Odd man out

So this last Saturday was the orientation for the Master of Arts in Counseling program that I start in just two short weeks. Two weeks! Ask if I'm terrified. No nevermind, don't. Must maintain.

It was cool though, we got to meet the new dean and the new director of our program, both of whom seem pretty kickass. The director used to run the Plan II (aka SmartKid) program at UT, so she probably knows a few things about things and stuff.

I also met the rest of the students in the program with me. It's funny, I knew going in a little bit about the demographics of the program, but the reality of those facts didn't really sink in until I got there Saturday morning and took a look around. For one thing, I'm clearly the youngest one there. There were a couple of others who might have been in their thirties, but unless there's some badly aged folks in there, it looks like I'm the baby of the bunch. I'm sitting there telling them about my 15 month old and most of them are talking about their teenagers, or even grandchildren. I don't have a problem with that though, it just means that I'll most likely be more inclined to listen than talk, and choose my words carefully so as not to look like the idiotic young whippersnapper.

Then there's the fact that I'm one of only a handful of men. The vast majority of the other students are women. I guess you'd say it's sorta like I'm going into nursing, sans bedpans and syringes. In fact, the former program director came up to me first thing, introduced herself, and said they were glad to get some more testosterone in the program. Hey, me and my hormones are always glad to help. Being surround by a bunch of old(er) ladies doesn't bother me so much, both sides of my family are nearly all women, same goes for the Ash's family. But I have to admit, it puts me a bit out of my comfort zone, which is by definition a bit uncomfortable. But hey, it's not as if being in seminary is exactly where I would have placed myself a few years ago. A wise (wo)man might tell me to welcome the differences and see if I can't learn something from people with such different points of view. Might just make you a better person, and eventually a better counsellor.