About Me

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Los Angeles, California, United States
Making the foray into blogging because at forty-something, and mother of three, I have turned my back on my film career and am pursuing my education. This September I start at UCLA as a Junior, majoring in English.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Balance

I didn't realize that I would have so little time to actually write about my experiences while being at school! It is the start of the third week, and we are already preparing for mid-terms. Changing from the semester to quarter systems is a major adjustment - the work commences from day one and never lets up. I asked one of my professors how to best succeed in his class and his answer was, "Don't get sick, break up any relationships, or allow a relative to die; you simply don't have time." He's right! I am reading about 3-4 hours every single night, let alone completing the assignments.
Still, I love it - and have taken on an additional seminar course on women poets, as well as having an honors contract in one of my classes, which requires me to complete an additional paper and meet with the professor individually every week. Between this and my work at the kids' school preparing for the musical, I have very little time for anything else!
Each morning begins with a brisk hike up Bruin Walk from the car park. Enthusiastic, fresh-faced students distribute flyers about rushing, christian clubs, debate clubs, acapella singing groups, and there are bake sales raising money for various organizations - but they rarely proffer them in my direction. I go to my French class every morning at 9am - and stumble over conjugation each day. Our teacher suggested it would be nice to have 'casual Friday', so I have agreed to bring donuts this week and he is bringing coffee! My next class each day is only 10 minutes later, so I race over to the Humanities building for a lecture. My professors are incredibly interesting, smart and completely engaging - and their TA's are inspiring and supportive.
Powell library is a fabulous resource, and a great place to work quietly - in fact I wish I had more time to spend in there. Today, I have a couple of hours between classes and will explore the English reading room as well.
I have met some lovely young women in my classes, and I was approached by a woman a little older than me in my English 10B class, who takes lectures for fun and doesn't write papers or complete assignments, just comes to the lectures to learn. She is an 'empty nester' who is looking for something new to do - a lawyer who wants to go in another direction, but is not sure what that should be. She accosted me after class when she noted I was a)English, and b)a "little older than the other students" (!)

Today I have a long day there - I am also having coffee with one kids from Buckley who is an undergrad there. I meet with a classmate to review French for a test, and I must research my thesis for a paper. I am going to see "Madea" there tonight as well (one of the great perks of being a student is deeply discounted tickets to all UCLA events!). It is around 5am, and I have more reading to do before today's class, so I'd better get on with it.....

4 comments:

  1. How exciting! I'm thrilled for you. The whole time my daughter was applying to colleges, I kept wishing to go back, knowing I'd make so much better use of it at 48 than at 18. And here you are doing just that. I'm living vicariously through you. (But you won't join a sorority, will you?)

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  2. Thank you Susan! No sororities for me - I am against policies of exclusion! Loving it, but it is a lot of work. How is NY?

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  3. You sound like you're thriving on it. I am so, so proud of you, my dear, for doing this and doing it with such heady, infectious enthusiasm. Bravo, brava and let me know where I need to intersect with you on campus to bring sandwiches.

    Love

    Miss W x

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  4. Miss W! Thanks for always being in my corner - and I cannot tell you how tempting sandwiches on campus would be - I have forgotten to eat until after 4pm 3 days this week.....!!

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