College Gagagewa

Thinking about school this morning, for some reason I started to compare myself to my parents. I'm not a college graduate. Soon I will have an undergraduate degree, but not even the higher one, just the lowest, easiest one to get: the Associate Degree. I guess I will officially be an associate. 

While I tend to look down on this degree as barely significant in the grand scheme, I am wrangling a little bit of pride in the accomplishment. That's when I started to compare myself to my parents. With an Associate degree, I've essentially matched my father's level of education; he earned his AS long ago, and had some supplemental education classes, I believe. So, technically, I have a broader general education than he received from school, because of the concentration of core/GE classes required between the Arts and Sciences degrees. In the "school of life" I believe I also have a broader education than him, because he has limited his experiences to mainly things he prefers, which are narrowly tailored, whereas I have exposed myself to a wide variety of things, including world travel and several different and varied professions. Honestly, in no way would I trade anything I have for anything he has. 

As for my mother, I surpassed her level of education before I even got my GED. I believe she also kept her experiences limited, though hers were more varied and adventurous that my dad's. 

What does any of this mean? To me, it means that I am doing okay. It means that I am not that low on the totem pole that is my family. It means that, in my striving, I have accomplished more than my immediate ancestry. It means that, if I don't consider my parents to be failures, which I don't, then I'm doing alright, generally speaking. My marriage has already lasted longer than theirs. 

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