If you still remember how you felt as a five or six-year-old looking toward your first day of kindergarten or first grade (yes, I'm old enough to predate 3K, pre-K or 5K -- no, wait, I think that one's a race), then you may remember whether or not you were one of the kids about to pee in your pants, or one about to throw up. I know that there might have been some kid out there about to wet his undies in absolute joyful excitement at the prospect of starting school, but I wasn't one of them. My birthday fell in such a way that I was one of the youngest kids in first grade, and I felt more nauseous than joyful on my first day. But that was then, and this is a new millennium and a new stage of life.

After elementary school, I was pretty much excited each school year to get back at it mainly, granted, for social reasons. And I must admit, that motivation carried into the first couple of years of college too. But then I married young and caught a vision for...for lack of a better description, earning a living for my new bride and myself. Suddenly, the things I was studying got very interesting. Oh, and also, suddenly I went from being a pretty good student to being a 4.0 student.

And some of you will relate to yet a third stage of excitement over learning. In this stage, the student has discovered what God has wired them to do somewhere deep inside their being, gifts and aptitudes, and goes after the learning and practicing of this thing with all their might. Such is how it happened to me when I came to understand that I think digitally and love applying modern computer technology to modern communication challenges. In short, I'm a bit of a geek who likes to create new things using information technology and who gets a particular kick out of using IT to communicate with over-the-top excellence.

So why am I waxing philosophical on the first day of school and of learning in general? Well, it's because tomorrow is my first day of school and I'm about to pee in my pants. Okay, a little explanation is in order. Tomorrow, technically January 12, 2009 at midnight, my first two online courses in a formal study of .NET Programming switch on at Peirce College's student learning site. I am augmenting my self-study of .NET technologies and the pursuit of learning and applying them with a certificate on the subject, and chose Peirce after some time of research, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. And though I may never again visit Philadelphia, PA (this time to get an education) to actually tour the bricks-and-mortar campus, talk to any of my professors, or pick up my certificate at the end, I'll be a Tiger (no, that's not it), a Bulldog (nah, not that either), a Hoosier (oops, wrong conference and, oh yeah, Peirce doesn't have a mascot because they don't have any sports teams)...I'll be one of those "working adult learners" gladly learning more about what God wired me to do.

Bring on the number 2 pencils, laptop, and broadband connection! It's back-to-school time!