CORAL GABLES, Fla. - If only I'd known how good it would make me feel, I wouldn't have gone almost 36 years between classes.

Yes, more than 3 1/2 decades between my last classes at the University of North Dakota in 1971 to the continuing of the pursuit of my English degree in 2006.

As my name was called at the 2009 commencement ceremonies, I assure you nobody was happier on this planet at that moment. (Of course, there's no way to measure that, but that's how I felt.)

The wakeup call or realization of the need for a degree hadn't really surfaced until three years ago when I applied for a position at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. After more than 30 years as a newspaper reporter - first in sports, then news - I was working part-time (35 hours) at the Omaha World-Herald.

The position I sought involved the writing of short news stories geared toward students and faculty. Accuracy and deadlines were paramount for the school's online site.

I remember thinking, "I could do this in my sleep." Alas, my resume was instantly rejected by the fact that I didn't have a degree. When I called the manager of the department, I was told (I paraphrase here):

"I'm sure you could do this job and we'd love to have you work with us, but our hands are tied." It also was explained that it was part of an institution of higher learning; thus, the need to have a degree.

So the journey began, starting with a call and then a trip to Grand Forks to confer with Sheryl O'Donnell, head of the English Department. She was wonderful and, after an entertaining lunch with her and Robert Lewis, former head of the department, I was determined to become a graduate of UND.

Three upper-level English classes, all to be taken by correspondence or Online through Continuing Education, would meet my requirements in English. I started with Black American Writers, then took Writing of Fiction and, finally, Shakespeare.

It wasn't as easy as A-B-C, but those were my grades. Strangely, the C was in Creative Writing: Fiction, which proved to be considerably different from the writing of news and sports all those years.

The A in Black American Writers and B in Shakespeare were much-improved grades from my days as a full-time student.

When I completed Shakespeare last year after moving to Florida, I was quite relieved; no, make that thrilled. But disappointment soon followed. There would be no trip to Grand Forks for the 2008 Commencement.

Ms. O'Donnell told me the English requirements for my B.A. were met, but I needed the blessing of Tom Rand of the College of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Rand's scrutiny of my transcript revealed one flaw: A required lab science was missing.

So, being unemployed, I enrolled in Physical Geology at Miami Dade College. It was a three-credit class with a one-credit lab.

Fortunately, I had near-perfect attendance, did well on my lab assignments and quizzes, studied several times a week with one of the A students and survived the exams to garner a B in both.

Now the feeling of accomplishment truly had arrived. A quick call to Mr. Rand and the graduation process was under way. Today, it will be completed and next week, I'll join the rest of the Class of 2009 in job pursuit.

Maybe my 35 years of journalism, interrupted by two years of sales/marketing at a Fargo motel, will combine with this important document to allow me to become re-employed.

As a message to those who might be in a position similar to mine: Believe me, it's never too late to add to your education.

Basically, my job these days is that of homemaker/chauffeur for my wife, Penny, an audit manager/VP with a bank in South Florida. She had gone back to school 21 years after completing her first year of college. In fact, Penny and our son, Scott, graduated from college the same year (1992) - Penny at the University of Mary in Bismarck and Scott at UND in Grand Forks.

Meanwhile, my career had taken me from the Grand Forks Herald (1971-79) to the Bismarck Tribune (1979-97) and other employment in Fargo, Racine, Wis., and Omaha, Neb. Now we live in Coral Gables, where it's usually quite warm (I've worn shorts all but one day in our 17 months here).

Anyway, upon reflection, I admit to being lazy when it came to going to school. I wasn't an ambitious student in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many classes were skipped as I sat in the Student Union rather than venture across campus to Merrifield Hall.

"Too cold" was a common excuse.

I often sat with fellow Canadians, some of whom went on to professional hockey or joined the workforce in Canada. Most of them went to class considerably more often than I did. My grades showed it.

Then I became a full-time sports reporter at the Herald and my interest in being a student waned. That $125 a week salary in '71 was enough to support our family of three. Heck, we soon purchased a house ($15,000) on Maple and had a nice used car (1966 Chevelle).

We celebrated my job status - actually quite often - at the Mexican Village, Red Pepper and Italian Moon. When my wife started work, I believe we had steaks at Whitey's or the Bronze Boot. How sweet it was!

But it didn't stay that way.

True, the 10 years in Grand Forks and 18 in Bismarck were wonderful. But I got too comfortable.

That changed as I followed my wife's career in banking to Fargo, Wisconsin, Nebraska and now Florida. Newspapers aren't hiring like the old days; rather, they're cutting or going out of business. But I'm ready, willing and, hopefully, able to work again - at age 61.

So, today, I applaud all the graduates. I feel so good about your accomplishments in general and mine in particular.

To those who remember me as a sports reporter here and in Bismarck, or as the guy who presented the Mr. and Miss Basketball awards on TV, well, I thank you for the memories. Most of them, when it comes to North Dakota, are great.

Meanwhile, don't be a stranger.

(Abe Winter can be reached by e-mail at aw50sports@;aol.com.)

The Winter Profile:

Name: Abraham (Abe) Winter

Residence: Coral Gables, Fla.

Family: Wife, Penny (Audit manager/VP at Mercantil Commercebank. Coral Gables; Son, Christopher Scott (director of recruiting for School of Journalism at University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

Hobbies: Many sports, travel, visiting and entertaining grandchildren - Jasmine, 14, and Jacob, 12 - and daughter-in-law Deena (Kromarek)

Favorite sports moments: 8-overtime high school hockey championship between Grand Forks Central and Red River; Dale Kasowski home run vs. Bison in Fargo; Twins winning World Series in 1987 and '91, and thousands more.