The Road Not Taken

Where does schooling end exactly?

For me I've always thought of school being over after college. I've always considered college as a necessary part of life, something that must be done in order to achieve a job. This isn't the case for everyone. I learned today that my brother will no longer be attending college. Initially, I found this news crazy. I have come to understand though, that right now, in his life, college isn't the best choice.

As we all grow up, those around us always want what is best for us. I have come to realize that what is best for us is what makes us happy. For me, I'm happy in college. I have learned so much about myself, and become the person that no one ever got to know in high school. College is going to get me into a profession that I will enjoy spending my time at, and while I'm working towards that profession, I enjoy the learning process.

For my brother though, college doesn't make him happy. Right now in his life, one quarter of college is enough, and it is time to find what will make him happy. All day, whenever I think that my brother is no longer going to be going to school, I think of the Robert Frost poem "The Road Not Taken"

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Will has chosen that second path, and for him I hope that it is the path that will make all the difference. I hope that he will find that which will make him happy. And if he should choose, not to go back on his path, but to meander back to the other some day in the future, then I hope that he does it to make himself happy.

So I ask again, where does schooling end exactly?

I say we never stop learning. So while Will might not be attending some institution that calls itself a school, he is still in a type of school. This school however, is the school of life, and he will still have those around him wanting what is best for him.

Bowling

Dan claimed that if he would take a good picture with me I would use it for blackmail

So I replaced him with Sam

Kayla and them were on a different lane, my lane was Dan, Sam, Dave and I

Then we finished the night with a game of Apples to Apples. Dan punked out again though and just watched, he said he doesn't like the game

Spring Semester

It is SOOOO cold out in Idaho right now. Right now my thermometer reads 24. That doesn't factor in the wind chill however, it says 11 degrees with the wind chill. The other day with the wind chill it said -15. So if you hear that I have died, it is going to be from hypothermia!

School: School is going alright. Today is the 4th day of classes and I am missing because I have become to good of friends with my Kleenex box. I am quite attractive with Kleenex stuffed up my nose. I am really excited about my classes though.

Furniture design will make me work hard, but I will have actual usable items when I am done with the class

Scene Design is going to be fun just because of all my experience in high school and my community college

Architecture studio is going to be a little more work than last semester, but that is because they expect us to know a little bit more now. There is talk about a field trip to Bremerton to design a museum for POW's of some war, I don't remember which though.

I'm also taking a course in Photoshop which is a computer program that is really helpful in creating displays in my architecture and interior design classes. Our final project in this class is to create a portfolio of work for something we have done. And since I need to create portfolios for architecture and interior design it will be like getting two birds with one stone

I was enrolled in a Ballroom dancing class with Dan, but he chickened out, so I will no longer be taking that course. He said he might take it another semester when things aren't so hectic for him though so maybe I'll get to take it later. As for why I'm not just taking the class alone, yes I could, but what would be the fun of it if I didn't have anyone to dance with.

Finally I'm taking a weight training course, just one of those courses to force me to stay active, so even if I do spend the rest of the day sitting in front of my computer at least I've worked out once.