The Starting Point

A long time ago I have decided that I did not want to pursue a Master's degree. Time passes and I still feel that way. However, I have changed my mind about going back to school. I am in the process of going back to school. Not a fancy grad school, but a community college. And I am pretty darn excited.

As I was filling out the application I realized that high school was 12 years ago and college was 8. It has been a long time since I left the academic world. Strangely, I feel like I have never really stopped learning. As cliche as it may sounds, I have learned a lot from people around me, even strangers. I learned things that school never taught me from the work I did -and still doing- as a writer, a travel journalist, a yoga instructor. This Associate degree that I am planning to attain from said community college will help me branch out to a whole new world. I am planning to get an Associate degree in Petroleum Technology.

I have to admit that I would not think of it myself. My husband told me about this opportunity to become a Petroleum technologist. It took me almost 2 years to finally decide that I want to do it. At first I fought the idea. "It's not me," I said and I struggled with defining 'who am I?'. The most cliche question of all. I was struggling with the notion that if I was one thing, I could not be another. If I was a writer, I could not possibly work as a Petroleum technologist. That would be a betrayal to myself. It took me so many full moons to finally come to peace with myself. I do not need to define myself. I can be anything.

My husband and I went into a lot of heated discussion about this Petroleum Technology thing. His arguments were always logical and mine were always based on my feelings. And finally I realized, taking this degree would not kill me. If anything, it would only benefit me in the long run. Adding another skill can never hurt. It will only give me a better chance in getting a well-paid job here, besides still doing the things I love to do like writing, teaching yoga and traveling.

So now I am studying for the admission test. I am revisiting trigonometry and algebra. I know it is only a community college, but I still want to ace it. I am and will always be a nerd. I guess that's the thing I like about school. It is challenging and makes me want to do well. Really well.

I did not think I would be really excited about this, but I really am.