College

I am going go on a rant here, so bear with me. Here's my big confession, the chip on my shoulder, so to speak. I didn't go to college and don't have a degree, which is a darned shame, I think.

I have to digress a bit - higher education is important to me.  Pat and I have six children between us (what the hell was I thinking, marrying a man with four kids, but that's another post). Our four girls all have bachelor's degrees, Kristen is currently in grad school. Our two boys have trade schools under their belts and good jobs.

So why the hell didn't Janie Harris go to college? This may sound really, really lame, but I didn't know I was supposed to take the SAT test. My friends took it, and I was like, oh, what's that or whatever. I lay this debacle at the door of my so-called guidance counselor in high school. He was well-meaning, I suppose, but he certainly didn't GUIDE me. Isn't that your damned job, dude?

Here was a smart kid, who got all As and Bs (okay an occasional C in math, I confess). I was never a problem student - squeaky clean. Hell, I was in Student Council, a cheerleader and Editor-in-Chief of the campus newspaper.  I have a very high IQ and was in a program for gifted children in junior high. He had all that stuff in the super secret folder they have on all of their students, I know.

So why the hell didn't he call me in and say, "Hey, Janie, I see you haven't signed up to take the SAT, you're a smart girl and would be good college material". Nope. Nada. Nothing. The ONLY time I saw him in my four years in high school was when I walked out of Mr. Gabel's class because my fellow students were totally out of control and so disruptive that he refused to teach the class. I got a pass on that one.

I had an abysmal semester at community college - decent grades, but bored out of my skull. So I quit and went to work.

I've done mortgage loan processing, property management and selling real estate. I guess I shouldn't gripe - my work is fulfilling and I love it, and have been sporadically successful, I just feel I would've really benefitted from a college degree.

In my 40s I realized I really love law and I think I would've made a darned good attorney, but that's water under the bridge now.

NOW what am I doing?

I have started my own corporation. Yes, ladies and gents, meet the new CEO of Morpheus Realty, Inc. I'll be leaving Keller Williams in a couple of weeks. It's both exciting and scary at the same time. I'll continue to run Viking Property Management and we'll roll the new properties into Morpheus Property Management and pull the plug on Viking in a year or two. I have a partner who's great at all the marketing and stuff I hate, so we feel like it's a great partnership. We have different strengths and weaknesses, which is good.

At age 51 I finally feel like I'm launching.

To Mr. Hausner, I say screw you. You F'd up. You had great material to work with and you didn't do your job.

Ironically, my daughter, Kristen is in grad school to become a high school guidance counselor. I'm going to make sure she reads this post to make certain none of her students slip through the cracks like I did.

Heard a song from the 80s on the radio today from a one hit wonder named David Naughton. Called "Making it". A phrase from that song resonates with me "I've got looks, I've got brains and I'm breaking these chains".

Go MORPHEUS and again, screw you Mr. Hausner.

Rant over and boy, do I feel better.