Non-Traditional Stress

So, another semester is coming to a close. I’m getting that aching, tension signal in my back, up my neck, and in the center of my head indicating the approaching week of intellectual haze students trek through on automatic called, finals. For a non-traditional student, over 40, it is a lonely trek. All of the people I know who are my age are working overtime to make the payment on a timeshare in Florida. Or, they are peeking through the door of their children’s bedroom to make sure they are not hanging out in all the wrong chat rooms. Or, just relaxing from a long day of work in front of the TV, with a beer. There’s no one in my immediate circle who understands how, no matter how great my desire was to be back in school, it can be solitarily stressful. The demands to do well, to excel in a sea of kids who can text message ten people before you even dial one number gets annoying by this time. Or, the kid who says, “You actually read the book? I never read”, but they ace every exam; who are these people? Don’t think I’ll be making that deans list this time around, but anyway, it’s nearly over. For thirty days I can chill, before I rev back up for the summer.