Wednesday, March 25, 2009

My Brilliant Sons

Luke and Henry were talking about school this morning and Luke asked me about college.

“College is the highest school you can go to, right?”

“Well, first you go to high school, then you can get your bachelors degree in college, then you can go some more and get your Master’s degree, and finally, you can go some more and get your PhD if you want,” I said.

“What?” asked Henry, confused.

“Mommy and Daddy both went to college,” I said, trying to clarify. “In college, you get to take a lot of classes about a lot of things, but you take extra classes in the area you love the most. Mommy studied English, like reading and writing, and Daddy studied math,” I said.

“Then, you can go for two more years and just study your very favorite subject and get your Master’s degree,” I went on. “That is what Mommy did. Finally, you can go to college for four or five more years and study your favorite subject some more and get your PhD like Daddy did. Daddy is a Math Professor now since he did that.”

“I want my PhD!” said Luke. “I want my PhD in gym!”

“Oh, that sounds cool,” I said.

“I want my PhD in crafts!” said Henry.

“Wait, I think I want my PhD in crafts, too,” said Luke.

My two sons, following in their father’s footsteps in academia. Perhaps Luke could write his dissertation on the cultural impact of macramé in the 1970’s. Henry could specialize in the history of playdough.

We are a bookish family, I tell you.

4 comments:

Tracy said...

Lovely... do you think you can get a ph.D in Star Wars - not the Ronald Reagan kind, the George Lucas kind?

Jenny said...

Ha! Actually I was at graduation at Loyola, and was quite surprised when a woman was awarded a Ph.D. in scrapbooking as memory-making. So really, sky's the limit!

I must say that Ana has decided that she does NOT want her Ph.D. She thinks it takes way, way too long.

Jenny said...

I want to write my dissertation in Facebook status updates. Not just as a genre, but I mean by stringing them together, status by status. Wouldn't that be lovely?

so yung wilson said...

Skip the Masters and go right for the PhD.

Not all PhDs are created and I think, if memory serves me correctly, a PhD in Craft is about as high up the academic ladder one can go. It would be even better if they went for their MD at the same time - double up on Craft PhD and MD. A doctor that can stitch neatly and do fancy knot work with internal organs as needed.

I wonder if one really could get a PhD in Crafts. After all, we have a Craft Campus here at UNCA with a Center for Craft Creativity and Design. AND rumor has it that the American Craft Council (name?) is considering Asheville as one of the cities it might relocate to. Crafting can be serious business.

All this to say: your sons ARE brilliant!

Whatever they end up doing for a living, I hope its something they love. Like you and Craig.