Suzanne

I always thought we would have more time.

I suppose that's the reason I wasn't all that concerned that we hadn't seen much of each other in person the last few years. I started a business and moved to Guatemala and struggled through a divorce. Suz went through the death of her sister and adopted her niece, adding to the three beautiful kiddos she and Simon already shared. She led a nursing team dedicated to the health of pregnant and new moms.
No matter how long the time period between seeing each other though, we were the kind of friends that picked right up where we left off. It never felt awkward, and we never blamed each other for life getting in the way.
I suppose I loved Suzanne from the very first day. She was the new kid at Don Julio Junior High, coming into our algebra class with Mr. Kessler and sitting in the back. She was quiet, but she looked thoughtful and I noticed she smirked at the same times I did.
I'm gonna tell the story she pretended to hate, the start of our friendship. At the end of the year 8th grade picnic, students were in groups of friends at a park having pre-arranged to each bring different items to enjoy a meal together. And I happened to see Suz walking across the park by herself, plain brown paper bag in her hand. I approached her and insisted she join me and my friends. This is the part where Suz usually jumps into the story and says that she was just fine on her own and didn't want to have to eat with anyone anyway - I can see her eyes rolling and her smile widening. Then she or Kristen might change the topic to talk about how I made the great faux pas of wearing a pink sweater with red pants to pictures that year and Suz might pile on to talk about how I made a fool out of myself in front of everyone on the American River one fourth of July when I tried to be just like the guys using the big rope swing and ended up tumbling down the hillside to the water instead.

Oh that was a fun summer. We worked together at an Air Force Base as counselors for a summer program. She had the five year olds and I had the 4 year olds and I pretty much lived at her parent's house while they made a long trip to Nebraska. Those kids kept us on our toes alllll day and then we somehow partied each and every night. The energy of youth!
It's funny how it used to annoy me a little that we always told the same stories over and over and over when the three of us got together. Now I find it so comforting, like listening to a favorite song.
As it's been told to me, Suz was at home alone on a work call or video conference when she felt a tremendous headache. She knew it wasn't ordinary and called 911. She gave herself every chance.
That doesn't surprise me at all. She was always the smartest person in the room and never let anyone know it. She is legitimately the reason I made it through high school chemistry - it seemed to come so easy to her.
She was wise on so many levels. Most importantly, even at a young age she knew herself and she liked who she was. In our 20s, she was at a place I feel I am just reaching near 50. But it wasn't all serious, not by a long shot. She was so much fun!
Being a little older than Kristen and I, she could drive earlier and some of my best teenage memories took place in that yellow camaro of hers. The three of us had so many adventures and I know my life would have been so very narrow and serious without them. While I was so focused on getting perfect grades to get where I wanted in life, those two knew that high school was also meant for fun.
I'll never forget the time we took Kristen's green truck to Folsom Lake for a "cut day" and of course we drove it all the way to the lakeside and... of course it got stuck! The entire Scots football team seemed to gather around to lift the truck and move it to drier sand.
After high school, she and Kristen went to UC Davis and I to University of the Pacific, but we kept the fun going. I spent many weekends my first couple of years at their apartment - going to parties, drinking way too much, nursing our first heartbreaks and figuring out who we were. When I got my first job at a newspaper, I got my first apartment with Suz - just a one bedroom place but it felt so grown up! I still remember our meals on our tiny end table that we could use as a dining table if we sat on the floor - ramen, MGD, and Hot Damn were regulars on that table while we watched our favorite shows, 90210 and Melrose Place. Those are the kind of memories that movies show with that golden tinged edge, the kind you can't help but smile about.
And then life started to get in the way. Suz moved to enter a nursing program and I moved downtown with a boyfriend.

We still saw each other often, but I didn't realize at the time that an era had passed.
We still had fun together - the trips to Capitola, the Mexico cruise, weddings and kids birthday parties, but as time went on more and more time passed between the next visit.

The last time we got together was at a local bar to see a friend's band, and just like every other occasion, it was like we had never spent any time apart. I still enjoyed seeing her annual drink on the edge of the deck on her trips to Tahoe, the recent pics of the kids going to homecoming and her excitement over her first trip to DC. I got a text from her in August when they went to a soccer game at UOP, just letting me know she was thinking of me.
I guess that's why it doesn't quite seem real. Because we didn't see each other all the time, it's like I could get get another update or text any time. But I won't, and I suppose when I attend the service and see the faces of the people who will feel her everyday loss, it will hit home even harder than it already has. I love you Suz.

Online Learning in the Future

Doing as educators do in the summer months, part of my idea of relaxation involves improving my instructional skills in some way. This year, that improvement takes the form of learning how to create online college classes - a trend I expect to continue into the future.

As part of the course, I was given the following prompt to answer - What do you think Sierra College will look like ten years from now and what will be the role of the online program?  

To start, I believe that Sierra and most other colleges will be be able to serve a much larger population in 10 years. If students can take courses from anywhere they can access the internet, there will be increased inter-college competition but also a much bigger population looking to access online learning. 

In addition, I would anticipate the tools available would be much more sophisticated - making it easier to incorporate a wide variety of multi media content and create more personalized learning opportunities that cater to student learning styles. 

To be involved in higher ed online learning at this point in it's growth reminds me or being involved with in the early days of the internet. Yes, there will be challenges like the increasing competition for against schools throughout the world, but there will be so many opportunities as well as technologies evolve to meet student and professor needs. 

The most successful schools will take risks, experiment with new technologies, support educators as they move into online learning and devote appropriate resources for campus expertise, training, and tools.