I woke up this morning thinking, where are you spring? It has been a long winter so far. The snow has fallen in South Carolina and even though it only lasted a mere week and a half, it was ugly. Then I think of my friends up at the Manchester NH University and realize that I was lucky, we only got about seven inches of the white stuff, where you all got around two feet. Yuk, but yuk in a good way. The north knows how to clear the stuff from the roads and sidewalks, and work goes on as usual just like any other day. Therefore, students could get to school for their evening college classes after work or on the weekend. What I have learned with this past snow storm is that I need to go buy a shovel. No matter where I live, I may need it. It was kind of sad that only one person in our neighborhood had one and we all borrowed it to shovel our way out. I don't think we are too far away from spring, though. I just looked at my iris in the flower beds and they are starting to grow. The pussy-willow bush is getting buds and the birds are starting to come back to my kitchen window for some birdseed in the feeders. But my wooden flowers seem to have survived the snow. They bring a smile to my face as I look out of my back door. 
It is Saturday morning, I am getting ready to go into work, and the weather lady on the TV just said it is going up to 62 degrees today. No, it is not shorts weather yet, but I believe it is just around the corner. Sunshine, flowers, picnics, vacations and, yes, learning are all just around the corner. Learning never stops no matter what the weather is. So, to all of you doing on-line classes with distance learning universities, keep at it. It is so rewarding to have that degree under your belt. Until I get myself back to school to earn my Masters degree, I will enjoy the place I am in my life. This morning, it is a day of work with the realization that spring is not too far away!! Come on Sunshine...shine on South Carolina today!!
I recently got my old Baby Buggy out from the attic and started cleaning it up so I can take it to Norfolk, VA to walk my new grandson, Owen. Those years were just precious for me and some very fond memories all came back to me as I walked the streets of Norfolk in the early morning so Owen's mom and dad could get some sleep. I put miles on those wheels about 30 years ago walking my four children; I never thought in a million years I would be using for my grandchildren. My son was tickled I got it cleaned up and looking good again. So were my daughters, although neither of them have children yet, they were very concerned who was going to GET the Buggy?? I told them the Buggy will stay with Grammy.
I was walking to McDonald's one day with my laptop as they have free WiFi so I could get connected while Owen was sleeping and a Scotch lady was weeding her flowerbed and stopped to look at the baby and the buggy. She right away went inside her front door and brought out her Beautiful English Pram that was her's when her children where young. She was the age my mom would have been, around 83 or 84. What a beautiful buggy she had and leather on the inside with beautiful fringe on the hood. She told me stories about that buggy and how many children had been buggy walked in it. Her daughter used it for her 3 children and now there are great grandchildren coming along to take a ride in it. I feel that my buggy stories and her buggy stories are all part of a cycle that we both plan on passing on to our children.
Buggy walking as a tradition and cycle/norm of life is pretty much what I wanted my children to understand when I went back to Granite State College. I want them to understand and carry on the tradition of getting an adult college degree at some point in their lives. I took most of my classes as online learning classes while I did have a few classes at Manchester NH University. I hope my young adults follow suit and get their degree someday and also that they walk their babies in the Buggy!! Life is so good, Grandchildren are truly God's reward to parents.
Left is the buggy the Scotch lady brought to show me...it was just beautiful. She bought it in England where she used to live. Mine is above, yes that is me with my coffee. My mother bought mine in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Both had some similarities and both had wonderful shocks, those babies didn't feel a bump along the stroll.
April 8, 2010 was a special day for Granite State College, as Dr. Todd Leach was elected to be our next president. This is an exciting time for all members of the GSC Community, as we find ourselves on the horizon of a new era, and the changes that will come with it. As I sat in the Manchester NH College, patiently awaiting the announcement with other audience members for the big news, I found myself consistently repeating this thought: "I can not wait to see what changes take place immediately, as well as the changes that will take place over time." Dr. Leach's first two years on the job will be my last two years with the college, so I look forward to participating in the improvements that he will implement.
For some audience members, this was their first exposure to the process of selecting a new president (the announcement being the end of the process). I was one of the lucky few in the room to actively participate in the process from end to end. In October, I was asked to be the student representative to the Presidential Search Committee. My first thought was that this was an amazing honor to be asked and to serve, but reality settled in very quickly. Our first meeting in Concord in November was an introduction to the rest of the search committee. Ed MacKay, Chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire, welcomed and introduced us to Trustee George Epstein, who would chair the committee. With the advice from our consultants, we mapped out a process that called for us to immediately begin to request applicants to express interest in the position, to interview in January and February, and finally to recommend three candidates to the Chancellor in March.
Each member was granted access to the email in box that resumes and cover letters were submitted to, and we were expected to return to our next meeting in December with a go/no go for each applicant. After logging into the account, my initial impression was that we had an extremely talented pool of approximately 70 potential candidates to choose from. Our first meeting in December carried the daunting task of whittling the list down to a manageable number of candidates. In January, we discussed the nearly 25 applicants who expressed interest after our December meeting, and interviewed two candidates. Through the month of February, we met three more times in Concord to interview candidates. After those sessions, we forwarded the names of three candidates that we as a committee felt that could be the next president of Granite State College.
Today's announcement was the culmination of a lot of hard work and tough decisions. The inherent stress that comes with the process of making these decisions increased as we came closer to a decision, yet some very nice relationships were forged among the committee members through the hours of deliberating. It was an honor to be part of this committee, and I send my most sincere congratulations to President Todd Leach of Granite State College.
What do you do with your spare time? If you are like most people, you probably don't have a lot of spare time. You are probably running from one thing to another. Maybe you have a job and a family and friends that you juggle your time for. But what about in the evening? Are you sitting in front of tv watching commercials for New Hampshire Colleges and Universities? Maybe an add for a Concord NH College, or a Manchester NH University caught your eye. But you say to yourself, "no way, not me, I can't go to college."
But why not you? Do you realize that you could be taking courses at home on your computer instead of watching tv? You could be enrolled in a course at Granite State College right now at home, or you could be in Rochester, Concord, Manchester, or any number of locations sitting in a classroom and learning new things.
Oh, I lost you again. You say to yourself, "I can't sit in a classroom. I am too ____," (old, tired, busy..) But what if you went to class one night a week? Everyone else in the room is just as busy as you. Even most of your instructors are working somewhere else during the day. They know what it is like to juggle responsibilities. So instructors give you work that is geared to help you in your profession, classmates support one another and suddenly, TADA! You have taken your first course.
Give it a try! Granite State is a place where adult learners can grow and learn and only by giving up a tv show or two!
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