I did this. I’m starting in my final semester this fall, after going back for my degree at 38 and 8 years experience in my field. For my field, “testing out” wasn’t an actual test, it was displaying to the professor that I could show that I had done work very similar to the curriculum for that class and could speak the jargon of my field. They only let me out of a couple requirements though, and only made it so that I didn’t have to take those classes, no credit was given to me. Mostly, my experience has led to me having a serious foot up in a lot of my classes and being able to act as an unofficial TA in some of the hands on classes. And for the classes I really should have been allowed to test out of, I still generally learned enough new material to consider it worth my time and money.

One of the skills my dad taught me that I’ve been the most grateful for over the years that is generally considered a "male "skill is to take things apart and use tools to fix them. My dad has two daughters, so he showed us how to do the stuff he loved. Power tools, electrical work, not being afraid to take out the screw and see how it works and if you can fix it. Not as many things are simply mechanical as they were in the 90’s, but it taught me to be curious and unafraid of exploration and capable in a way that continually surprises the people around me.

We have Alfred and Mrs. Doubtfire.

A real Jewish-style everything bagel, chive cream cheese, lox, more lox, tomato, sweet raw onion, cucumber, open- faced. Don’t have to worry about your breath if it’s your last meal!

Paul Simon, Crazy Love. The line is “sad as a lonely, little wrinkled balloon.” Even as a kid, I always found that image so evocative.

Normally, I sleep too deeply to remember my dreams. I only remember them if I wake during them. However, if I don’t completely awaken, sometimes I can go right back into the dream, but I have some autonomy now and some control over the narrative. Like, I know it’s a TV show and I can change the script. I’ve always been able to do it, I feel like it’s a trade off for nearly never remembering my dreams.

We used Hello Fresh. Both my partner and I had basic cooking skills, but were not very good cooks. He was also a very picky eater. Hello Fresh reduced the overwhelming amount of recipes in the world down to a more reasonable number to choose from. As we kept going, we started to see the same techniques, like reduction sauces, happen in new configurations and we started to understand how they work, not just follow the instructions. It also helped my partner overcome a lot of his pickiness by being in control of what recipes we had each week, allowing him to explore new ingredients when he felt comfortable.