Classes

Well, I've been in school for about a month now. I have to be honest, I don't really like school. I can't wait to be graduated and move on with my life. I guess there's a lot I don't like. For one thing I don't feel like I fit in. Here's an example: I am taking an aerobics class and I think I must be the only one endowed. All the girls in the locker room walk around in their cute little Victoria's Secret bra and panty sets. And really, I don't mind that, it's just that I feel awkward when other people watch me change into my garments after working out. I get a few weird looks. I guess my alternative is going into a stall with a toilet to put my clothes on, but that just seems so high school. Another thing is that I am really uncomfortable with nakedness. The towels they provide for showering are skimpy little pieces of cloth. There's no coverage and I NEED coverage. Don't get me wrong, nakedness is fine in the right situation. It's not that I think the human body is gross or something, I guess I'm just not into being around a bunch of naked girls who are so open with their bodies. Call me insecure. I think I just like clothes. I love the feel of clothes. Even walking around in my own apartment alone on a hot summer day I would feel more comfortable wearing clothes than strutting around nude. Anyway, back to what I was saying. I don't fit in. I know there are a lot of older adults taking classes at the U, but in my classes, most of the students are straight out of high school. They're into dating, and going to clubs and bars. They live in the dorms, throw parties and eat on campus. I'll go through the Union to go to one of my classes and I'll see clusters of little cliques at every table snapping pictures of their friends with their cell phones or talking about the Superbowl (barf.) That's all fine and dandy, it's just that I'm at a different stage in my life so I can't really relate anymore. I just go to my classes in the mornings, then go home to be with my kid so Mike can go to his classes in the afternoons/evenings.
So, these are the classes I'm taking. Aerobics, Acting I, Statistics, Drawing, and Mediation.
Aerobics is actually a pretty good class. I have to get up earlier than I'd like, but once I get moving and get those endorphins pumping through my body, I feel great the rest of the day. The workouts are always super intense, at least more so than any workout I'd come up with on my own. We do a lot of circuit training and step aerobics. I can definitely feel it the next day. The first week I swear I had shin splints. My body feels so old. I'm not a teenager anymore, that's for sure. My bones creak and my knees ache, but all this exercise is better on my body than being sedentary, right?
I thought drawing would be a fun class, but I learned something about myself: I don't like to draw. I much prefer painting. Drawing takes a lot of time. I want immediate results. I'm so impatient. I just want to see the finished product like RIGHT THEN instead of hours of painful, meticulous detail. But my teacher is pretty cool and a very talented artist. He's had a lot of practice though. He's all about "art for art's sake" and hates photography. He figures we might as well take a photograph if we intend to make our drawings look perfect. He wants us to draw what we see, and draw things from our perspective, which I can appreciate.
Statistics is rather boring. I just want to take my teacher onto Oprah or some other talkshow for a surprise makeover. He's got long, greasy, gray hair pulled back into a ponytail and one of those thick straps on his glasses that holds them close to his face. He's got a scruffly gray beard and wears a fanny pack. He might look debonair if he just cleaned up a bit. Anyway, stats is such bore and the homework is very time consuming. We just got our first exam back and I did much better on the questions dealing with math (formulas, calculating, etc.) than the questions dealing with words (definitions, etc.) I was surprised because I've never considered myself good at math. But here's another thing I learned about myself: I actually don't mind math once I know how to do it and I even kind of like it. Hard to believe coming from me, right?
Acting is my favorite class. My teacher is so eccentric, energetic and fun. We warm up everyday doing stretching and breathing and the best part is that she makes us slap ourselves all over our body. I love that I can be totally crazy, loud and outgoing in that class. And even though all the students are very different from me, it's the only class that I don't worry about not fitting in. I've even made some friends. We just got done performing etudes, which are short, neutral skits. For instance, the one that my partner and I chose to do went like this:

A: We can't stay here.
B: Why not?
A: It's not safe.
B: You keep saying that.
A: Because it's true.
B: You're overreacting.
A: Not this time.
B: It seems quiet enough.
A: Don't kid yourself.
B: When do you think it will happen?
A: Could be any moment.
B: Or maybe never.
A: I doubt that.
B: Are you afraid?
A: Even more than yesterday.
B: At least we're together.
A: But for how long?
B: Does anyone know we're here?
A: I'm sure of it.
B: Did you just hear something?

We had to take our lines and create a situation and make the words our own. So we tried out several things, including acting out different emotions and talking in accents. It was fun. In the end we came up with the idea to be twins in a mother's womb, and I (character A) was slowly being expelled into the outside world. I even got a cd with sounds of the womb from the library to use for the background. Another couple selected the same etude, but took it in entirely different direction by creating a military scenario. It's been really fun to work with scripts and act them out the way I see it.
Then there's mediation, which is actually over now. The class was two weekends in a row and then it was done. Although it was an excellent class and I learned a lot, I'm glad to have one less course to worry about.
Anyway, that's school in a nutshell. Oh, and before I close this entry, I have some good news. I think I may have gotten my scholarship back! I wrote another letter to the scholarship committee chair person and she talked to my department and they recommended that the financial aid department give me back my Spring portion. I was really assertive and wouldn't take no for an answer, and it looks like it may have paid off! It just needs to be approved by one other person, so wish me luck! I'll let you all know if and when it's official.