Thomas Edison once said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
With back-to-school just around the corner, plenty of people are wondering if this will be another year of putting school off. No money, no day-time available hours for classes, no transportation, no child care help. Most grants and loans seldom help the person working through adverse circumstances.
Although WSU offered their "Dream Weber" scholarship this year many working, non-traditional students cannot succeed. I am a non-traditional student. I guess you could say I was a "difficult" student as well. There were many ways to go about furthering my education but it seemed none of them would work for me and if I did find one that worked, I questioned if I could I handle it.
Could I really give 100 percent? Would I be wasting a valuable grant? Would I be able to relate to the other students? I wasn't looking for special treatment, but I was looking for something that would "meet me" while on my uniques path.
Obtaining my high school diploma 20 years after the fact was hard enough. The fear of going up to campus with thousands of younger, more evolved, diverse groups of people was overwhelming to me. I felt I would get further behind schedule in my life, unable to set an example for my children or follow my dreams. What if this was just one more choice I made and failed at miserably?
I did not fit into any of the current available "boxes." Just when I had decided that there was not a way for a person like me to even inch toward a higher education, a miracle landed in my path. The Venture program seemed designed just for me and many others in our community. It's a free year-long course consisting of usable college credits -- a program designed so that failure is not an option.
It's deliberate set of studies (art history, literature, American history, philosophy and composition/poetry) invites a person like myself and others to engage in the humanities and, in the process, work out our own humanity.
You may be thinking, "Nothing is really free, there is always a catch." I can tell you from personal experience that the only catch is that you have to believe Venture can work for you. You have to show up two nights a week willing to participate, prepared to put aside any preconceived notions of what a college classroom is supposed to look like. And perhaps, arrive with enough humility to receive not only the basics in a higher education but some wisdom as well.
In a speech I gave this past April, I likened the program to a mix of "The Breakfast Club" and "Twelve Angry Men." Not that we were ever "angry," but that we were afforded a place and time to discuss, often passionately, the immediate global and very personal current issues that impact the evolution of our communities. Our eyes, hearts and minds were opened.
While my Venture course ended some months ago, the learning and fruits of that course did not end. Our class finale' was a digital arts project, that was shown to the public at Universe City gallery. Last month, as part of Ogden's first Friday art stroll, many people stopped by to see what we had created.
The Venture students who attended could not believe others were actually intrigued and entertained by our work. We learned we had a talent and a perspective worth sharing. We know others do as well.
Because I was blessed to have this opportunity, I feel honored to share the information, just like someone did for me. Right now, there are a few select places remaining for this fall's course.
If you are at least 18, can read the newspaper in English, have financial issues that keep you from school and have a sincere desire to learn, then you should apply!
I did and it changed my life. It continues to change my life as months later I am aggressively pursuing my dreams and doing so with more confidence and a much enlightened perspective. Contact Shannon Butler at sbutler@weber.edu or (801)626-6623. Online applications are available at www.utahhumanities.org/Venture.htm ;
Musgrove lives in Ogden.
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