OK, penni. I did it. I signed up for classes in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, at George Mason, as an Extended Studies student, and am going to apply for the Ph.D. program for the fall. I went to the first class in Conf 501, Introduction to Conflict Resolution, tonight, and it was - - OK. It felt really crappy to sit down in one of those stupid chairs because my bloated prednisone stomach was pressing against the writing table thingie, and my swollen knees wanted a break sooner than they got one. But, I can handle it. I wasn't the oldest person in the class. And, when the instructors asked the students to introduce themselves, another woman who talked before I did was a lawyer. The instructors joked about it, they said, "recovering lawyers," so apparently it is not unheard-of for lawyers to go into the program. I spoke to the other woman afterwards, she does insurance defense, but she had shingles, which is stress-related, just as the rheumatoid is. Not so different from yours truly. We agreed, it would be nice to make a living without beating our heads against a stone wall every day.
I realized that what I wanted, most of all, was to be around people, and to help other people. I seem to have lost sight of that. |
