It’s the wife’s night out tonight and the teenager is out hangin’ with her posse. It’s MEA the annual teachers convention that closes the schools from Tursday til Monday. Q is partying tonight having negotiated a reprieve from her month long grounding. Saturday she takes the SAT’s and then she and a friend are driving down to Ames to visit L at college. I’m a little worried about turning those two loose on the ISU campus. It may never be the same.
I’m curious to see how she does on the test. She hasn’t done any tutoring but shes a sharp kid and does well in tests. Like her I had moderately good grades in high school but did well enough on the tests to get in to Carleton. I don’t think the same credentials would get me in there today. They were trying to broaden there student body at that time and I think my artwork was what really got me in. That and the fact that one of the trustees was a golfing buddy of my Dad’s It’s not what you know, but who you know.
I kind of wasted the chance at a great education there. The art department had great teachers, but for that kind of money I could have gone to a high end art school. I probably would have just pissed my time away there as well. I wasn’t really achademic material and I didn’t have much drive. I avoided the science curriculum because I heard that it was very difficult. I was a Government and International Relations major until my dad died when I was twenty. Then, without him around to dissappoint, I switched to Art. I’m not sure I could have made it through any other way. I may have gotten through Carleton with the least number of papers written and science courses taken ever. I kind of blew the Biology Achievement test out of the water, so one of my Math/Science requirements was waved. But I chickened out on the Doctor track that so many went there for. At that time, the U of M was spotting Carleton Biology majors a half a grade point.
I’d love to say it was a great decision and that art has been a great career for me, but I was pretty lazy about that too and over the years I never really applied myself to that. I’ve pretty much devoted myself to the compulsion of the moment. First the guitar, then basketball, chess, computers, now I’m obsessing about building a website that makes money. I’m sure it will just be another lame attempt at e-commerse that brings in about 5 bucks a month, but I’m learning a lot and who knows.
I guess the thing that really gets me stoked is learning. I just love to dive into a discipline and absorb everything I can about it. Up to a point. I never really push things to the logical end. Once I become moderately proficient, I loose interest. I can’t say it hasn’t been fun though.
Wow, I didn’t realize that was what I was going to write!
My art career at Michigan State had its creative triumphs (including claiming a run for student body president as a ‘guerilla theater’ art project), but was an academic disaster. But all I needed was a 2.0 gpa to stay “eligible” so I got 4.0s in all art courses, flunked the rest, but always took at least 1 more credit a semester in art than in the rest, and “got by.”
As long as you are enjoying things and your wife doesn’t want to kill you on a regular basis. Now quasi-regular basis is ok.