I have largely made good on the promise of my youth. I have a wonderful family, a lovely little house, and a successful career to pay for it. But I have not finished what I began. Yet, about the time you read this, I will be ascending to academia’s apex, promenading to the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance," elegantly arrayed in the robes of my redemption.

Continued...