Tuesday class

Back in the classroom after about a two year break...yep, six weeks of HR stuff with fourteen ready to go adults...refreshing. I was pooped when I got home about 10:30 last night, but that was good. It tells me I have been working. Aleene and I did walk this morning so I was able to get out of bed and stumble along for two miles...ah yes, fresh coffee at "The Coffee Cottage."

This is the second class for this "cohort" (that is a class that stays together for the entire year who are finishing up their BS in Management.) The dynamic of putting the group together and changing instructors is not new...Cornerstone does it the same way for adult completion. Spring Arbor started the process 20 years ago as I recall. Anyway, it is like coming into a family with all its idiosyncrasies just waiting for the next victim (instructor.) "You better be good," one woman quipped to me. "We gobble up instructors," she said laughingly. "Where's the door" I responded. Actually, these are very nice people ...seven men, seven women. A couple are pretty advanced in their careers and are trying to get their BS to be able to check that off their list of life things to accomplish. There are single parent moms and even a trucker who was once a surveyor (Associates in Civil Engineering Technology) who now wants to be in a management spot. Very interesting group.

I teach at the Portland campus of Fox, which is where Brendon's office is located and where Amy does most of her teaching...make that all of her teaching. She has an office here in Newberg. The center is about 15 miles away...40 minutes in the evening when you catch every traffic light red. It took me 20 minutes to get home last night with virtually no traffic. The building there is big. It houses several programs including GFU's Seminary. They tell me they are looking for room to expand.

Fox has a nice food service area with a rather full meal for $3.50 which accommodates working students and instructors who leave home too early and need some sustenance before embarking on a four hour journey on their feet.

The interplay with these folks is enriching. I know why I do this...it is in my blood to pass on to another generation the stories of the past and to share the vision of what the workplace of the future might look like. They are like sponges when I talk about conflict resolution. They are in need of this type of information, it would seem. We will see if I am so positive at the end of six weeks.