February 8, 2020.  That’s what the admissions counselor at Pierce College said to me yesterday. Pierce College is a junior college in Woodland Hills, a city on the west end of the Valley. I’ve passed it for years when driving to the court’s branch in Chatsworth, a few miles north of that. The school has a huge campus, surrounded by a white wooden rail fence. I always wondered why it looked like a giant horse ranch. The why is because it is.

A few weeks ago, I decided I’ll get a couple of certificates. Incidentally, I have one in math already. Strange, but true. I want a certificate in welding, mostly because the houses I want to build will have a lot of metal features. I want to make them myself. Probably I have to make them myself because these houses are mostly in my head; they really don’t exist, at least not here. Plus, there are the horses. The school has a certificate program in equine science, which is horse training, horse care and raising as well. I want that too.

Yesterday, I had a court appearance in Chatsworth. I took a change of clothes with me so I could go tour Pierce College and meet with an admissions counselor. I had done the admissions paperwork about two weeks ago, obtained my student admission number, and believed that classes had already started as of this past week. But there were no cars at the school, or not enough for the term to have started. And there were only  a handful of students walking around. Still, I was just going to go check, get the course requirements lists, and make sure I could still be an admitted student to start next term,. You all know how stressed and busy I am; I just didn’t think I could handle it, and like I said, I thought classes were already started for this term.

I parked on the exact opposite end of campus from the admissions building, a good thing because it made me have to walk all the way through the mall of the school. In that walk, I got attached to the school. I’m not even sure why. It just was pretty, had a good view, and nobody looked at me funny. Seriously, no matter that I had changed into jeans in the courthouse bathroom, I’m super long in the tooth for college. It’s very unnerving.

There were a few signs up directing people to admissions and counseling. I followed those, and spoke to a woman at the desk. First, I apologized for my age and said I was interested in speaking to a counselor for information on obtaining certificates in equine science and in welding. I apologized those don’t match, but I said I wanted to get them. She said, you absolutely can.  She asked if I have more than 24 college credits, and I said yes; apparently there are different counselors for people who already have done general education college work as opposed to the high school graduates with no college credit. She directed to me another person to fill out a slip, then I waited for my slip to be processed.

They had career books on the wall. I was about to pick up on about being an architect, then I saw one entitled What You Can Do With a Law Degree. I read the introduction. It told of three people who basically found easier law jobs. It talked about a soft job market. I checked the copyright date. 2004. If you ask me now, that was good year.  Then my name was called.

My counselor had a small office. Again, she asked me if I have more than 24 college credits, and I said what I have. I again apologized for my age, and again this person wasn’t having it. I said I wanted a certificate in each of welding and in equine science. I said I want to use these things to build things in my life, on land, rescue horses and stuff like that. I sounded like I was 12. I said I also liked architecture. She suggested I talk to some woman in the architecture school. I talked about horses, how I wanted to help them, Mustangs and such. She then printed out the certificate requirements, and handed me another – a program to obtain an associate degree in pre-veterinary studies, a program that would qualify for admission to all California vet schools (meaning schools where you become a veterinarian), except U.C. Davis. That one, she told me, requires a bachelor’s degree for admission. In fact, every graduate school, certainly law and medicine, as far as I ever knew, requires a bachelor’s degree before you can go. Essentially, it’s college, twice. And these people at Pierce College would take my existing general education, it seems, since they asked if I have those 24 hours. I said I might be told old for a vet school to take me; she was emphatic that they would love to have me.

The counselor stapled the printouts of my certificate requirements for my requested welding and equine science to the back of her suggested pre-vet associate program, and said welcome back.

Oh, and the really crazy thing. Classes start on this coming Monday. I hadn’t missed it. Seeing as I was actually there to defer my admissions, I have only signed up for the intro welding class, something about a torch. Just the one class. Friday night. Yes, while all of you out there will be doing your Friday night normal, I’m going to be doing something, whatever it is, with an acetylene torch. Equine Science classes all need a pre-requisite that the school doesn’t offer this term. I suppose the horses will wait. Perhaps that’s good because I need to know how to build them a pen, and perhaps that’s good because my goal in this visit in the first place was to defer my admission. From a visit where I planned to obtain a confirmed admissions deferment to now pre-vet studies percolating in my mind. Whispergirl, D.V.M? Like I said, hummmm…

And now a song for this theme. Is there a song about School Being In? No, only School’s Out. Or I Don’t Need No Education, what is the title of that song anyway? A song? A song? A song? Oh I know! It’s not so P.C., but I know one that’s pro-school. Yes, this will do just fine. This is an old version too, a tribute to going back. Hopefully, I can keep this up. Hopefully.