The Final Stretch: Older, Wiser & Back at College

"So, what do you want for your birthday?”

That’s the magical query that got this whole crazy thing started. Several years ago, over dinner a few days before my birthday, my husband had no idea what he was getting himself into when he asked such a seemingly innocent question.

“OK, here’s the thing.” I responded. “I want to go back to school; I want to finish what I started when I was 20.”

“Wow…OK…wow. Absolutely.” was his reply (the man is a saint, by the way).

“This is all your fault, you know.” I continued. “I want to apply to Columbia.” (a full-time partner in a NYC law firm, my husband is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation and Planning).

So there it was. Within two weeks, I had completed all the application requirements, which included the requisite essays, written recommendations, an on-campus entrance exam (hello English portion of the SATs - yikes) as well as digging up my school transcripts, which was no small feat given that my high-school transcripts were pretty much on microfiche in the archive room in the basement of my high-school.

One week later (yes, I had cut it pretty close to the submission deadline), on a hot July day, I got the phone call welcoming me to Columbia University’s upcoming fall 2012 semester. I was over the moon. Still am.

Many years, thousands of study-hours and even more thousands of tuition dollars later, we’re in the home stretch. I say “we” because although I’m the one on campus every day, studying every waking moment of every day of the week that classes are in session, this academic odyssey would have been impossible without the support I’ve gotten from my incredible spouse. I know that sounds clichéd and trite. Funny thing about clichés – they’re usually true.

Next week I begin my final semester towards a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture History & Theory. A far cry from the technology and management consultant career I put on hold to complete something I had started so long ago. The skillset I honed in my 25+ year career as a management consultant has been invaluable during my time at Columbia. What I lack in youthful enthusiasm (there’s a reason most people do this when they’re 19), I more than make up for in methodological life experience.

These posts will document the final stretch towards a goal 30 years in the making. I invite you to come along for the ride. It’s bound to be an interesting one.