I Went Back to School: The Introduction **

What was I thinking?! Okay, I’m an adult. I knew exactly what I was thinking.

I’m tired of the library field. I need to focus on something that feeds my passion and pays the bills better than my current job. I’m not getting any younger, and if I put off this decision, I might lose interest. I knew it was the right decision, and it is the right decision despite the difficulties and adjustments.

I just didn’t count on the difference between 18-year-old me (full of a sense of adventure and seeing only the good in the world) and 41-year-old me (full of a sense of adventure long tempered by the realities of the world). I didn’t count on how hard it would actually be to make the adjustment to being back in college.

The first time around, I thought I had all the time I needed to change the world. Now, I recognize that I have a limited amount of time, and I have to choose wisely how I will go about changing the world and doing all the everyday things otherwise known as “adulting.” I’m old enough now to recognize the difference between activities that matter and activities, which down the line, I will regret wasting my time doing. Ah, the benefit of hindsight. On the other hand, doing the basic “adulting” things is a way of changing the world in a small way because it keeps things going for your family, your friends, your coworkers, and any other people that rely on your consistency. What I have learned is that I love writing, and I am good at writing academic papers. I have also learned that I don’t want to be writing academic papers for the rest of my life. In an effort to kickstart my personal writing again, I’m going to post a series of blogs based on my experience of going back to school, and I’m hoping that – maybe, just maybe – my posts might help another soul adventuring down this crazy path.