March 15, 2011
Plus40 and Oncampus

Spring is here, and oh, how I wish it would stay this temperature year-round! Spring also means midterm, which we reached on March 1. School will be closed for spring break March 14-18. It will be nice to not have to divide my time between work and school for a few days. I might even take a whole day off! That’s a novel idea. I do deserve it!

So far, classes have been going very well. The Technology & Society class is humming along. We do not use the textbook too much. We mainly have discussions, watch videos and do research in one of the computer classrooms. The class is very varied. We talk about new technology and also read the history of technology, which is my cup of tea.  Our big project for the semester is to compile a genealogy report on our families. This is rather difficult for me because most of my family has passed away. Being of Polish descent, I also find it hard to find my ancestors due to the complex spelling of many Polish surnames. However, I am forging ahead as best I can. I was excited to find a military record for my father’s father, whom I never knew much about since he died when I was 5. Praise the Internet! The project would be next to impossible without it. 

Religion 101 is very interesting. Studying religion on an academic level is rather complex but very engrossing. As it is my first online class, I am not used to carrying on discussions with people who are on and offline at different times. It is also challenging to get together on who the leader of the small group should be. However, we have had some very eye-opening discussions. We were given the scenario of a global catastrophe having wiped out everything and instructed to discuss how a small group of survivors with no modern utensils (including pencils and paper) would carry on the culture. Although we do not necessarily agree on religious views, we did come to some cohesive conclusions. I can’t wait to see what we are to do next!  It is not quite as easy as I thought it would be, but I’m doing very well grade-wise.

This is my third sociology class with Dr. Harrill, and I find it very much to my liking. For me, anything having to do with society and people in general would be a favorite. I had the opportunity to mix business with school when I gave a presentation to my class on the subject of spousal sexual assault, which is what I do for the Pee Dee Coalition. In class, we are studying the dynamics of relationships, so it fit in with our studies.

I have decided to take the summer off to give myself a break. Over the summer, however, I will be studying math like crazy (using YouTube videos) so I can enter the fall semester and be able to ace the class! If you remember previous columns, you know what a problem I have with that one subject. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and I have the will!

I had the opportunity to have a quick lunch with one of my readers, and it was really nice to connect with another older person in school. As always, I love to hear from readers. If you have any questions, comments, or if you would like to meet, please e-mail me.

Karolyn Tredeau, 64 of Ruby, entered college after taking a 40-year hiatus from formal education. She is a student at Northeastern Technical College and will write about her experiences in this column, “Plus40 & OnCampus” once a month. Karolyn can be reached at karolynt@shtc.net.

Read Karolyn's February column.