One down...

On Wednesday, I'll finish my first "year" of graduate school. Meaning I've completed fall, spring and summer semesters. I'll have knocked out 12 of the 36 hours required for a marketing communications degree from KU.

I distinctly recall telling myself several times during my last semester as an undergrad, way back in 1996, that I would never, ever go back to school. Seventeen years of school was enough. Or so I thought. Imagine how surprised I was a few years back when I found myself looking forward to cracking open the books again. I think, as we get older, we all have a greater appreciation for learning. Maybe it doesn't manifest itself in a return to school. But don't you find yourself more interested in things as years pass? Maybe you linger a bit longer in museums you raced through as a kid. Or perhaps the evening news ceases to be background noise and instead is something to focus on.

Anyway, I find myself far more focused on school now than I was in high school and college. It helps that most assignments and projects are related to my company or companies I'm interested in. For example, Crown Center was the subject of most of last semester's Marketing Research assignments. This semester, in Writing for Marketing Communications, I've used Crown Center and Brooks (the running shoe company) as project topics. (I won't say anything about the fall semester's dog food project, other than grrrrr.)

Unfortunately, I only get a three week break before the fall semester revs up. But I'm looking forward to the class—Financial Fundamentals for Communicators. Prime example of how I've changed since my undergrad days. Back then, I'd have run at the first sign of a financial class. Now, I know it's something that will help me do my job better. And I'm just more interested in investor relations, budgets and financial markets than I was as a 20-year-old.

One year down, two to go.