three - Isn't it romantic?

It's the beginning of the school year.  And, for the first time since I started teaching seven years ago, I've been reminiscing about what it's like to be a student.  In fact, I've realized that I'm a bit jealous of my own students and my various friends who are currently engaged in graduate studies of some sort. 

Do you remember what it's like to be student?  To be able to sit in a classroom and just learn?  Yes, I remember the studying, the late nights, the research papers, the exams.  But, there is something almost romantic about being a student.  As a student, you are free to just sit and think about new ideas being presented to you.  You can challenge the status quo, be wowed by an amazing teacher, and you are able to learn something for no other reason than that you actually want to learn what is being taught in that classroom.  You get to choose your own course of study and just soak it all in while walking around academic quads of green grass surrounded by ivy covered brick buildings.  See?  Doesn't that sound romantic?

My point is that this has made me contemplate the possibility of going back to school.  Sure, I've always dreamed about culinary school, but at this stage of my life, it just doesn't seem super practical.  So, I've put that idea aside, and I've started to research masters of education programs … probably a bit more useful in my current occupation.  I've decided to explore a few M.Ed. in School Leadership programs in the Boston area and also at UPenn and Columbia.  It's a bit daunting - not in the least because I will need to take the GREs again!  Evidently the ones I took in the fall of 2000 are outdated.  In addition, I'm looking at perhaps starting in the fall of 2012 and by then I'll be 33 years old.  The idea of going back to grad school at the age of 33 is a bit scary, too.  We'll see what happens.

So, if anyone has either gotten an M.Ed or has a friend who has, let me know.  I'd like to enter this endeavor, if I choose to follow through, with as much information as I can.  It's a big decision and a bigger financial investment!

Until then, I'll just keep dreaming of being a wide-eyed, impressionable, and eager student sitting on a campus green, discussing current trends in education with groups of intelligent fellow educators.  Doesn't that sound nice?