School Days

Monday night I went to school. It marked the first time I’ve sat in a classroom since taking a course at Wheaton College 15 years ago. And it’s been 30 years since I’ve been a student pursing a degree.

Now I’m enrolled in the master’s in counseling program at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. Much has changed since my undergrad days. For starters, most of the students — 17 out of 24 — are women. While I’m older than nearly everybody else in the classroom, including the professor, it’s clear that many seminary students aren’t just fresh out of college.

The course, “Addictive Behaviors in Family Systems,” isn’t as intimidating as it looks on paper. Professor Mark Bradford is easygoing and affable. He genuinely enjoys the give and take discussion with students. It’s definitely a different, and better, atmosphere than the droning lectures I remember from my college days.

Most of my classmates already knew each other and seem to be full-time students, rather than taking a course a semester as I’m doing. I learned a lot in the first night. This class will be challenging, including the 75 pages to read before the next session. School will leave less time for blogging. Maybe that’s all part of learning about addiction.