Audited a College Class and Gained an Appreciation for My Daughter

In November I read an article in our local paper about a 71-year old auditing classes at Rider University. I immediately called around and found out how I could follow in her footsteps.

It turns out it wasn't hard. Everyone (and I mean everyone) was helpful and encouraging. 

In a move that could be construed as lazy I signed up for the first class on the list: Intro to Arts Administration. It happened to be a class I hope Ashley will discover and take someday (if she does, she can have my textbook). The class is dedicated to teaching theater students how to run a small arts non-profit. Hmm...except for the part about the arts, that describes my job as a part-time director of development for a small school. 

Academically I learned a lot. The pieces of what I do and the basic steps I should take to make improvements were spelled out for me in ways I didn't fully grasp before. Many times in class I had "A-ha!" moments. How should I find more donors? See who donates to my competition. Oh, yeah. One of the top three important people in an organization is the one in charge of fundraising. Oh. Hmm. Not how I feel at work. Of course the fundraiser should be a full time staff member! 

Some of the biggest "A-ha!" moments came with how the class was taught. A couple of times a student would ask to be Zoomed into a class. A couple of times the teacher would post on Canvas (the same software Ashley uses) that he will be teaching via Zoom. He would change the syllabus on whim. Would run out of time to prep for the midterm and final, then use that time slot to review for the midterm and final, and schedule a new time for the test. I could so imagine Ashley being frustrated that her carefully organized life was being shuffled around. We started the semester wearing masks. Ended with being mask optional. Most of the traditional students wore masks. I did not (I was also sitting more than 10 feet away from anyone -- ten of us spread around a room that could easily fit 50).

I made a friend in school -- a woman working at Rider who is taking classes to earn a degree. I give her a lot of credit for following her dreams. I also appreciate her texts letting me know when class was shifting to Zoom.

The first day of class I received a parking warning for parking in the visitor's lot (um, I didn't park in the regular lot for fear of getting a ticket). I took the warning to the right building and swapped it for a piece of paper to leave on my dashboard giving me permission to park in the visitor's lot the entire semester. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to put a sticker on my convertible's small windows.

Then I asked about how to get a student ID. That was equally as easy. Equally free. I've used it to get student rates on tickets to see Rider's amazing productions. I feel as if it would be cheating to use the Student ID for other places.

Next up, paying for class. I was told where to go. They accepted my check without once calling me an old lady for paying by check in person.

The students hold doors open and say hello. People seem friendly. It was the best thing I have done for myself in a long time. A dream come true --- learning for the sake of learning and not for a test. 

Next semester Don has already chosen two classes he is interested in taking. I still have to look at the course catalogue. I'm hoping History of Theater meets at a good time.