Graduating

It's that time of year. I can hear the sedate march music, see the robes in various states of wrinklehood, smell the bouquets of roses. Graduation time is here.


I don't remember graduating from kindergarten. I'm not even sure that I did. In eighth grade, they did kind of a talent show type thing along with the ceremony. I played the clarinet and was so nervous my tassle shook the entire song. My high school graduation was sad but exciting. My class had become pretty close, but we were ready to move on. Most of my classmates went into the medical field. Still trying to figure out how that happened. I'm officially afraid to go to the ER, because I just might know the person poking me with needles, might have seen them drooling on their pillow during class trip or something.


I graduated from college...twice! I was definitely ready to be done. I'd rather choose my own topics to research. Like women fighting during the Civil War or what '68 Camaros look like or what the daily schedule is on death row or how to make a murder look like a suicide. Doesn't that sound more fascinating than a comparison of Longfellow and Frost or something? :-)


So I'm out of school. Not wearing the gown this year. BUT in some ways I guess you're never really done, are you? In the writing world, there are four levels of writers, according to Randy Ingermanson (aka The Snowflake Guy). But even those who have graduated still attend writing conferences...and take notes! I've heard of beginning writers finding themselves sitting next to pros, like one who said she watched Francine Rivers at a conference, dutifully taking notes.

Life is like that, right? No matter how much you think you know, there is still so much more. That's what keeps things interesting. True, it can overwhelm at times, but it's invigorating when something new clicks, giving you an amazing Ah-ha! moment. And we can learn from people, no matter what their grade in life. I was a contest judge last fall and found myself wanting to copy down some phrases in one entry's action sequence. Here I am, the judge, and this entry was giving me new ideas when I'd hit a wall in my own writing. (Don't worry. I didn't plagerize.)

Never be too proud to listen, to learn. If you ever think you've arrived, well...maybe it's time you went back to school.