Okay its not THE Pond - as some call the ocean. And it is not just A Pond - as in smaller than a lake. It is a lake! I enjoy living on it and spending time on my back porch listening to music, gazing at the lake and pondering.

Monday, March 10, 2008

I Am A Graduate Of The University...Or Am I?

Obtaining a college degree did not come easy for me but I got it done. I graduated from Oklahoma Wesleyan College in 2000 with a degree in Business Management. The school has become a university since I graduated. But I don't know whether to tell you I graduated from the college or the university.

Getting a four year degree is not as easy as some of you people make it look. I have had some great success in helping colleges to "beef up." Every college I have attended has obtained university status or changed their name.

I began my college career in the summer of 1974 after graduating that spring from East Central High School in Tulsa. My first class was a U.S. History course at Tulsa Junior College. I was attempting to get a jump start on my college career by getting that course out of the way. I got the course out the way all right and gave my grade point a shot in the arm with a grade of "D" in my first college course. This "Junior" college has since become a "Community" college.

In the fall of 1974 I enrolled at Harding College in Searcy, Arkansas. Our family has a bit of a tradition at this school. My mom, Emalene, graduated from there, my sister and her husband, Trisha and John did too, two of their daughters, several cousins...I could go on and on. I, on the other hand, did not last a semester. I did not get kicked out. I did not flunk out. I quit. I have always been quite intelligent. That particular year I was brilliant. This move extended my obtaining a college degree by 22 YEARS. Harding has since become a university.

I next tried college at Oklahoma Christian College in the fall of 1976. I attended here for a couple of years - through the spring semester of 1978. This school had a trimester system and I thought I could whip out a college education in a shorter amount of time. Lost interest in college and moved back to Tulsa that summer. This college has became a university in the years since I left her halls.

Back in Tulsa I returned to Tulsa Junior College in the mid '80's and took 3 to 9 hours a semester. Finally, in 1998 I enrolled in the adult education "fast track" program at Oklahoma Wesleyan. They offered the program in Tulsa so the only time I was on their campus was for the graduation ceremony - which now that I have thought this over - is almost as long as I ever spent on any college campus.

As the caption of the photos below states, It is a amazing how four years of higher education ages you. Especially when it takes 26 years to complete them. I still need to know, do I say I graduated from a college or university? Leave your comments below.

1 comment:

Trisha said...

I have struggled with the same dilemma, being a Harding graduate. I often just refer to the school as Harding. When I talk about it in the past I will say I went to Harding College. When I list it on resumes I put Harding University, because that is what it is now and how people today know it, and how it is found listed in places such as phone directories, internet, etc...