I am sitting just a few months shy of my second Master’s.  Three weeks after I get that, I undertake a second opportunity to get a  doctorate, only this time at age 50 instead of age 32.  In one of the uncounted number of random thoughts that come during periods of solitude, I was considering what the difference is between a student and a scholar.  A student sees studying as the means to an end such as a diploma or a degree.  A scholar sees studying as a beginning without needing a particular end in sight.  When I was 32, I was merely a student.  Today, I am scholar.