So That Explains Why I Love College...

...Getting Brain In The Library Cuz I Love Knowledge

When You Used Your Medulla Oblongata...

I wasn't sure if I would like Community, the new show on NBC. Sure, they used Matt & Kim in their commercials - that was a huge plus. But I am a huge fan of community college, and I was worried it would be a little offensive. They had a comedy a few years ago called Teachers, and it portrayed teachers, sitting around talking crap about their students and being lazy - not very funny when I am trying to get respect with my students.

So, I recorded the first two episodes anyway - I do love comedy. And I was hoping it wouldn't be so offensive. As it turns out, I really liked it! One aspect of community college that I love is the diversity of the people in the classes. I took one class on Career Explorations, when I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life (who does?!) and the unique mix of backgrounds and experience really enriched that class. It still was one of the best experiences of my life. And in the first episode, they introduced the cast of characters. They weren't all stereotypical slackers that I thought NBC was going to put in. There are some people looking to explore, looking to keep occupied, and looking to reach out. Joel McHale plays a lawyer who was disbarred because he didn't have a valid Bachelor's degree, so now he has to go back and actually take responsibility for his actions for once in his life. He interacts with people from all walks of life, and the jokes are more about him, his lackadaisical ways, and how hard he tries to get the girl. Your basic foundation for a comedy in any setting!

Watching this show, I realized how lucky I was to be able to put myself through a four-year university in one go. Well, lucky mostly because I couldn't wait to move out of my house. But community college has always been good to me. In high school, I took a swing dance class at the local junior college. Then, during my time at UC Irvine, I decided to switch to a Physics major during my first quarter there. That decision was going to force me to stay a 5th year because of the classes I already missed that were only offered once a year (Physics was not a popular major!). Then I figured out that I could take those classes at Irvine Valley College concurrently with my UCI classes. It was one tough semester, but without that option I would have been stuck.

Since then, I have gone to community college to figure out what the heck to do about my career, keep me occupied after a breakup, learn French with a friend, and start recording a podcast. Now, watching this show, I am getting excited to think about the next class I am going to take from San Francisco City College... Interior Design? Java? French II? Yoga? At $80 a class for relevant skills, I am forever hooked.