Age brings perspective on school
By Mark Edgcomb
IV Leader Staff
We can be seen in the parking lots here on campus. We can
be heard on the sidewalks heading toward the distant main building and in the
halls between classes. We know who we are, and almost all day classes have at
least one if not more of us attending (we rule the night classes.)
Yes, the dreaded pull-out, handled, wheeled book baggers, the
returning older students.
You will find us sitting in the front row in the classroom;
in fact, our larger than needed wheeled book bag is always by our side. Packed
full of text books (which we read) each highlighted and full of sticky notes
with questions we wish the professor to fully explain, just to us. The seams of
our wheeled book bags are pushed almost to the point of exploding because we are
compelled, no, duty-bound, to pull around reams of notes and papers copied off
the web pages that Google has sent us.
We are extremely grateful that Mr. and Mrs. Gates had little
Bill, a computer geek, who gave the world Microsoft Word and the electronic
thesaurus (which we abuse) (lexicon, vocabulary, glossary, phrase book, and word
list).
We fumble with our bifocals, slipping them on so we can read
our questions.
You know and loathe the type of questions we ask: “Professor,
is it okay if I turn in a 15-page report instead of the 7-8 page one you have
listed in your syllabus (course outline, program, program of study, prospectus
and curriculum).
Indeed, we are the students that cause all you backpacking undergraduates to
wait impatiently for us to exit the room. Please try to remain tolerant of us
wheeled book baggers because it takes time to stuff all those textbooks and
notebooks neatly back into those oversized, small, wheeled book bags.
So, what is my point anyway? Just that we, the wheeled book
baggers, are here to learn until they wheel us to the nursing home.
So please observe the rules of the road (corridor). Stay to
the right side in the hallways and remember to leave at least five feet between
yourself and the wheeled book bagger in front of you; in addition, we are
predisposed to unexpected brief cessation of forward movement in the hall when
searching for our next class. Remember, always keep your legs pulled up under
yourself when sitting in the halls and we will get along just fine.
One more thought before I start to veer down the hallways at
IVCC: “I’M SORRY” if I unintentionally run over any toes, but perhaps you should
consider wearing actual shoes, not those accident-is-awaiting, toes-exposed flip
flops.