When Things Go Off the Rails, You’ve Got to Stay Calm

I thought the class I took in the Summer was my last writing course for the Master’s degree in Religious Studies. According to the system used by the university, I was set to graduate in December 2024. I tried to tell the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) that the system was wrong about the number of courses needed but was told to go by it anyway. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get an online meeting with the DGS. I think part of the reason is that I am not a paying student, as I am on the GSU-62 program that allows anyone over 62 who can pass the application process to register for class for free.

I learned I was right and needed three more classes to graduate. I have submitted my capstone project for Fall 2024, but it is a separate requirement. I could be angry and walk away, but because I love studying, learning, researching, and writing creative essays, I will be calm and talk with the DGS on Friday to see what can be done to smooth the process. I will take an Aging in the Global Economy course, appropriate for a seventy-something student. Also, a course in Religion, Race, and Nation will give me a greater understanding of how Christianity was usurped by European discoverers and came to be complicit with slavery and all manner of prejudices.

So, although I was ready to sit back after December and write excellent blogs about all my new learning, it seems I will need one more semester to finish. Completing my studies in the Spring means I will have new opportunities to write and learn. You can’t get anything better for an old lady like me who believes in life-long learning.

You live long enough to pick your battles carefully, not stressing over every real or imagined injustice or struggle. You learn to stay calm, find the positives, and be joyful, whatever the situation. You smile because if this is the only bad in your life, you are indeed a happy and blessed person. Time to pack the bookbag, order pens and reams of paper, and dust off the bus pass. Monday is the start of new adventures. Ain’t nobody mad but the devil!