I've discovered how rare it is to be taking a college class at the age of 67. This surprised me. The community college just 20 minutes from my house is a main campus and offers hundreds of classes. It's so ridiculously cheap it might as well be free. I enrolled totally on-line, and by checking the three magic boxes (over 65, AZ driver's license, and taking it for personal interest), the TOTAL bill including fees, tuition, etc. was $149. I went back and did the enrollment all over again thinking there had to be some mistake. Nope. That was the cost. Additionally, there are no parking passes, no charge for the student id, and they assign you an 'edu' email address when you enroll. Having an 'edu' electronic mailing address is good for a bunch of discounts since this magic address qualifies me as a student in the merchandising world.
Not only am I the only old person in the class, I've only SEEN one other person in the flesh who was even close to my age while coming and going to class. This was exactly what I was hoping. My Art History class has 30 enrolled of which approximately 24 show up consistently never missing a class. Well, except for the girl who sits next to me, generally plays with her phone, never takes a note, and who arrived this Monday vaguely asking, "Is the test today?" When, I said, "No, it was last Wednesday."; she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Oh well." Her attitude of boredom is so very high school.
She's the exception. Everyone else is very engaged. The professor who teaches the same class on a different day has started remarking how much more fun our class is to teach. Oh, duh. I'm the reason for that. I've conscientiously worked every day to learn names, and then, to talk to people. I know how to knit a class together, so people feel comfortable interacting, asking questions, and volunteering answers. I'm careful never to answer the professor's questions he tosses out to the class. I have so much more education and experience than anyone else, I can dominate the class time if I'm not careful.
From the very first day, the professor (who's 58) has been talking directly to me. He seems to view me as a peer. ("You remember that, right?") This guy loves to 'bunny trail' hopping off subject and veering into odd directions. This is both good and bad since without gentle prodding, he can stay off topic for 15 or 20 minutes at a time. That's OK as long as he's trying to broaden these students, but sometimes I have to be pointedly blatant to get him back onto the subject. I've noticed some of the kids copying the technique when they feel he's pontificated enough.
He and I often talk after class when I'm leisurely packing up since I don't have another class to attend. One of the things we've agreed on is these children don't know as many cultural references as they should. He made the interesting observation based on his teaching experience with this level of student: He feels intuitively in the past ten years the internet has not broadened their knowledge, but rather deepened it in a very narrow range. Many of them are struggling to go to college at all. Most of them work and attend classes. They've traveled not at all, and have the extremely small range of experiences you encounter in the working class in this country.
The average age in the class is 20, and these kiddos are such breaths of fresh air after the mustiness of Geezerville. Not a single soul has talks to me about their surgery, or asks about mine! No one has died. No one has suddenly disappeared because they stroked out. No one is suffering from the early/middle/late stages of dementia. No one complains about their arthritis. There are no canes or walkers. I do see lots of 'hangover' days.
One kid, who I really like, confessed he went to bed at 3am last night. If that doesn't scream age 20, I don't know what does! There's a lot of trouble with time management, and 'procrastination' is still the middle name of at least one-half of the class. They also are keenly aware of the changing economy. They are desperately trying to figure out how to keep themselves competitive in the new electronic economy. Animation or graphic design are popular career answers.
I really am learning a tremendous amount about art. Suddenly lots and lots of pieces I've seen make a whole lot more sense. My expectation is I'm going to enjoy art viewing even more than I do now. Overall, this experience has been even more positive than I anticipated. It's made me realize I jump out of bed on Monday and Wednesday (school days) eager to begin the day, and not so much on Tues/Thurs/Friday. That says to me it's time to rethink my routine life in Sun City.
We just had the first test, and I was obsessed with trying to make an "A". Isn't that ridiculous? My 'grade' means absolutely nothing. However, I've realized it's less about me making an "A", than it is about modeling studying and taking a class seriously to some kids who really have no idea how to do it. I constantly take notes, and I've noticed some of the kids are starting to do the same. I'm going to suggest a study session before the next test in the student union where there's access to food/drink - an important study component for 20 year olds.
It's also fascinating that they are starting to share some of their stories. What a relief it is to be on the other side of the teaching desk, so I can actually say what I want without having to 'filter' my opinions. I can use razor sharp, cutting wit on the professor during class, and I can tell it's a relief to him that he can do the same with me. Cutting remarks, 'put downs', and needling can really hurt people who are still children in many ways. It's fun to be able to use back and forth repartee and grown up humor in the classroom in a way I couldn't as a teacher.
This entire experience has been so much more rewarding than I even allowed myself to dream it would be. It has also had it's challenges. I find it's much harder to 'learn' information. I'm out of the practice of reading a textbook, and it's a much slower slog to retain information at 67 than it was at 20. However, it feels purposeful, and isn't that a treat at my age.
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