College

Ya know...I have to say that I am officially happy about not jumping straight from high school into college. When I graduated high school I was kind of mad and upset that all my friends were going away to college and that I was stuck at home finding a 9-5 job. I was mad that I didn't care enough about my grades in my freshman and sophomore year of high school to keep them up so that I could get into a good college.

However the other day it occurred to me that in this time off (it's been 7 years since I graduated high school) I have read alot about a variety of different topics. If I had gone off to college when I first graduated I wouldn't have really had a definite major. Yea, I'd love to study creative writing but on the other hand, other than a few grammar skills, what else do you need to know about writing creatively? I've heard so many artists say that the drawing classes and schools have hindered their creativity instead of inspiring it. I don't want this same thing to happen to me with my creative writing. Yes, it definitely needs polishing and for that I need grammar classes but as far as what I want to say and how I want to say it, I think all one needs is a good grasp of their native language. For me that would be English.

This insight/epiphany occurred to me while I was at Goodwill of all places and stumbled upon a used text book on Ecology. This is a subject that until I read a book by Starhawk, I had barely acknowledged. Then while reading through "The Earth Path" I became interested in Ecology itself and wanted to start reading a bit about it. That was about 2 months ago I'd say. Then a few days ago I find this text book. Sweet! So I've been reading through it and LOVE it. This kind of stuff...is EXACTLY what I've wanted to do. Study the effect of this and that on the other. I've always pictured myself in a field doing research instead of in some laboratory (though some Ecologists do work in labs) or in some stuffy office building.

I have so many interests that jumping straight into college would've been a bad choice for me. Because I wouldn't have known what to study. As I said I would've studied creative writing and I still probably would take a few courses, however I would no longer major in it. I'd definitely major in Ecology and then maybe minor in Geology or something. One of my best friends from high school is studying to become and geologist and I'm finding her work and the things she's studying totally fascinating. Not to mention the fact that I've had an obsession with crystals and rocks since I was a little girl. I used to spend my recess time finding pretty rocks in the gravel that covered the playground =-P

So...I'm going to do a bit more reading on Ecology. I'm atleast going to get through this entire text book before deciding anything for definite. Then, if this is still what I definitely want to do (and it is at the moment) then I'm going to start seriously researching colleges around my area or close to that offer good Ecology programs.

The only subject really that could rival Ecology for me would be Botany. I studied that a bit in high school and absolutely loved it as well. I realize that for this stuff I'm going to need some serious math skills so I better get cracking on that as well. The furthest I got with math in high school was the highest level of Algebra (I don't remember what that was). I should probably start brushing up on that and then start teaching myself higher math. I'm pretty good at teaching myself stuff and I know I can teach myself math, that's pretty much how my Algebra class worked, you taught yourself. So...once through this text book...onto the math...oy vey.