Antsy August

As a reward for my insane productivity today I am composing a second blog in one day.  I figure that while I have the chance and I can take an extra breath I might as well.

This afternoon I met with the Young Farmer & Rancher (YF&R) program team leader (Shon), the committee chairperson for the NCSU YF&R program, and the two university supervisors to discuss the upcoming schedule of events for our collegiate program.  Collegiate YF&R at NCSU, Mt. Olive College, and NC. A&T are "clubs" designed to tie young people back to agriculture, introduce them to bureau life, and are managed by the team that I serve on at work.  We had a lovely lunch but I must admit that I was distracted the entire time.  We were meeting at a little restaurant in Cameron Village near NCSU campus and with it being the first day of class all I could think about was how badly I wanted to at least walk through Ricks hall.  After lunch I walked over to my fave running store just to look around and then drove over to my favorite coffee shop to work but all I could think about was school.  To be honest I haven't thought much about school since May of 2011.  With the exception of keeping up with my grad school friends much of the research and coursework that I completed is hazy at best.  But today my heart longed to be working on a project or studying for some kind of exam.  I tried to remind myself how much I loathed moodle discussion posts and how much sleep I lost typing out 110 pages of seemingly pointless research, but nothing seemed to dull the ache.

I truly have no desire to go back into a teaching role but I've found myself pondering if there was some kind of course(s) or advanced certification or something I could get hooked into.  An advanced degree at this point in my career wouldn't do me much, if any, good.  While I am appreciative of my agricultural education roots I truly have no desire to pursue doctoral studies in that discipline.  I've thought long and hard about random things...like learning a second language...or becoming a registered parliamentarian.  Go on and laugh... I know it's lame but it's something I'm interested in!!!! I probably should try to get hooked into a church small group or bible study, but with my extremely odd work schedule I couldn't guarantee regular attendance except on certain nights / times.  I need a flexible learning environment.

I was telling someone the other day about how much I love a challenge.  Post-grad school my challenge / hobby became running and travelling for races.  This is still a challenge but now I'm seeking an interesting, intellectual challenge.  One that provides some brain stimuli with a side of socialization. Anybody have some suggestions?