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November 06, 2005
Time, aging and work
Time, aging and work changes people. Here is some more archeology for you; an excerpt from a journal from about 20 years ago:
"My first quarter in college is almost over. On December 5th my final exam in science, December 9th math, December 11th language and that's it for this quarter.
I don't like college so far. Will I ever make it through?"
In May of the following Spring, there is this entry in the journal:
"I started college in the Fall. My grades were ok. In the Winter they fell below a 2.0 average. So far it looks pretty grim. I'm failing math and doing very poorly in science. To top it all off I'm short $400 this month to pay our bills. My wife was depressed about this today and that made things worse. So I had to reassure her that we'll make it just fine. But who is going to reassure me?"
Then one year after starting college:
"This is Fall quarter at the University. Money is even tighter now than ever before. I'm getting about 4 hours of sleep per night and I bombed a midterm in Geology already this quarter. I'm beginning to wonder what I'm doing, and even why I'm doing it. It all makes sense in the long run, but I wish I knew the secret to surviving day to day. I guess if there is a secret it would be to stop complaining, plan a course of action and do what has to be done."
The next two pages were ripped out of the journal, twenty years ago. I think the contents of those two pages were too painful to document in writing. I walked away from college the following Fall and got a full-time job in a factory.
A year and a half later:
"I quit my job on February 26th and started school on the 29th. I'm getting high grades so far. I believe this was a great decision. So far I like this school."
Two years after that:
"I'm very optimistic about my future career plans. I'm educating myself again (night school)..."
I think there is always hope no matter how bad things seem.
Posted by carl1236 at November 6, 2005 10:09 AM | CHANGE