Hands down, one of my favorite things so far about being a mature student is how darn academic I've been feeling lately. Maybe it's all the time I've been spending in the library, but I can almost feel my synapses working overtime.
In my previous life as a university student, I had surprisingly little time to devote to actual learning. Sure I went to class and did my assignments, but I always had this sneaking suspicion that I wasn't actually learning. Maybe it was just my program. Business at the undergraduate level isn't exactly academic. It tries really hard but it's almost too practical to be scholarly. By all means, correct me if I'm wrong. If you know of something new and exciting to be discovered about supply chain logistics, then let's get a bottle of scotch and chat.
But seriously, as a business student at a large university, I often found myself jealous of friends who were doing interesting research and presenting at student conferences while I was deriving financial formulas. I will fully admit that part the fault for my disconnect from the hallowed halls of higher learning lies squarely on my own shoulders. I was a full time student trying to work as much as possible to pay for my education and that just didn't leave a whole lot of room for extra-curriculars.
Thanks to an amazingly supportive partner and a new attitude towards student debt (I'm so sorry Gail Vaz-Oxley!), I am giving myself the gift of focusing on being a full time student and the difference is astounding. For the first time I feel like I'm engaged in actual learning! I'm having moments where I'm analyzing things around me in the context of my course material. For real. I actually have time to talk to my professors, something I've never done before. It is truly amazing how much fun a research paper can be when you actually pick a topic that you are interested in and not one that will just be easy to finish in the least amount of time. It probably doesn't hurt that I'm actually studying something that I'm interested in. I will never underestimate the value of that again.
Yesterday I sat down to have a chat with one of my professors. I have a pretty intense research paper for her class due in December and couldn't think of a good topic. I had an idea in my head for a project but knew that it was too big a mountain to conquer for the class but I just could not get past it. It was rolling around in my head just dying to get out. It's the type of idea that requires actual, primary research because there really isn't much out there on it. I brought my snazzy idea to my professor with the hope that she would be able to cure me of it and send me off with a topic that would be more realistic for the assignment. Thankfully, she did just that - and then blew my scholarly brains by suggesting that I could use my research paper assignment as a jumping off point for getting funding to do ACTUAL RESEARCH for my BIG IDEA. With a big wig researcher. In Toronto.
I don't know if this will actually happen. Right now I'm just excited that my brain is working and that I'm still capable of individual creative thought. But it is a possibility. One that I never would have considered in my previous academic life. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm feeling scholarly. I just might wear tweed tomorrow.
Yes, more tweed, please!
ReplyDeleteI tend to fully agree, though. I found University a means to an end. The whole learning thing just wasn't me. Perhaps, like you, integrations and derivations were not academic. Or at least, not the type of academic that could be deemed interesting.