campus

It started four days ago and finally after procrastinating, planning, and rescheduling I went for my first lecture and it was not at all like what I had imagined. I had wondered how the hell I was going to be able to focus on lesson/s. I managed to focus and it ended. Did I learn anything? Oh, I put all my energies into focusing and staying focused alone. I forgot to learn and remember my lesson. Day two was less intense as it was my free day and I had to stand in a queue for my course book and a small detour to the registrars office.  There were about five people waiting in line. Nothing out of the routine. But I got to know the campus scene a little better than I had imagined. I thought it would be all about a bit of fashion, latest music scene and boyfriends and exchanging study notes perhaps. Instead I heard animated conversations about day care for their kids, mortgage payments, part-time work, etc.

 Few decades ago, things were different as a student. We worried about skipping class and going for a movie with the gang. Eating in our favorite restaurant, shopping, etc. Day care, mortage, rushing to work after classes were unheard of when we were students.After you got a degree, (graduate or a post graduate) you either chose to work at a job for few years before getting married, or entered matrimony right after graduation. Education was a destination. It was considered as a stepping stone to getting employment and staying employed because the marriage proposal happened because of the job which happened because of the education. Did you see the pattern? After 20 odd years of blissful married life, couples planned for their children's future including educating them so that they get into good paying permanent jobs. Which in turn will enable them to take care of their families. Life thus went on from one generation to another. As far as my knowledge goes, people in their forties never thought of going back to school. Maybe that was another time, another place I lived in. 

This is the real world we are living in today. Education is a continuous journey, it is not a destination.

Ranga Rajah