I received an 11"x6" postcard this week inviting me to "finish at home" what I "started at BYU!" by obtaining a Bachelor of General Studies with an emphasis in one several areas: American Studies, English and American Literature, Family Life, History, Management, Psychology, or Writing. The postcard has a detour / road sign theme (continued at the website) and the caption at the top of the card reads "Whatever Detours in Life Have Come Your Way, You Can Still Finish Your BYU Degree."
Rather a bold, all-encompassing statement. If I didn't already have a couple degrees from other universities (one school's degree is another school's detour, perhaps), it would be tempting to spend $30 to find out whether this is false advertising.
However, as Greg Kinnear's character stated in "Little Miss Sunshine," sarcasm is the refuge of losers, so I won't trip down that particular path right now. Certainly there are a number of people for whom this postcard will point out a feasible method of finishing their undergraduate degree, and it's a worthwhile thing to have. Last week I attended a conference on the issues faced by working poor families. One of the speakers pointed out that sadly one of the leading causes of poverty is motherhood. Therefore it especially behooves mothers to seize any economic advantage they possibly can, and judging from the images on the postcard and the website, the mom contingent is the prime target audience.
I am just puzzled though, unless this is some brand new continuing ed program and they dug way down into the files to promote it, why is BYU inviting me back at this particular time? I would have been (theoretically) eligible for the program almost ten years ago. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world...er, I mean, God never closes a door without somewhere opening a window...my grandma would have called that "working for the power company" but maybe it is meant to demonstrate the importance of good ventilation. I digress. Back in the day at the Y the closest thing we had to a gin joint was a coffee shop in Orem. We'll always have Orem. I think this may be the beginning of a beautiful work of satirical semi-fiction. No sarcasm though, that's for losers.
4 comments:
That mom drives a nice car....
I was thinking about this (sort of) today... A friend of mine, who got her BS in SW at the same time as I did is nearly finished with her internship (4000 hours). She'll soon be a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, which means she could do counseling. I'm kind of jealous.
We make our choices though, and aside from the times I want to bash heads together, I'm quite happy being a mom (and I bet my friend wants to bash heads together sometimes too...). The other stuff will come later.
Yes, to every thing there is a season, but having at least a bachelors degree is akin to having some food storage. I think you qualify on both counts as a well prepared mom--that's the important thing right now.
Ahhhhh. Café Haven and Atticus Books. Those were the days.
Kimber
I still get occasional mail for long grown children inviting them to join the army and get and education or get a 2 year degree or a training program at Steven Henager's. Seems to me the BYU invitation is much more directed to those not on the "Graduated" list there. I think it is a good thing that they are willing to reach back so many years and offer the opportunity to finish one's degree. But sorting out the ones who succeeded in that endeavor in other places would be much more invasive, don't you think?
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