Like most people for a long time I did not know what what direction I should head in. Eight years ago, when I was down on my luck, I enrolled at a local community college. It was one of the best decisions of my life.

Eight years later I am pleased with the direction my life has gone. I am a community college teacher. I teach writing and literature. My classrooms are often filled with a diverse community. The challenges of teaching can fill volumes, but so can the good times. The moments when students tap into their potential and learn a lot about themselves.

I do not come to the world of teaching wearing rose-colored glasses. As much as I would love for all of my students to do well and pass the courses I teach, that is not always the case. Teaching is the most demanding job I have ever had. Teaching is also the most rewarding job I have ever had.

The fall semester starts so. The dreams are lofty. The expectations are high. I just hope I can be the teacher my students want me to be. I hope I can be the teacher my students need me to be.

When Beyonce released Lemonade this past April, I avoided listening to it on purpose. I did so because I did not want the hype to influence how I felt about her album. After I read "her album must be what it feels like when God talks" I knew I made the right call.

This week I finally heard Lemonade and I must admit, the album is a revelation of contemporary art. Lemonade is an honest to heaven concept album. I wish every musician would make at least one concept album in their career; some attempt to explore a theme over the duration of eight to twelve songs.

I will not bore you with the details of each song (because I will not write anything that has not been written), but I will tell you that once you hear Beyonce's latest work you will want to hear it again. And do not be surprised if you want to hear the album again in its entirety.

My favorite song on the album is "All Night." The track is laced with horns and Beyonce sings a line that brings the whole album together when she belts out "true love leads to salvation..." When I heard that line, I knew I was listening to something quite remarkable.

I know haters will hate, but before you pass judgment do yourself a favor, and listen to Lemonade. It is an album that we will return to often as a musical society.

My name is Devan Burton (SirWriteALot) and I found Prose right on time. I have been writing for years. My most recent accomplishment as a writer is a writing position I obtained at the website Channillo. Channillo publishes serialized works of fiction and nonfiction. My series "Terms and Conditions" is available to read today.

I look forward to all of the poems, prose, and other thoughtful creative works I will read here at Prose. Some people like to binge on movies and television shows. I binge on reading articulate and moving entries that words create.

I'm so thankful that Prose exists and I'm equally thankful for all of the support I will receive from you. I will also support you too. Under the best of circumstances, writing is hard. It takes an act of courage to express the content of emotions that are felt.

It is all about timing, and I cannot express how lucky I am that I have connected with all of you when I did. We have found each other in the nick of time.

I remember the excitement of completing my graduate studies. Graduation took place and life threw me curve ball after curve ball. I'm in a better place today, but the scars are still present.

When I visited a former professor, we talked about life for those of us who successfully completed graduate studies after grad school and was looking for work. As I sat before her, a woman of great intellect, I soon learned that she was as confused as I was while she was trying to advise me on how to find steady employment. She looked at me and asked me "If we were worth it?" Bold question.

The "we" was the graduate school experience. The reading of copious books and criticisms. The long hours learning teaching philosophies. The dreaded comprehensive literature exam. I did not have to think twice. All that experienced was worth it and I would do it again.

I think those of us who are living in the new brave world of post grad life should be good to each other and ourselves. The jobs are few, the security is basically non-existing, and life promises death, hard times, and taxes. This is the post grad life and I am all in