A few weeks ago, Owen asked me to name my favorite song.

He asks this sort of question quite frequently. What’s my favorite book? What’s my favorite TV show? What’s my favorite movie? I wish he had asked me these questions twenty years ago, because then I had concrete answers – I had a definite favorite movie, a definite favorite TV show, and certainly a definite favorite song; with the passage of time, however, these things have all gotten muddied. But I guess twenty years ago he wasn’t around, so…fair enough.

A favorite song? That’s particularly tricky. Asking for my favorite song is almost like asking for my favorite TV episode. Sure, there are some great TV episodes out there, but it’s tough to pick out one truly awesome episode – they’re part of a greater whole, right? So, for the most part, while there are albums I consider to be among my favorites, I’m hard-pressed to single out just one song.

Still, I was able to narrow it down to about a dozen hot contenders.

But before I tell you how I did that, and what the results were, let me give you a history of my favorite songs…

In the beginning, there was my Dad. He owned boxes full of vinyl albums and singles. I swear he had, like, every song that hit the Hot 100 between 1955 and 1985: rockabilly, blues, R&B, county, rock, jazz, disco, pop…it was all there. And if that wasn’t enough, he kept cassettes and 8-tracks in his car and the best part about riding in his car was getting to listen to the one-hit wonder collections he’d discovered in the budget bin at Sam Goody. My particular favorite was Wild and Craaazy Hits, which included such classics as “Wooly Bully” and “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose it’s Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?”

However, my favorite songs were the ones we listened to in the house: the ones he had on vinyl.

I can’t offer any valid reasons, but at some point in my preschool and Kindergarten years, I decided upon a favorite song. In fact, I decided upon three favorite songs. This, I suppose, became my first list ever.

My third-favorite song was “Splish Splash,” by Bobby Darin.

I think I just liked the silly idea of a guy unexpectedly hosting a party in his living room, and how he’s just dancing in a towel and everyone else is (I presumed) fully dressed. How did he not know there was a party going on! Better still, he didn’t kick them out, he just joined in (after grabbing his shoes, of course)!

In second place was Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy.”

For some reason, the line about having “a subway token and a dollar tucked inside my shoe” really spoke to me. On at least one occasion, I inserted a dollar bill into my shoe just to see if I could really grok the song. My mom told me to take it out. She cared not for such frivolities.

But my favorite song was “Hair,” by the Cowsills:

This number two hit from 1968 was just sheer fun for me and my sister. My hair, of course, was never allowed to grow past the tops of my ears, but we reveled in the nuttiness of the song nonetheless.

So there you have it, my original three favorite songs, each from a different decade. I think it’s a rather eclectic mix for a five-year old.

That’s where the title of “Favorite Song” sat for years, until, one day when I was in sixth grade, my friend Chris played a song he’d recorded off TV. I immediately tossed aside my stagnant list and bequeathed the title of “Favorite Song” upon this new tune, this tune which had never been in my Dad’s collection.

But that’s for another blog post.

I am pleased to announce that, as of this week, I have 100 credits at Hamline University. This is a big deal because one hundred is a three-digit number. That’s it. Other than that, it doesn’t really matter at all.

People, especially my coworkers, frequently ask me questions about my college career. So, in celebration of the big 1-0-0, I figured I would stage this blog post as a Q&A about my post-secondary career…

Q: So, why don’t you have a degree yet?Aren’t you, like, old?

A: Correct, I am old (for a college student). But actually, I already have a degree: I’ve held an Associate’s in Applied Science from Century College since 2002, back when I was merely a tad older than my classmates. My degree was in Laboratory Tehnology, but the degree from Hamline will be in English (with a minor in History).

Q: So you’ve been working on your four-year degree for 12 years now?

A: No, not quite. After graduating from Century in’02, I did not take another college class until the fall of 2009, so there was a seven-year gap there.

Q: Jeez. Seven years! What was your problem, slacker?

A: My problem was four-fold: I was in a religion that highly discouraged any post-secondary education, we had some issues at home to take care in the wake of Owen’s birth, I didn’t live convenient to any college, and I couldn’t afford college.

Q: Oh. So it’s all good now?

