Lost
Little did I know, as I was reading comments on my "Loosening the Apron Strings" post yesterday, Helen was getting lost.
Helen is taking a class at our local art museum and was to walk there from school yesterday for the first time. She got there early and asked the museum guard where she should be. He took one look at her and shepherded her off to a conference room where she took a seat. Slowly the room began to fill....with Dartmouth students, not the senior citizen art museum members she was expecting.
Her heart sank. She was trapped. In walked the professor. Frank Stella, recipient of the National Medal of Arts. She happened to know who he was because she and I had recently attended an opening lecture about his exhibition at the museum.
There she was. Age 14. Sitting at the table in a senior-level, ivy league college art seminar with one of the world's pre-eminent modern artists. Trying to hold it together. Interested and sort of wanting to ask a question just because ...how cool would that be? Realizing she actually knew a tiny bit more than some of the students. At the same time freaked and trying to figure out how to quietly leave without being....well....rude.
So, she managed to slip out after about 1/2 an hour, called me, found her other class where she got to examine and analyze some cool art. And...is slowly turning a freaky experience into a pretty funny story.
Yup. Loosening those apron strings is a good thing.
LOL! Oh I love it! Thank you for sharing this story with us. :)
Oh my...that is a good story! That must be so cool to live near such a great university.
In college, I once went to the wrong class. It was computer engineering....something I know nothing about! I remember that feeling of wondering how to get out of there, without calling attention to myself or appearing rude.
That really is cool! And wonderful she was able to stay calm and manage the situation. Nice that she was so concerned not to be rude. :-) And nice too that she got to have the best of both worlds - some of the seminar, and some of her real class!
helen - you TOTALLY handled it! what a great tale you'll always have to tell too. (and i'm not in the least surprised you knew as much as you did in that class) :)
I just love this. It will be a story to tell for all time.
Very cool. Love that story. Don't we all end up somewhere we are not supposed to be at some point and are faced with that impromptu need to have an exit plan. . . . glad it all worked out ok.