I had an interesting turn of events today. I helped take my mom to her first college class. At 70, I thoroughly believe it is never too late. She has always been a talented artist both in oils and general drawing. Not to mention her music! She used to paint quite a lot years ago but hasn't done so in many years. About 4 weeks ago she asked if there was any way to sign up for an art class. So I did; through the continuing education at Richland college. Today was her first day.
I had temporarily forgotten how difficult it is to navigate a college campus. I completed my first 56 hours at Richland and thus am familiar with the campus. Yet now I had to find a way for her to find the campus, park, find her building, find her classroom and then be able to find her car again and leave. It really is a great deal of doing!
Although quite spry, she is still 70 and can be overwhelmed with such a big place and so many directions. I think she'll do fine though. I took her to the classroom, introduced her to the prof and wished her well and hugged her bye. As I left, I thought, is this how it is when you drop your kids off at kindergarten? The same mix of both apprehension for them and a sense of excitement because you know of all the possibilities that can be?
Education, school in general, always held this great allure for me. I could easily be a "career student" as they say. As we entered the building, I thought, she is going to have so much fun! College just holds so many opportunities.
It was just such a turn of the tables, I was taken off-guard a bit. So I learned a few things this morning. One, the things we learn to do and think, "Oh, that's easy" can be mountainous vistas for others. Two, it's never too late to start. It's all about attitude and having some courage. It took quite a lot of courage for her to go and be there with all those 'young whippersnappers!'
My advice? Do as my mom, and just go for it!!
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