I
am more than half way finished with my third class, Theories and
Principles of Language Teaching with Dr. Lily Compton, in the
Umass Boston online version of their Applied Linguistics Program.
The
student caliber is high, the median age I would guess to be mid
thirties (with plenty above and below that age) and from all over the
world – Greece, France, Japan, Philippines, and the U.S. The weekly
work requirements involve about 12 hours of reading and writing, with
possibly a bit more for a perfect record of responding thoughtfully
and with academic weight to the comments of fellow students. The reading is interesting, particularly Vivian Cook's SecondLanguage Learning and Language Teaching: Fourth Edition. (Dry title, dry humor.)
In
spite of all that, I am taking next semester off. Cancer snapped me
into a new set of priorities, and I'm not sure getting a(nother)
masters' is how I want to spend whatever time I have here in this
crazy and lush world of the senses.
I
spoke with my advisor, the well known Professor/Dr. Lilia Bartolome, the
day before yesterday, and she was interested, helpful, and
understanding. She asked if I wanted to drop out, but I don't know
that, yet. I might just be in a sickness accentuated slump of
enthusiasm, common to many people at this point in any course of
action.
So,
I'll wait, paint, write, and meditate, and, if I still feel wishy
washy in a few months, I'll drop out.
Meanwhile,
I am trying to prepare for a December show at AS220, and taking a free Coursera Intro to Guitar class, offered by Thaddeus Hogarth at the
Berklee School of Music, and, yes, tinkering around with a novel when
I have a second or two...
Overcommitment, anyone?