This blog is usually about politics, history
or a combination of politics and history.
Today's blog post is more personal.
Today, April 8, is Peggy Lennon's birthday. One year ago, to celebrate her seventy-fifth birthday I wrote a post entitled HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEGGY LENNON AND THANK YOU. In that post I shared details of meeting Peggy Lennon in 1982, seeing her again in 1983, making a promise to finish college and learning to "never say say never" from her not once or even twice but four times and in four different decades!
In the weeks just prior to writing that post, I had been thinking about the possibility of going to Graduate School. That was something I had not thought about since I left Graduate School shortly after the beginning of the Spring Semester in 2002. As a matter of fact, I never thought I would go back to Graduate School. I believed that moment had long since passed. Life had taken me in different directions between 2002 and 2016 but none of those paths seem to lead to finishing Graduate School. But then those thoughts found their way back into my mind again in the weeks leading up to Peggy's birthday. I began to consider the pros and cons of returning to school and was still undecided. One reason was that in my search for an online Graduate Program in History, many colleges and universities required at least one, usually the final, semester the classes be taken at the school not online. Another reason was that local universities offering Master of Arts degrees required taking the Graduate Record Exam. I had previously taken that exam and qualified, but as it was over ten years ago, I would have to take the exam again. The prospect of taking the math test was definitely something I did not want to do.
As I wrote the post about Peggy Lennon, I realized that I had not quite finished keeping my promise to her. When I sent her a copy of my Bachelor of Arts degree in History in the summer of 2001, I also wrote a little note to her informing her that I would be starting Graduate School in September 2001. So while I had kept my promise to her to finish college by earning my Bachelor of Arts degree, I had not finished Graduate School. So I made the decision to go back to Graduate School to not only finish what I started, but keep the promise I made to Peggy Lennon in August 1983 that I would finish college!
Four days after Peggy's birthday, on April 12, 2016, I contacted Southern New Hampshire University and began the process to start Graduate School. I was accepted into their Master of Arts program with a concentration in American History. On May 23, 2016, just forty-five days after Peggy's birthday, I started my first graduate class! Now, one year later, I have completed four graduate classes and started my fifth class on April 3.
Thank you Peggy Lennon for the inspiration and for giving me the opportunity to make that promise to you nearly thirty-four years ago! You told me then, "You should finish school." I am going finish the Master of Arts program and keep that promise!
For anyone interested in reading the post from last year, here is the link: HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEGGY LENNON AND THANK YOU
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