Am I Having Fun?

School is FUN!

Following my blog entry the other day, a good friend and former CFL player said to me, "you're doing this for fun!  Chill!"

Well, not in so many words, but since he actually only speaks in IFRS and GAAP, most of the time he's just mouthing bullshit.  So I have to interpret for him.

Anyway...

That got me thinking.  Is the blog giving you (i.e. any one of you) the impression that I'm NOT having fun?  If so, I apologize.  That's not what I am conveying (or least not usually).  I think I am a bit too intense for my well-being.  Chunski just has a tendency to get carried away.

I'm actually really enjoying this school stuff.  Let me give you an example, in three of my courses this semester--political sociology, 19th Century European history, and Popular Culture--I find there's a lot of synergy I can apply to my coursework.  I find that exciting.  For those of you (and I think there's a couple) who know the kind of research I used to do, you can probably relate to how I can excited over disparate disciplines that all combine to illuminate the human condition.  Maybe some former students can even remember how excited I can get about things that are not directly from marketing.

In any event, I find this school thing has afforded me such a luxury.  To "force" me to learn more new things, and to do a Chunski spin of merging multiple discourses into something.  So yeah, I am getting a kick out of it!

I LOVE TERM PAPERS

You noticed I said earlier the kind of research I USED TO do?  Well, now that I am retired, and I'm an undergrad, I don't plan to be publishing and shit like that.  But I have always enjoyed writing, and having to write all these term papers has been great fun for me.  Not only that, not only do I simply derive pleasure from writing, but I find the process of research and writing a term paper compels a deeper level of understanding of the subject than merely reading a text can do.

My TAs and profs might not like what my paper, but that's beside the point.  I do what I do, and if that gets me an A+, great.  But if some wet-behind-the-ear TA thinks my paper isn't up to snuff, so be it too.  I learn from doing it, and that's the important thing.  Not that I like a bad grade, but to me it simply means I'm too good for them :)

KEEPING THE SCHOLARSHIP WON'T BE EASY

I have come to the realization that keeping the scholarship won't be that easy.  Partly that's because it would require me to write my papers in a way not entirely my own.  For example, what the hell can I do with a 12-page limit on a term paper?

Also, there's the memory stuff when it comes to exams.  I mean, that's never been my strong suit.  And as I get older, it's gets harder.

And I don't have first year courses to boost my GPA (used up my quota already).

Well, let's see how I do this term.  I'm hoping I can keep my GPA at the A/A+ range (the scholarship requires A/A- average), but all it takes is for me to slip up in one course the whole GPA thing is down the tubes (the averages must be maintained every semester). 

It's not a lot of money, but hey, it's good enough for a few steak dinners!

OK, BACK TO STUDYING

OK, over and out.  I have three midterms to study for, and these old eyes are getting tired.  So, enough fun and games for today.  Back to work!  Good thing I don't have cable!