The One With More Squid
Five weeks ago, I went back to school.
I worked really hard to apply, get my 25-year-old credits transferred from three different colleges, and pull teeth to get a human being to talk to me without pointing me back to the university website that I'd already scoured for answers that weren't there.
I want my bachelor's degree.
Finally.
I need it.
I deserve it.
I ended up applying as undecided and enrolled in a general ed course that all students at this college have to take before graduating, so no matter what I decide to major in eventually, I'll have this class done.
Just the one class.
Going back to college after a quarter of a century, believe it or not, requires something of a learning curve. For instance, even though the class meets in a classroom, all the assignments, homework, and tests are passed out and handed in on-line.
I miss paper. I really do.
Plus, with all my transfer credits, I'm coming back as a junior. I'm taking a junior level class.
The professor says things like, "If you've got a paper you've written from another class, just rewrite it a little to reflect what you've learned in this class." Yeah, I don't have a paper from another class. I don't have a paper from this decade... or the last one.
It feels like I've jumped into the middle of a marathon that everyone else has been training for for the past two years, and I'm still lacing up my shoes.
So, one class. Dip my toe in the water.
And I will admit to you: I have been far more stressed out by this one class than I think I should be.
Still, it's all okay.
It's just more squid.
Though there have been times I've thought it's really stupid of me to have gone back to school, stupid to being going now, for the most part I am happy. I am moving forward. If I shouldn't be in school now, when would I feel is a better time? And why wait any longer?
If I continue to take just one class at a time, it will take me five more years to earn the four-year degree that I've already half achieved. (I find that quite funny, actually.)
The kicker?
Since I've taken this step, The Husband is inspired to go back for his master's.
And he loves telling people he's married to a college girl. :-)
7 comments:
One of the best things about going bak to school as an older adult is that you know you don't have to put up with any BS, not from the other students, and not from the teachers. They know it, too...
I did *so* much better in the classes I took in my 40s than I did in the classes I took in my late teens and early 20s. Just have fun with it! Ask "why" a lot, too....the teachers love that ;)
Ya know I've registered to go back to school a couple times and so far taken exactly 0 classes. So respect to ya sista! Even if it's one class at a time you'll get there in the long run.
One of my sisters started college with her daughter. And graduated first in their class! In her late 40's! Smarty pants aced stuff like statistics! Grrr!
I took classes when I lost my job in '01, but not for a degree. For practical computer stuff (which is now obsolete, of course). But I enjoyed it much more than my college classes, years ago.
Doesn't matter how old you are or how long it takes you, school is very cool. Three cheers, Roses!
I read an Ann Landers column a hundred years ago as a teenager that for some reason, I have never forgotten. The letter was from a woman considering going back to college as an adult. She ended her letter with "I really want to do this, but in four years, I'll be 54!" (or something close to that-memory isn't 100% perfect). But, what I remember exactly, is Ann's simple one-sentence response: "How old will you be in four years if you don't go back to college?"
I've never forgotten that...and I've gone back twice--once for my BA and 10 years later for my MA. I've never regretted it, and I truly believe you won't, either.
Kudos to you for being willing to take a chance. I'm pretty sure you have what it takes, plus you have a whole interweb family pulling for you!
Stick with it, apply all that life experience cunning you've got the kids in the class haven't, and go for it. Speaking as one who finally did a degree at the age of fif-mumble-mumble-ty-mumble-something 30 plus years after leaving school - it was worth every nail biting, midnight oil burning moment. I even went on and did a Masters!
Absolutely Good For You. It is never too late to make 20 somethings feel stupid. Go for it and enjoy it every step of the way. BTW When my son took his first college course at the age of 14 (Biology) he chose "older" adults as his lab partners because "they were serious". Gotta love it!
Dude! What's your major?
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