Goose asked a question on his blog about the scariest things.

This got me thinking about another post about more than…hey, I did this over the weekend. So, here goes another story.

Back in 1989, I thought about going back to school. I had been out of high school for 5 years and never went to college. In fact, I barely graduated high school, truth be known. I didn’t know what I wanted to study, but knew I did not want to continue working for the Marriott.

So, I contact my local Community College to find out the process. OMG… I have been out of school so long, I have to take a placement test.

Guess what??? I have to retake high school english & math over again. This was very disheartening. At this point, I almost gave up. Well, I didn’t.

I signed up for 1 night class. English 090. (the fact that is starts with a “0” indicates that it is not a college level course) I remember being absolutely terrified going to my first class. It was like first grade all over again!!! I looked at everyone, expecting them to be looking at me, wondering what this “old dude” was doing here. To my surprise, there were plenty of other students my age there.

Also, I remember being so embarrassed that I was taking English 090, that when I was walking through the halls with my book, I would purposely make sure the front cover was turned in so no one could see it. I didn’t want anyone to see I was too stupid to even qualify to take a college course. The thing I didn’t know, which I would know later, is that everybody there knew exactly what that book was. Plenty of them had taken the class too. I wasn’t fooling anybody.

I didn’t tell anyone I was taking the class. Not my family. Not my friends. And, certainly not the people I worked with. Can you imagine the humiliation if I failed?

So there it is… one of the scariest things I have ever done. 1989, going back to school.