It's funny...no matter how many villains a super hero has, there is always the ONE villain that everyone associates with that hero. Batman has the Joker, Superman has Lex Luthor, the X-Men have Magneto, the Fantastic Four have Dr. Doom...and Drummerman has Higher Ed.
If I'm being completely honest, I'm not entirely sure why I've had such a problem with school. I'm a smart guy. Me talk pretty. Me right good. But, all joking aside, I have never been able to stay in school and get a degree. Part of it is the music in my life...the truth is, it's a harsh master. Hours behind text books studying communication, math, or even things I really enjoy, like philosophy, are still hours spent away from working on music, furthering my career, etc. There is a stereotypical scene we see in a lot of movies, where a student is hiding a dirty magazine between the pages of his text book, pretending to study his subjects while actually studying "Female Anatomy (and Airbrushing) 101." I honestly used to do that exact same thing...only instead of pornography, I had books on drum technique, or the autobiography of Miles Davis hidden in there.
It's not that I'm incapable of success in school. When I have actually gone to my classes, I have done quite well. I quite easily made the Dean's List at my last school...until a semester later, when I just stopped going. Just when it seemed that I had defeated Higher Ed for ever, he broke out of prison, snuck up on me, and knocked me out...so the war rages on still.
The difference between me and the heroes I mentioned above, however, is that I'm not fearless. No matter how many times the Joker rises, Batman chases him down without fear or hesitation. Fear is a funny thing. The number one fear in the United States is public speaking. Death is number two. I don't fear death, and have always been a fantastic public speaker. Stage fright is another common thing in our country, but I've played in front of over 70,000 people at once and felt no fear. All of these commonly feared things have no effect on me, but the idea of going back to school, something that millions of people do, has me so nervous I shake when I think about it. It's now or never, though, so game on! It's time to kick Higher Ed's butt one last time, and actually see the battle through to the end. It's time to earn my degree and start opening up the doors that a degree can open...doors that remain closed to me despite the fact that I am often smarter and better suited for what lies beyond them than many people that reside there already. I can't tell you how many times I have worked at jobs and helped supervisors with things that they don't understand...computer programs, financial analysis, even human resource issues...and I've gotten them through these issues, despite making a tenth of what they earn, and technically not even being qualified to do their jobs because I don't have a stupid piece of paper that they have. So I'm swallowing my fear down and heading back to school.
I only wish I was as secure in the outcome of this battle as Superman is when he battles Lex Luthor.
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