“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple with a red hat that doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me.” -Jenny Joseph
I have three dogs.
One of them, Princess, always showed the potential to be a great dog, even after she ate the seat belt in our car. We could see the potential there.
She is an old lady now. She wears a silly bow with great dignity and has gone from never thinking about entering the dining room during dinner to being the biggest mooch in the house – because she knows she can.
If she were a human, she would be a member of The Red Hat Society.
We have all seen them, groups of older women in red hats, flaunting expectations. They don’t care what they should be doing, they’re doing what they want.
Princess now starts rumpuses with great abandon and has been know to miraculously get over her hip problems if something of interest is left on the counter.
I respect that about her, and I let her get away with it.
My temples, rather than my muzzle, have gone grey, but Princess and I have a lot more in common that you’d think.
I am not quite old enough for the Red Hat Society, but I am a potential member.
I can see myself wearing obnoxious red hats and flaunting conventions, relying on the fact that I had aged gracefully enough for long enough.
I don’t own a red hat. I have red gloves though, so maybe I will start my own society, “The Red Glove Society.”
Membership would be for those of us who haven’t quite reached the peak (or the top of the body) yet, but are old enough to know that we can get away with saying and doing certain things.
I am starting to grow into my own voice.
I am rarely with out anything to say-just like Princess.
While I don’t object as loudly to the existence of squirrels, I am aware that the list of things I can say openly is growing.
For example-I hate my Philosophy Class.
There, I said it and I do feel better.
When I signed up for it, I thought it would be very different. It isn’t, and I hate it.
It had potential though.
School, for me is filled with possibilities and potential.
I don’t have to worry about what I want to be when I grow up, because I am, by legal standards, a grownup.
Having realized that the potential to become a teacher was as inviting to me as leftovers on my kitchen counter are to Princess, I decided to come back to school.
While my age may allow me to get away with being slightly more flippant in class then my younger peers; it doesn’t exempt more from those god-forsaken core requirements, so I struggle on.
There is potential all around us at USM. The school is what we make it.
Opportunities to be involved abound and yet I am constantly shocked by the lack of involvement by my fellow Huskies.
I would have loved to attend the recent conference called “Change ’08”.
I have a hard time fathoming why more people didn’t.
I didn’t go because of the timing – it was held during the hours most of us red-hat-and-glove-wearers work.
When will the University and its leadership grab hold of the fact that they are ignoring an entire portion of the student population by holding events such as this during the hours when most of us are busy trying to earn those ever increasing tuition dollars?
How about a Saturday conference?
Perhaps a section of the conference could have been held during the afternoon and evening to allow those of us that work during the day to attend at least part of the program.
We are a different generation – has the university ever thought about changing the way it communicates with students who are “of a certain age”?
School is what you make it. Despite a full time job, three kids and school I seem to have found my home here at the Free Press.
There are so many ways to be involved, to make yourself heard.
The possibilities are endless, potential is everywhere.
Be a part of your college community; make USM whatever you want it to be.
(And don’t be afraid to wear a red hat).