Day One

As of 10 minutes ago I am a registered college student. For the first time in my 31 years on this planet.

I'm writing this blog so I can document the process. I figure I will have many hoops to jump through and even more hurdles to jump over, and perhaps someone will find these moments funny, sad, inspiring, or pathetic. So I'm gonna lay it all out on the table. My confusion, my struggles, my joy, my successes (hopefully!).

I'm grinning as I write this. Who'd have thunk I would ever be so elated about enrolling in community college? Certainly not I. Picturing myself as a college student was an image I could never fully conjure up. It was for other people, not me. I dropped out of high school without completing 9th grade! What college would even take me? And I had to work! Work work work work work. So I did. I worked for 16 years, creating a pretty diverse resume along the way. And I've finally reached a point where it seems like it's a perfect storm. I've got the time, the money, & the interest to pursue a higher education.

I put the word out last week that I was in dire need of a "life coach". Amongst the hilarious responses was one sincere offer.
A wonderful friend took it upon himself to help steer me in the right direction. He sent me a list of questions and then we went
through them together. He really managed to tie together all my interests and my strengths and weaknesses. And so with his support I woke up today and enrolled in Merritt College for Spring 2010. Journalism major... with a touch of Poli Sci.

I can only hope that the quality of this blog increases with my schooling! For now I will continue to abuse ellipses & ampersands & exclamation points. I will write run on sentences & my asides will probably threaten the continuity of any major theme I had been shooting for.

I will also end up documenting my breakfast choices & tracking my coffee consumption. Sort of like this:

1/7/10

Woke up, black coffee, cigarette. Read "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace. Walked dog. Ate mixed veggie masala lunch special. More black coffee. Enrolled for college. Started blog.

Alright. I suppose that's all for now.