Encouragement? I think. My reflections: Getting a Degree

Hello everyone,

I posed a question at the beginning of this entry because I'm not really sure how to classify my words for today. The last couple of days have been interesting; dad's out of town, leaving us to fend for ourselves. It's been quite chaotic, considering we are dealing with the remodeling of the kitchen while he is gone. Not to mention, the wisdom teeth extraction for my mom that turned a lot for difficult then we expected.

As I had posted earlier, I was going to stay up and watch the Brooke Ellison story. I didn't make it, but luckily I had TiVo. Now I can watch it whenever I want from bed, without having the DVD remote. Anyway, I hope some of my readers actually got a chance to watch it. Or at least put it on their rental list the next time they decide to rent a movie. It really is a good one.. Here's someone who takes an difficult situation and turns it into something positive, using her experiences as a disabled person to change people's lives for the better. Recently, Brooke tried to run for the New York State Senate, I don't know how that turned out. It wasn't really clear on her website, but I definitely give her "props" either way. That took a lot of guts. Of course, she has always been a pioneer in her own right, right off the bat.

Every time I watch the movie, I am struck by a new perspective. This is surprising because after all, the movie has the same outcome every time I watch it. In fact, I bet you I could recite all of the script if I had to.. especially my favorite lines. I would be interested to see if some of the dialogue was actually what Brooke said to her mother. Anyway, as I said before, I am amazed at the new perspective I gain while watching the movie. Watching Brooke graduate reminded me of my own. College was definitely a experience of both personal and emotional growth for me. The experience of living on my own taught me about the delicate balance of independence as well as dependence on others.

Now that I've gotten a degree, I find myself at a loss though. I mean, I know everyone goes through times where they question, "Is this something I really want to do?". It's a normal part of the process. I also think college students feel kind of restricted once they have gotten a degree. They begin to think they can only specialize in the one particular area. For me, getting a degree means more than just gaining knowledge or receiving a piece of paper. After all, on every diploma says in some form or another: "This paper entitles you to all the rights and responsibilities associated with this degree."

Rights?

Responsibilities?

Wow, that's a lot to consider. Among the 62 definitions of rights on dictionary.com, the word can be defined as " a just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive or moral ." In other words, the paper reiterates that you have in fact gone through and learned all you can on your area of expertise. It's up to you now to use it appropriately in the effort to better society..


I'm still trying to get used to it myself


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On a personal note, I decided to add colors to this entry because it is is supposed to be spring. Instead, it is snowing outside. Due to the professional nature of this website, the colors will only be an occasional occurrence. Hope you enjoyed it.