Beating The Clock

Walking down the halls, hearing the sounds coming from the different rooms, surrounded by education, people eager to learn.

Advanced Calculus in room 216B, Intro to Biology in room 214C.

Occasionally I glance into a room through a somewhat open door and can only see faces. People of all different ages, races, ethnic backgrounds, males and females, some smiles, some frowns, some with a completely dazed and confused look on their face.

How do you describe a student? Is it a person who is young and happy? Old and depressed? Middle-aged and confused? Where do I fit in?

I am 25 years young. I've been in college since I was old enough to vote. My one claim to fame is the single PoliSci degree propped on a bookshelf -serving as a unique background to my favorite gingerbread candle.

While waiting for class to begin, I stop to take inventory of the faces in the room...no two people are at the same point in their lives. There's the 18 year-old 2nd semester freshman, 30 year-old LPN seeking to advance her career by obtaining an RN degree, the 45 year-old mother of 3 seeking a first time degree...and then there's the 25 year-old certified pharmacy technician/professional student---ME. And there is nothing wrong with that.

My circle of friends includes some Master's degrees, a few PhD's, a sprinkle of PharmD's, and the rest are equally split between Bachelor's degrees and no degrees at all. It took me a while to accept the fact that I am a professional student. For the longest time I felt like a failure; like there was an invisible clock ticking...ticking to an inevitable countdown that stopped exactly four years after entering college. I always felt inadequate. But looking around this classroom, I feel at home. I feel secure. The clock keeps ticking; however, I am under no pressure to finish by a certain deadline.

Sucess is not determined by how quickly you finish the marathon....sucess is finishing.