Is there a greater time of the year than fall? It certainly is my favorite time of year and one of the reasons I moved back to my home state from Texas. As much as I loved living in Texas, I just really missed the fall weather and those memories attendant to changing temperatures: jeans, sweatshirts, football, hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks and the smell of fall.
It’s really sort of a paradox that when I look back on my childhood I remember so many of the simple things that make me smile inside. I remember from my earliest years looking forward to the Christmas holidays, that, from my perspective, really began with autumn and Halloween. I couldn’t wait every year for "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" to come on television. That was truly the kick-off of fall for me. Every year I so looked forward to it. In fact, for years I would sit with my own kids, pop popcorn and we would watch Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin. To the day my sons were in college, I would sit every fall and watch this show, even if I had to watch it by myself. The Great Pumpkin has attendant to it the smell of burning leaves, the crispness that comes with the autumn evenings and early mornings. Football in sweatshirts, raking leaves just to run and leap into them, these are my memories of my childhood during this season. And to continue this bliss, there was "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," and then, the granddaddy of all television series, the whole Christmas entourage of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "Frosty the Snowman," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and one of my all-time favorites, "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
WOW! What a special season fall was and is. In school, I used to love the holidays as we began the process of cutting out pumpkins and making Thanksgiving pilgrims and turkeys by tracing around our hand and fingers. How cool was that?
Fall, in general, is a great time to be enrolled in higher education. Something about the season that makes us want to be in school. Perhaps it’s the fact that since kindergarten we began new school years in the fall; or, perhaps it’s fall being filled with the spirit of football, cool days and evenings, and the many holidays and celebrations. Whatever the reason, it just seems to be a perfect emotional period of expectations, memories, anticipation and excitement. As a child, we didn’t have much, but I do remember going shopping for pencils, paper and other school supplies. It was actually a great bonding experience between parent and child and provided many magnificent memories. What a great season fall can be!
Being at Purdue is a great honor, something I do not take for granted and something I do not under appreciate. I am honored to be perceived as worthy of being here. I feel proud and a sense of serenity to be a member of the Purdue family, and, am again, extremely thankful for the opportunity.
Why did you go to college? Do you have a vision of where you want to be five or 10 years from now? This is a season of reflection, reflection on the many things we have to be thankful for. Education provides opportunities that would not normally otherwise be there.
When you are ready to go to that next level, to obtain your master’s degree, we are here to help you. Each of our staff in ProSTAR has his/her own stories, all different, but similar in that we each recognize the power of education in helping us to achieve our dreams.
As you spend time this holiday season with family and friends, take a moment if you would to reflect on where you want to be in the years ahead. Life can be tremendously meaningful, with the proper planning and education.
From our ProSTAR family to yours, we wish you and your loved ones the very best this holiday season.
Call us sometime. We’d love to hear from you!