Thinking Before Coffee 101

Pierce threw quite a curve ball at me this morning. I generally always have a snappy comeback for anything he throws my way (shocker right) but not this morning. We were talking on the way to daycare about college. Pierce wants to grow up and be a weatherman. Very Cool. He knows that he has to go to college to be a weatherman. This morning he asks me: "Mommy, what did YOU go to college to be?"

here the crickets chirping?

First off, my kid does not know what psychology is, 2nd....how to explain to him that I got a degree that I don't so much use. (although that may actually be debatable).

Since he does not know what psychology is and since I can't tell him that I majored in my boyfriend with a minor in my sorority, I told him that mommy took a lot of classes about books (thank you English minor).

"So you learned to read in college?"

crickets.

I was able to explain to him that you learn a lot of different things in college and that you read a lot of books about many different things. That seemed to appease him but then it got me thinking. What exactly DID I learn in college?

Since about 4th grade I had always wanted to be a teacher. Kindergarten specifically. Around my sophomore year in college I decided to be a social worker. The following year I switched to psychology with no intent to get a masters or a PhD. I always kept English as a minor...I like to read and write.

What do I do now? 32 seconds after graduating from THE BEST COLLEGE IN THE WORLD (here in Ohio we get excited about our Alma mater) I started working for an insurance company as an underwriter. 11 years later I am still here. Don't get me wrong....I LOVE my job, I am truly blessed to HAVE a job, not to mention one I like, and to work with cool people (including my mother....nepotism at it's finest).

I'm not sure that I need a psychology degree to do what I do. Or any degree really....everything I learned about my job I learned in training when I started.

So all this got me thinking (BEFORE coffee, no good) what DID I learn for all of that money that I am STILL paying back?? I really think that college is more about experiences than anything else.

I learned-

-How to budget.....or not budget.
-How to schedule according to priority-i.e. no classes before 10AM or that interfered with Days of Our Lives.
-Responsibility-Your professors really don't care if you show up or not but your grade does....this one took me a few years to learn
-Resourcefulness-There was that place on High St that sold notes to almost every class on campus....in case you did not learn the above skill.
-How to be safe- carry mace for your walk home and avoid the "little person" who was always drunk on High Street. He will chase you if you make eye contact
-Relationships are not always forever- Just because you are in love does not mean that life wont take you in an entirely different direction years to come. Thank God
-The best relationships ARE forever- Sisters do not always have to share blood
-Direction-When you are stumbling home from a late night out, turn right at the HUGE sign that looks like a penis but is really a book store sign...that is your street.
-Patience- I spent one year living with 20 other women. Enough said.

The 4 years that I spent at THE BEST COLLEGE IN THE WORLD really taught me more about life than anything else. Some days I think I'm lucky to have made it out with a liver unscathed.

Looking back I don't think I would change a thing.