The Post-graduate Post

I started this journey in the fall of 1999.

From 1994 up to that point, I was the junior high band director in a town with a rich band tradition, marred by the constant influx of director after director. In fact, at the time of MY departure from Warren, I was the longest tenured director there since the retirement of Curry Martin in 1984. And after five years, even I, a man teaching at his alma mater, had had enough. The death of my father, an impossible co-director, and the addition of block scheduling all told me it was time for a change. And thus, the journey toward my masters degree began.

The journey was then interrupted by the community of Prescott when two of its citizens brought their daughter to Monticello for band camp. They asked if I would come be their band director. I was flattered, and long story short, got the job. My time in Prescott was indeed enjoyable. Along with other relationships that I will never forget, Prescott was where my connection with the Whaley family began---but that's a story for a future blog. Alas, home was calling, so I ended my Prescott chapter after only two pleasant, but sometimes trying years. Why trying? SOME of my Band parents.... Enough said.

So the journey was to resume at this point. And resume it did. I became a student assistant to the UAM band and worked in the education department on a stipend to fund the rest of the journey in the fall of 2002. And then...a less pleasing interruption occurred. One Sunday morning, my already surgically repaired right hip decided to stop supporting my weight. I figured I'd go see my primary care physician on Monday, and be back at work/school on Tuesday. It was not to be. After a lot of medical testing to determine what was causing this problem, it was FINALLY determined that my repaired hip was in need of re-repair. So, because of the intense pain and obvious lack of mobility, I made the decision to withdraw from the masters program and begin the long healing process. Surgery finally took place in April of 2004. Yes...it took that long. (The state of medical care in our great country is also a subject for another blog).

Now we enter the fall of 2004. The journey is ready for its continuance. It wouldn't be easy, however. The statute of limitations had run out on some of my courses since 1999. Appeals would have to be made and some courses repeated. Perseverance then became the key.

Enter the present. The spring of 2007 officially ended for undergrads today. And for me, that long journey, affluent with new job opportunities and unexpected health issues, will finally end in less than two days. This Friday, I will be among the graduates. I will be awarded my Master of Education Degree.

A great deal has happened since the journey began. To name some, one sister and my mom will not be in the audience to see me awarded this degree, as I anticipated they would be when it all began. Instead, they will watch from Heaven and they will both be smiling. As I approach the end of this particular journey, I thank God for this adventure. It has taught me a lesson in how to approach another journey--- one with ETERNAL consequences.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
---The Apostle Paul (2Timothy 4:7)