Knowin' When to Fold 'Em

I spoke to the head of the History department Monday, Dr. Burman. He denied my petition for HIST 407 to count for HIST 499. He explained why and I understood his reasoning and I am in total agreement. He also said not to knock myself out over a minor. Dr. Burman said that he sat on a grad school application committee for ten years. In all that time he and his colleagues never once questioned an applicant's minor. However, they did question the relevancy of classes taken by an applicant toward that applicant's degree aspirations.

I left Dr. Burman's office feeling liberated, but disappointed. I would not graduate with a bona fide minor, but I was not going to knock myself out taking 15 hours next semester. He said the HIST 499 senior research seminar would be of much greater benefit to me (learning to research, write and produce a grad-school worthy research paper) than having a minor. I had to ask myself what was more important - being Superwoman at 48 or getting into grad school at 48? I am opting for getting into grad school. I already know I am a super woman. :)

As I left the history building, I felt a bit deflated. I had just folded what I thought was a great hand. But was it worth continuing to bet, especially when I have only one semester left? Sometimes we have to reassess our expectations of ourselves. If we fall within the expectations of our peers (in this case, what UT said I needed to graduate), why do we continue to set unrealistic expectations for ourselves? Like Kenny Rogers sang; "You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk to away and know when to run." I had some help in knowing when to fold 'em. However, ain't no runnin' here! I will walk across that stage in May with my head held high - and my Bachelor's degree in History! Stay tuned . . .

(A BIG ORANGE shout out to the STARS at PSCC - Blount County!! Hey, Guys!!! Hope all is well and your semester is going well!! Kudos!!)