Knowledge Thrown Away

Hey there. I am a geek. There is no denying it. When I was in school, I had certain subjects that I love. I managed to get through high school without doing any homework, yet graduating with high honors and passed many AP courses. My problem with school is that I simply didn't want to attend. I studied the material on my own time and I pretty much showed up just to take the tests. Now, I don't condone that type of behavior but it's what worked for me. I'm more of the "give me a book and I will learn it" type.

I haven't been in school in a long time. I last attended Santa Monica College several years ago and told myself that once I have my priorities straightened out, I'll go back. Now, with a loving wife and wonderful kids, it's tough to find the time to get to school. Well, the educational gods were smiling on me yesterday.

When I got home from taking the kids to school, I noticed that the neighbor had several boxes to be thrown out. First thought, boxes should be in the recycle bin and not the trash bin. Second thought, my wife needed a box to put some stuff in and they look to be the perfect size. So I go to get a box and I see that the boxes ARE NOT EMPTY! Hmmm... It's in the trash bin, it's meant to be thrown out so it wouldn't hurt if I emptied the contents and kept the box, right?. Once I got the box open, I was thrilled to see that the box contained college courses. FREE TEXT BOOKS FOR COLLEGE COURSES!!! Oh man, I went back out there and grabbed more boxes to check em out. They had everything: College Algebra, Sociology, Anatomy, Chemistry, American History, Literature, Business, and many others. Check it out!
I should have known what the contents where once I realized that the side of the box says, "The College Network".
I looked up this College Network and found out that people have paid thousands for the materials that I found in the garbage. I could not believe it. Someone literally threw out thousands of dollars worth of stuff and the boxes were not even opened. The materials were still sealed. I couldn't be more ecstatic. Me, that I love to learn by the book, without someone holding my hand, could not believe that I came across several college courses that I plan on doing. I won't receive any college credit, i won't have a teacher, but you know what? I don't care. I have the opportunity to obtain a college level education for free. I can't wait to get started! I'm starting with Algebra. I love math so I'm looking forward to digging right in. I plan on starting on Monday. I'm up late as it is so I'll devote an hour or so of online work for my education. I'm giddy. lol Later!