The Journey: Preparing To Win

The first day of my new school and a complete semester of on-line classes awaits me on Tuesday like Damocles sword dangling over my head! I am eager to finish my degree and these classes will take me halfway to that goal. My apprehension lies in the discipline, or my sometimes lack thereof, that accompanies on-line classes. I have done well at them in the past, yet four on-line classes is a daunting feat to say the least. I need to prepare myself, like any focused individual should, to succeed on my journey toward the endgame.

Mark Twain and I are going to become well acquainted over the next sixteen weeks and I hope we shall remain friends after the end of the term. I fear my fondness for A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court will be sorely tested this spring and my concern for Huck Finn will dwindle to nothing. I am tempted to visit the Mark Twain House in Hartford to satisfy my curiosity about the man and to reassure myself that he is worthy of the volumes of reading I now find myself bound to. Hmm...I ended the sentence with a preposition, what would Sister Kirsten think? But, I digress. I have an admitted insatiable appetite for reading and knew perfectly well what I was getting myself into, yet the reality of it is here and all too challenging. I need to sit down and prepare a schedule that will help me enjoy the journey through this semester because if I am not enjoying school, then what is the point?

I must prepare myself to win, like any battle tested warrior and that preparation begins today with my first peek at the classes themselves. I need to buy books, notebooks and calculators because, alas, I need to take Statistics and those who know me, know how joyful a class I won't find this. By allocating time during the week and utilizing my lunch hour, I will maximize my time to complete assignments and to even buy myself some time to read for pleasure, a guilty pleasure at best, but we all need a reward during the battle to ensure our continued dedication to the task at hand. As you continue on your journey in life and pursue that which makes you happy, I leave you with a quote from the famous and wonderful Mark Twain: “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” Enough said.