The Starting Line Moved

Last week I published “The Starting Line.”
This week, the starting line moved.

I deferred my enrollment in William & Mary’s Master of Legal Studies program until January 2027. When the deferral was granted, I felt like I was standing at a bus stop watching the bus I was supposed to be on drive away without me. It was a strange feeling—after all, I asked to take the next bus. Still, I wanted to be on that one.

Playing the Age Card

At 67 years old, I think I am entitled to play the “67-year-old man” card every once in a while.

Now seems like the right time.

The William & Mary MLS program will cost about $41,000. That number looks different to me at 67 than I imagine it would have at 27.

I have never been particularly driven by money. Most of the things I have found rewarding have involved helping people become better at something. That remains one of the reasons I am attracted to this program.

I’m not driven by money, but I’m not indifferent to it either.

My family is waiting for a substantial payment from the assisted living facility where my mother lived. I had planned to use my share of that money to pay for tuition.

The payment has taken much longer than expected.

My preference is simple. I want to put $41,000 into an account marked “W&M,” receive a tuition bill, pay it, and get back to studying.

Write the check. Move on.

But most important, I don’t want to spend the next two years wondering where the next tuition payment will come from.

Could I have started the program and figured that out along the way? Probably.

I chose not to.

I wanted to know I could afford the ticket—and that the trip was worth the fare.

The second half of that sentence matters too.

At 67, I don’t have a 30- or 40-year career ahead of me over which to spread the cost of another degree. I want to put what I learn at William & Mary to use. I want the program to make me better at things I already care about, and I want to find opportunities to apply what I learn while helping people.

Concentrating in Law and Emerging Technologies, I aim to partner with a school district to run staff seminars and teach a class or two on digital citizenship, AI use, and student data privacy—immediate applications that make the fare worth it.

That doesn’t mean William & Mary owes me a particular job or salary when I finish. It means I want to be able to look back someday and say the investment made sense—intellectually, personally and economically.

The Next Bus

None of this makes watching the bus leave particularly enjoyable.

I wanted to start.

There was no sigh of relief when the deferral was approved. If anything, my reaction surprised me. I had gotten exactly what I asked for and immediately felt disappointed about getting it.

Maybe that tells me something too.

I still want to do this.

So, for the moment, I am standing at the bus stop.

William & Mary hasn’t gone anywhere. Neither have I.

The destination is the same.

The next bus comes in January.

And I plan to be on it.