Hats off to those who return to college for another degree

I have a confession to make: I have never been an enthusiastic student. School has always been a struggle for me, not an excruciating struggle, but a struggle all the same.

I am the kind of student that has to keep reading over and over again for a concept to stick. The only subjects that have never given me a headache are English and Literature, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

In high school, I envied those who only had to listen to the teacher once to grasp a concept. If I did not read, really read, I would fail with a capital F. I dread examinations, always have. They feel like punishment, punishment I do not deserve, and each time I put the last full stop in an exam, I am immensely relieved. I feel liberated, as if I have been released from prison, or have been allowed to see the sun for the first time in months.

I dread exams so much there is, in fact, an exam I did not turn up for, many years ago.

I was a year into my first job after graduation from college, and my dad had been pestering me for some time to go back to school and do “something.” The something I eventually chose happened to be French, which I struggled with gallantly for four months, barely passing CATs, and finally getting approval to do the main exams. I spent the day before D-Day feverishly revising, trying to remember whether a table is male or female.

HATS OFF!

About 30 minutes to the start of the exam, I chickened out and decided I would not do it. I just did not turn up, and never have. Money down the drain right there, and now my CV reads that I can speak three languages fluently, instead of four.

I do not regret it though because my heart hadn’t been in it to begin with – I had enrolled just to appease my dad.

My experience in a French classroom also revealed to me that languages are simply not my forte, even though I am sure I would be speaking decent French today had I practised what I learnt.

As you can imagine, I am normally genuinely impressed when someone tells me they are studying for their second master’s degree or a doctorate. The other day, I learnt that a former high school classmate will be graduating next year with a PhD. I did not even ask her a PhD in what – the fact that she had gotten to this stage was impressive enough for me, bearing in mind that she has three children and a full-time job to boot. Hats off Fiona.

But what really impressed me were two young people I met recently – a 24-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman, both PhD students. Even more impressive, this young man lectures at two universities.

I keep hearing that young people today abhor reading, yet here are two (I am sure there are scores of others out there) who spend most of their time reading a stack of thick, serious-looking textbook grand titles while their peers toast to their care-free twenties. I was even more impressed when we managed to have an entire conversation without any of them using the word “like” in a sentence. By all means keep doing what you’re doing.

You must be wondering how I have managed to survive in a career where continuous reading is absolutely necessary. Fortunately for me, the kind of reading I am expected to do is far from dull, and thankfully, no one gives me an exam to prove that I have been reading.