A: Well, “all good” seems like a stretch, but all the major issues dissipated: I obtained employment with a company that reimburses me for most of my tuition costs, I left that religion, and I now live in a city with at least eight post-secondary options.

Q: So how many of those credits are from Century, and how many are from Hamline?

A: I racked up 68 credits from Century College. When I first enrolled at Hamline, the transcipt articulator told me that they were going to count 53 of those credits towards my Hamline goal. But I fought back a little bit. First, I convinced them that they should count my two Lab Skills classes from my first year at Century. Eventually, they agreed. This brought my total up to 62. Then, one day, when a new person took over the job, she emailed to tell me that she realized that a math class I took at Century was actually a 5 credit class, not a 4 credit (as they had originally counted it). So, she basically said, “Congratulations! You now have one more credit!” Bottom line: 63 from Century, 37 from Hamline.

Q: Only 37 from Hamline? But you’ve been enrolled there since 2009!

A: True, but I’m only taking one class per semester at most. Or, put another way, I’m only taking two courses (for a total of eight credits) per school year. Sometimes, such as during the 2009-10 school year and the 2012-13 school year, I took one class in the fall and another in the spring. Sometimes, I took a summer class instead of a fall class.

Q: Wait – if you’re garnering eight credits per year, how do you have 37 credits from Hamline? Don’t you mean 36?

A: Ah…I appreciate your sharp math skills. That’s the kind of thing that will get you extra credit. Anyway, here’s the deal: I have 63 credits from Century, which means I still needed to get 65 credits at Hamline. That means I would have to take 16 classes…but then I’d still be one credit short. So I knew at some point I’d have to take a one-credit class. And, in January, I just did.

Q: So now that you have 100 credits, how long until you graduate?

A: That’s a tough question. The smoothest path would be to take seven more classes. If I continue to do two classes a school year, then I’ll graduate in May 2017. But, you know, life can get in the way.

Q: 2017! Jesus Christ! This is taking you forever!

A: I know, god. Get off my case.

Q: Sorry.

A: That’s alright. Here, let me explain – Like I said, my employer reimburses me for most of my college costs, but they have a limit. As it is, I use about 95% of the tuition reimbursement. If I took even one more class in a year, I would easily use all 100%, and I’d then be left with a bill for several thousand dollars for the remaining costs of that third class.

Q: Um, yeah, that’s because you’re going to a super-expensive school. Why not go to Budget University and get this done in a year or two?

A: Because there’s still the problem of time. Attending college requires me to take time away from work, family, or sleep. The last two are things I don’t want to take too much time from; the first one is something I can’t take that much time from, lest I don’t get paid as much. So, since I can’t take more than one class at a time, why not use (nearly) every penny my employer offers?

Q: I see. So you’re basically going to Hamline for free, then? Sweet.

A: Not exactly. I do have to cough up the tuition costs first, and I only get reimbursed after I prove that I passed the class with a B or better. But my company only pays for the actual tution and the cost of books. They do not pay for interest, school fees, or special events I may have to attend. For the last couple years, I’ve been able to use grants and scholarships to keep the costs down even more. All told, I estimate I’m paying about $50 a credit.

Q: Still, that’s pretty cool.

A: Yes. Kind of makes up for my delinquent parents.

Q: So what classes have you taken at Hamline?

A: These:

Year	Course Title	Course Number	Dept.
2009	American History 1607-1860	1300	H
2010	Textual Studies and Criticism	3010	E
2011	American Literatures (to 1860)	1230	E
2011	Women and Literature	3570	E
2012	Introduction to US History	1300	H
2012	Career Development Internship	3990	I
2012	Literary and Cultural Theory	3020	E
2013	Introduction to African-Amer Studies	3100	E
2013	The Night the Hogs Ate Willie	3540	E
2014	Cults in America: Then and Now	1970	H

The column labeled “Dept.” indicates which portion of my degree the class is applicable towards. E stands for English, H for History, and the lone I indicates the internship I took, which is required for the degree. They were all four-credit classes except for the most recent one.

Q: “The Night the Hogs Ate Willie”? Seriously?

A: Yes. Details are here.