Amazing Stuff! (Warning: Long and boring - with self examination)

Amazing stuff, this future: Can't see it, can't touch it. It always is gone by the time you get there. So what good is it?

Dear Family Support Council,

If you want to be apprised of the latest "Plan of the Week" (as Stephen calls it), here goes. I went to UMR two Friday's ago to speak with a Dr. Morgan of the Mathematics Department about their Masters program and teaching assistantships. I was calmly excited about this meeting, as I have been assembling information from the Internet and wanted to start the face-to-face process. Dr. Morgan is the undergrad Math adviser, and this was freshmen orientation week, so her hall was lined with dozens of young men and women waiting to speak with her. I had an appointment, so I stepped over them (literally) and went in, introducing myself as I entered. She had put together a packet of applications and brochures, but was too busy to talk long. I found out a few things, but the most significant was my initial emotional reaction: Surprisingly, I was not immediately pleased by the prospect of forging back into academia and trudging through the rigors of their plans for me.

I've always recalled my student days with fondness, especially the esoterica of pure, theoretical, inapplicable mathematics. Ah, the sweet elegance of a number theory proof! A mere thirty-eight years later, I'm not so enamored with thoughts of the 'pure' stuff. Applied Math (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_algebra or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimization_%28mathematics%29 ) and statistics are more attractive to me right now. (Yes, for some of you, the gag reflex is starting... Maybe you should take some Dramamine before you read on.)

Last Friday, I had a meeting scheduled with Dr. V. Samaranayake (Dr. Sam), the Math grad adviser. Dr. Sam did not show, so I am still where I was as far as info. Maybe I'll just apply to grad school. Then they'll have to talk with me!

As I'm considering all this, two computer jobs open at UMR: System Support Analyst (A sort of back-up for the university computer help desk) and, get this, Director of Application Development. I'll know by mid-September if I even get to interview for these positions. I'm amazed that I even want to try this, but I don't think I'm just willing to accept any escape from prison. I feel like I'd really do well in the Director position.

So, yesterday (the third Friday in this monologue), I finally connected up with Dr. Sam. He was very encouraging. He strongly advised me to sit in on a Calculus course and one or two other Math courses at UMR next semester (start January 2007) to get ready for entry into the Grad program in the fall. The good parts about this plan are acclimation and refresher aspects, plus getting known on campus so I would have a better chance at a Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) in the fall. He said he could arrang that I need not even pay for the courses as audit. The bad news is that I can't do that and earn money (as in my current job) at the same time. So, not to be discouraged, I am looking into a homeschool-type CD-based course as a Calculus refresher, and just going over my Linear Algebra text for that subject. I also would need to take a GRE ( http://www.ets.org/gre/ ) in eight weeks, so I'd have to get some serious review time in for that as well. This and sleep every other night, I guess...

And all this is dependent on finding the $20K's a year to go to grad school at all! I could take out a loan (I've proven too good at that already...) or sell one of my remaining children (What am I bid for a 13-year-old boy who is growing 1/8 inch a week and eating anything that doesn't outrun him to support the habit?   ... Hmmm. Just as I expected. Didn't even make the reserve...). 

So there you have it. What advice do any of you have?

Grand Old Man

PS: Tob, if it's not too ponderous, could you post this on the family blog for me? Or better yet, tell me again how to do it?