After these past few years, I have decided to go back to school this fall. I am determined to finally get a degree and to enhance my professional life. My issue is my age. I know what I should think. It's never too old to learn. It is great I'm doing something for my professional life. It's better late than never. However, what I should think is different from what I am thinking. I am this age and I do not have a degree. I am a failure. I should pay for the poor choices I made.
Despite thinking negatively, I am pushing on, gritting my teeth, and dragging my feet forward. I don't want my mentality to get in the way of this goal, but I have to say that it is difficult. I don't want to have to battle with myself. It's counter-productive and inefficient.
These are 10 pieces of info about myself.
I:
- Enjoy freedom around the workplace.
- Like to go to conferences and workshops to learn new skills and techniques.
- Give advices on purchasing computers and other electronics.
- Shop for the best product at the cheapest price.
- Find ways to earn the company more money including writing grants.
- Prefer not to deal with rude and snappy people.
- Input plans and ideas.
- Use Rosetta Stone to learn other foreign languages for fun.
- Draw and creatively write for my unfinished 32-bit Snes-type RPGs.
- Love to test the effectiveness of alternative and herbal medicines
People of Xanga that messed up their first year and a half of college, would you retake those classes or start fresh with academic amnesty?
All Xangans, what's your take on older people and college?
Xanga's constructive advisers, I would like to ask you a specific question.
Based on what I will tell you about myself, what career do you believe will best suit me? This question is meant for my entertainment purposes. In fact, feel free to use this question to ask other fellow Xangans, your friends, and family so you can enjoy the responses.
Thank you in advance to all answers from everyone.
Submitted through email by reader: Charlize darksojahxgurl@yahoo.com
Comments (17)
I went back to college at 40 and had a blast. I'm now 50 and thinking about doing it again. I can't wait
I would like to point out a misplacement of paragraph. The "Ten Things About Myself" goes after the last question I posed. Thanks!
I am in the same situation as you are in except I went to college straight after high school and graduated with a degree in english. Honestly, I thought it would be easy for me to get a job in publishing or anywhere and I avoided what I really wanted to do (science) because I thought I was no good at math. After school I only found work as an administrative assistant (which I completely hate) and even had interviews at publishing houses only to be disillusioned at the amount of time and very low pay of the job.
So at 26 I decided to go back to school part time and see if I was cut out to be a scientist. I completely surprised myself because now that I knew what I really wanted to do (and despite a LOT of fear and reservation) I excelled beyond my wildest expectations (A's in calculus classes). Because I work full time and go part time (need to pay my rent) its taking me a while (Im 29 now and have 3 more semesters of hard scheince classes left to go) but I am absolutely enjoying the classes, and am thankful for this second chance to do something with myself that I will really believe in and enjoy.
It is not an easy journey when you are older because of responsibilities to work, living on your own, having a family, etc. but if you go back to school for something you are really interested in and passionate about, you will never regret it. It really has changed my life, and my outlook on life in a very positive way and I feel like I have grown as a person.
My advice: don't let yourself stand in the way of your potential happiness - go for it!
It's never too late, you'll regret not using your brain when you get older. You'll be so proud of yourself when you accomplish this goal.
I went to a community college the first two years of my bachelors degree (I was just turned 16 when I started) and had a ton of older individuals in my classes. Being the type of person I was, I always made friends and got along with the older classmates I had (25-45yr) and loved all of them!
I believe that being a nontraditional student is actually beneficial when you're going to school. You've had more time to think about life, get experience and you're really dedicated at this point to a certain goal. When most people go to college straight off the bat, like you may have (you say you messed up), they don't know what they want with their life and the freedom of "being away from mom" is so great to them that they ignore duties and responsibilities in order to party and enjoy the good life. Once maturity and life set in, you're more capable of staying on task and actually learning from your educational experiences.
Contrary to what you may be assuming, people really don't notice older people in the class, and if they do, it's not something they think about. When I went to my four year school there were two individuals over the age of 25 in my program (38, 42), and they got along just fine with the rest of the students and had a great time in our department, and I was friends with both of them. Neither one of them seemed to have much trouble relating to the other students, while sometimes you could catch them rolling their eyes at a simple opinion caused by inexperience, they would forgive and forget and move on.
As long as you're willing to acclimate to the new situation (most students will be younger than you) without being condescending to the younger students, you will be fine. Mutual respect goes a long way, and I wish you luck.
In regards to taking classes over again, if you have some decent credits that are transferable, I would transfer them to the new school. If you failed several classes, I wouldn't transfer them over....start fresh and your GPA will love you for it!
