I’ve experienced many “theres” in life. I watched an FSU football game for the first time when I was 18, and said, “I have to go to college there!” Listening to The Marching Chiefs play the fight song pulled at my love of rhythm, and I dreamed of chopping in Doak Campbell Stadium (Bobby Bowden Field). I got there at 19, and yes, it was everything I dreamed a university could be. I dreaded graduation; I remember crying all the way back to my campus apartment thinking my life was over. No more football or sorority life – just responsibility.
After the dreaded graduation, I wondered where my next “there” would be. Life showed me the way to my husband of 31 years. We watched our two sons grow, and I realized that they were finding their own “theres.” I started wondering about my next “there.” Life showed me the way again. When the banks began to fail in 2007, so did my husband’s business. I needed a job, fast. I applied for a position as an assistant librarian at the local college. The day of the interview, I pulled my framed FSU diploma from its hiding place in the back of my closet and headed out the door. Thankfully, I didn’t take the bulky, gilt-covered proof of my credential into the interview; I left it on the seat of my car. After speaking with HR, I learned that I could upload an official copy of my transcripts into the human resource file, and that would suffice for job- credentialing. Who knew? Certainly not stay-at-home-mom-of-13-years me. I got the job, and then a whole new search for “there” began.
Working among books and really smart people fueled my desire to master something. EVERYONE I worked with had an advanced degree. I was jealous, so I applied to Valdosta State University. Once I started classes, I realized the road to my next “there,” a master’s in English, was going to be long and arduous. I worked during the day, even using my lunch break to teach Learning Support English classes, and drove an hour two nights a week to attend classes. The drives home at 10:00 p.m. up I-75’s notorious twenty-year construction project built my impatience to get “there” – done with school. Once I earned my diploma, I thought, Okay, I’m there. Now I can relax a little. Wrong! Teaching six classes a semester and grading a minimum of 100 essays every two weeks is NOT relaxing. After nine years of college English instructing, I’m starting to wonder, where’s my next “there”?
So, the purpose in writing this installment (because everything we write has purpose say the English compositionists) is introspective, but also, I get the question, “Why Been There; Done That“? Because “there” is not necessarily a place, like a vacation destination, but life experiences. Are you ready for a new experience, or are you “there”?
Been there; done that. 