Mistaken identities are no new game for me. After all, I have a background (however slight!) in acting, and even more substantial experience with roleplaying games and LARPs (go ahead and judge me...I think it's funny, too!), so assuming alter egos is something I'm comfortable with. What's slightly more unusual is when someone else is mistaken for me, or when I'm mistaken for someone I most decidedly am not! A friend thought she saw me over the weekend, but it turned out to be a doppelganger in a different-colored car. Another friend thought she saw me at the school I work at, but it was the same story all over again! (I haven't been able to corroborate those stories yet to see if it might have been the same guy or not).
Once, at a Renaissance Faire, I was mistaken for a vendor while perusing a costume shop, and the customer tried to haggle with me over a very nice overcoat until I was able to convince him I was just a typical "playtron". In college, it took nearly 2 weeks to convince one of my friends and classmates that I was not a fellow English major...I just had a soft spot for Shakespeare and a penchant for vandalizing classic poetry.
But now...things have risen to a new level.
After returning home from work today, I checked the mail and had a fairly substantial package in the mailbox from Emory University. I was a little surprised, but it wasn't entirely unexpected - I get occasional mailings from them because I participated in their YTI summer program back in 2004. I opened the package and was a little perplexed to find that it contained an informational poster and a catalog from the Center for the Study of Law and Religion. Also included was a cover letter which reads, in part:
"Dear Colleagues,
I take the liberty of writing to ask for your help in alerting your students to the work of our Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University and encouraging them to apply to one of our advanced degree programs.
... ... ...
I would be most grateful if you display the enclosed poster and publication catalog for your pre-law and pre-seminary students. ..."
Colleague. Your students. More specifically, your pre-law and pre-seminary students.
Somehow, I seem to have managed to acquire a terminal degree (or two!) and lead a successful (possibly tenured?) professorial career, without even realizing it! And at such a young age, too! I have friends who occasionally remind me that I underestimate myself, and other friends who are quick to tell me I'm an over-achiever, but I didn't realize I was that committed! It's true that in the past I've considered both JD and MDiv as possible degree paths...but I didn't realize I'd already achieved them.
Or maybe this letter is from the future, and is a portent of a nascent career waiting to unfold? I'm sure someone with a background in law and religion, and with a good sense of humor, could find the loopholes in dogmatic law that would allow for time travel, right? ;)
All light-hearted jesting aside, Emory University is a good school, and while I may have received this package in error (even though it was addressed specifically to me), I am happy to pass along the information contained therein.
AND SO...if you have an interest in learning more about Emory's Center for Study of Law and Religion, please check out their website at http://cslr.law.emory.edu/
If you're local, and would look over the information I was sent in person, contact me and we can set up a time to meet and peruse the catalog and visit for a while.
Be well!
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