School is in the air. My friend, Krissy, at SpeckBlog just went back to school yesterday. And Jean and have been talking about studying and the desire to go back to school. Stephen will start in October. As for me? You couldn’t pay me to go back to school.

From the age of five until just before my 26th birthday, I was in school continuously with no one-year break as an exchange student or for overseas studies; no extended time away from school except for summers to work and sorta chill out. Even the jobs I’ve had since my freshman year of high school weren’t jobs with other kids, maybe at a fast food restaurant, goofing off. I was always finding ways to promote myself along the career path.

By the time I finished my PhD, I’d had enough of sitting in on boring lectures, taking notes in five different colors, reading and sleeping with five-pound textbooks, puzzling over genetics and statistics homework assignments, working on group projects, writing papers, and studying for both oral and written exams. There are people who have more degrees than me and who’ve been in school longer than me, but I’ve done more than the average and I’ve had enough.

I’m impressed that moms like Krissy, Jean, and have the stamina to attend classes, think about applying for degree programs, and study Japanese independently (that’s what each of them is doing respectively). I just couldn’t do it myself.

Now I’m all about learning random odds and ends from here, there, and everywhere. I’m still learning but not in a disciplined manner. Every day I drink from the gushing firehose that is the genomic revolution. At the same time, you might find me poring over astronomy websites one day boning up on the planets for Stephen. Another week, I might be reading up on the tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Yesterday, I was researching the alpha mom phenomenon.

I’m still learning and the neurons are still firing. I’m just not doing it to someone else’s rules. I appreciate all the formal schooling I’ve had. It’s what taught me to be critical, analytical, and organized. But now that I’m done with school, I’m really done.