Assumptions

OK, Monday night was my first stand-up comedy class. Pretty cool if you ask me. Nice small group of only 6 students plus an instructor on crack. We were all chatting about the size of the class and one of the biggest drawbacks is that for that first class, everyone really felt the spotlight on them so it took us a little while to warm up to the idea of throwing out bad jokes in front of each other. But, I think in the end it will turn out to be a really good thing, because it will be really easy for us all to get comfortable with one another and everyone will get more time workshopping their own material with everyone. So, that's a plus. And, all of us come from really different backgrounds, which makes for an interesting mix. I already have my personal favorites in the group, but just in case you come see our show (April 2), I won't bias your opinion just yet. =)
Anyway, as it turns out, this class might actually be harder work than the program I'm doing at Northeastern (we'll see - my first class over there is tonight). I already have a bunch of homework assignments, and a list of recommended reading/viewing to check out. Granted, some of the homework is fun stuff like watching some sort of comedy and critiquing it, but one of the assignments is really messing with my head already. I have to make a list of assumptions that people make about me, which sounded easy at first, but it's way harder than I ever imagined. I've spent most of my life making sure that no one knows what to assume out of me, so I'm sort of stumped. I know that almost everyone assumes I'm much younger than I am, and that I'm very self-assured (neither of which I'm going to argue with one bit). And, I've heard a couple of totally wrong assumptions about me, like that I would never swear or smoke a cigarette. But beyond that? No clue. And it also really depends on who is making the assumptions. Our instructor (rather, ringleader) guessed right off the bat that I have "hippie tendencies", but other people are shocked when I say that I once worked for the Sierra Club. Well, at least I have some time to come up with some good ones, both true and untrue.
And tonight is HR at NEU. Appropriately enough, my first foray back into the college life will take place in the chemistry building. Dad would be proud. =) I know that I can totally pull this off, it's just a question of whether I will or not. Only time will tell!