When in doubt ... learn

Ok, I'm taking another class - Comparative Religions. This is online through the University of Phoenix. It began last Tuesday and is only a 5 week class, but I will get three undergraduate credits for it.

This terrifies me. The Greek course is still in process. I keep waiting for the professor to post more information so I can progress. He's gotten caught up in a lot of projects. I'm totally giving him the benefit of the doubt. I'm trying to not be annoyed by the whole thing. Sigh.

But, this Comparative Religions course is freaking me out in a big way. You see ... I don't fail. However, I haven't taken a course for credit in 30 years. I have been doing a lot of learning over those 30 years, but no one has judged my knowledge or forced me to get approval for what feedback I give on my learning.

I wrote a paper this weekend, turned it in (early of course, because I am that person) and then went into full-blown meltdown. The teacher posted his grading rubric on Monday (the day the paper was due) and for a subjective paper (What is Your Personal Belief System), he was looking for references with citations. Really? I'm a (nearly) 50 year old, well-read, intelligent woman who has written this paper based on her own authority and her own knowledge.

So ... full-blown panicked meltdown began occurring inside my soul. Now, if this were a full-semester course, I wouldn't worry so much. I always expect the first couple of assignments to be my chance to test the waters with a professor. I figure out what he/she is looking for and then adjust my assignments accordingly. With a 5 week class, I do not have time to be playing those games.

I was more than a little annoyed that this grading rubric didn't show up the day the course started, so I'm holding my breath. If things go badly in this course, I'll probably make a little noise. If all goes well, I'm not stupid enough to muddy the waters. I'll let you know!

ANYWAY, I'm in the middle of learning a lot about indigenous religions, now into Hinduism and soon into Buddhism. The learning is rapid and a lot of fun! There is so much that I'm absorbing from all of this.

The disgusting thing is that my freaky husband already has this information in his head. Drives me batty. How can I tell him something interesting that I'm learning if he already knows it? Sigh ... oh well.