This is it, for the most part

So the beginning of the end has happened.  I finished, for better or worse, my first final earlier today.  I have four more finals to take.  I will be completely done on Thursday at 2:00 PM.  I don't anticipate having grades like I did last semester, but I'm fine with it.  My main concern is getting across the stage next week Sunday.  I'm so happy that I didn't turn back this time.  It was easy not going to school all of those years (1993 - 2006) but something clicked for me at the end of 2006 that told me it was time to go back.  So in January 2007, I embarked upon a new chapter in my life.  I didn't think I would go more than a semester.  I certainly did not have to go back to school, as I was in what I thought was a secure and stable job.  Looking back, going to school was the best decision I could have made at that time.  I had a lot going on in my life from 2005 - 2007, and school brought some focus that I would not have had otherwise.  Of course, 2007 - 2009 were some tough years, but I was reminded that I had a working brain, and it needed some food.  I couldn't just sit back and watch people get degrees and good jobs, knowing that I had the knowledge to obtain a degree from almost any school. 
I look back at this time because I remember what I was like almost 20 years ago, when I graduated from high school.  I had no desire to go to college, but I wanted to leave Milwaukee so desperately, specifically leaving my mother's house.  Being "grown" meant that I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, and had no one to answer to.  No wonder I left college when I did! I tried to go back, but that was not going to happen. I lasted about a semester before I left for good, or so I thought.
I'm jumping around quite a bit tonight, but that's because my academic career is representative of the vicissitudes of life that I have experienced thus far... I'm at my best when I'm in school, especially when I'm doing well in school.  When I'm not in school, I waste a lot of time trying to figure out how to exercise my gray cells.  If I don't find something constructive, I become destructive.  I need to work on the next part of my academic career as soon as possible, as I don't want to lose the focus I have developed.  It's kind of funny, talking about having focus when I'm avoiding studying for finals...
I think of all the times my family and friends gave me grief and stayed on me about going back to school.  In my head, it was not going to happen because there was nothing that I could do well enough to get a bachelors degree.  Then I remembered I could read.  Seriously though, I know my degree is not useful for more than certain, specific jobs, but fact of the matter is, in this job climate the only position I could have worked towards with a guaranteed job anywhere was nurse, and sorry, but I'm not nurse material.  The minute someone told me I would have to stick someone with a needle is the minute I would walk out of the hospital doors.  So although my degree is in History and Religious Studies, two disciplines that basically scream "go into teaching" and nothing else, I'm pretty proud of having accomplished a B.A. in them.
I'm excited.  I don't know what the future will bring.  I know that it will bring student loans.  I'm hoping it will bring an awesome job.  Most importantly, I'm looking forward to adding a new title to my life story, college graduate.
Have a good week y'all...