Well I have gone to three different schools and never finished any of them. Yeah, I'm a total loser. But I am 30 now and enrolled to start this fall. Except this time it's a community college and it will be a degree in Science. And I will really be doing it for myself. Not on someone else's recommendation or because I'm bored with my life. It's a very daunting experience for me especially considering my history with higher education. But I'm going to take it one week at a time and hopefully it will make it less intimidating! I'm glad you are going back to school. Wishing you the best! =)
I'm 26 years old. I was raised in the Amish community and was not permitted to go to high school and college. After my husband and I left the Amish two years ago, I earned my GED and am now earning a degree with an accredited online university. As a mom, caring for my 20 month old son and going to school is a challenging combination, but it can be done. I am a firm believer that education is available for anyone who wants it badly enough- you can do whatever you need to fulfill your dreams. Don't be scared; take the leap.
I'd advise maybe starting with an associates' degree first, in something general like business; this will give you a feel for what you enjoy studying. You can always change your major and get a BA in the subject or career area that makes you happy.
how old are you :)
its never too late for anything. theres 90 year olds who graduated from college and 60 year olds giving birth. anything is possible these days, the world is getting weirder by the minute. besides if you have the dream, ambition and determination to go forward...anything is possible. anybody who says otherwise is just jealous :D
i take night classes and the average age of my class mates was 40! It's never too late to go back! I admire these people for not giving up. I could picture you being a liberal arts major.
no one's too old for college, it's for everyone.
I agree your never too old to learn. I had this older guy at my college and he was in marching band. He had to be around 50 or 60. who cares what other ppl think ur going to better yourself and thats all that matters. You sound like u might be a business major, but I cant really help anybody pick their maor I barly able to pick mine lol
I am enrolled to go back to college this fall and I will turn 30 in September. I CANNOT wait for my classes to begin! I am ready for the challenge and I am so excited about getting my RN that I dream about being in school or working in a hospital every night. I have 3 boys under 5 and I know it will be rocky road at times but I can't wait to conquer this life-long goal. I was immature during my college age years and although I half heartedly persued nursing, I know I was not as prepared as I am now.
Proof of this is: I took my placement exam at the age of 18 and I had to take pre-algebra and I didn't even test into college English.
Well, I took my placement exam a couple of weeks ago and I tested OUT of college English although I still have never taken it AND I tested out of an Algebra class that was a pre-req for college Algebra although I have never taken Algebra!
I AM READY NOW! :) :) :) So look out world because here I come!
honestly, go for it if its what you want. i'm 17 and starting college for the first time in the fall. most of my coworkers (generally poor immigrant laborers) want me to go and make the best of it because most of them never had opportunities like that. i've already had to be a chronic workaholic for a few years to make it possible, but at least i have a chance at advancing. just find something you're passionate about and can make a career out of and get your degree. a few people have told me i'm wasting my time going to college and should just be a laborer the rest of my life, but its like, why just sit back and accept where you are now? why not work and strive to grow career wise even more?
props to you for going back! I remember having an older guy in some of my undergraduate classes. It was certainly different but he was pretty cool and got along with the other students just fine. It's the anti-social career-intensive back-to-school adults that may find it harder to adjust. It's easier to get help from others if you get along with them, too. Sounds like you're someone that's easy to get along with so I don't think you'll have a problem. Good luck1
@B1ANCACACA@xanga - I take night classes too (why would I wake up early to go to school if I don't have too
) and many of the people are older. And guess what? No one gives a da**! I get along with older classmates and many people admire you for it. I always say if you do things for other people you will never get anywhere. So go for it!
never too late to go back to school. some classes may be challenging on an individual basis, but not due solely to age. one community college that I went to even had a "Life Long Learner" program, which was for adults coming back to school. It offered scholarships, as well as meeting other people who were in similar situation and could help you as you made your re-entry.
I was a highschool drop out, managed to get my diploma by homeschooling (barely passing) and worked for 4 years after. At 22 I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders - everything just seemed to point towards having to get a degree - I finally gave in and attended my local community college (queensborough community college CUNY). I absolutely loved my first semester and for the most part did not feel out of place. I didn't go to college to make social capital as much as i went for the education (but both naturally are part of the package), so while socializing with the younger crowed wasn't my top priority, it nonetheless happened (believe me, it's not as bad as what you might be building up in your head). Anywho... I graduated in Spring 2009 with an A.A. degree, 4.0 GPA, valedictorian of a class of 1,600 (just google "Lorenz QCC" that's me). Anything is really possible if you have the right mind set - just keep in mind that for some demonic reason Universities actually look at your highschool record when you are transferring with a college degree... It's funny how your youth travels with you everywhere you go (it's not funny how it could be a deciding factor when your college transcript is exceptionally better). Good luck and I hope your success exceeds your expectations :)