As I’ve alluded to before, I’ve been back in school since 2006. I’d wanted to go back to college for many years, and I finally figured out how I could swing it. I was fortunate enough to be working at the University of Southern Maine at the time, and was able to take two classes a semester for free.
Student debt aside, I am so glad I did it. Going back to school was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, a long-term challenge, it meant I needed to delay gratification until I finished. But it has been one of the best things I’ve done too. If I didn’t have support from my family and most of all from Edmund, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. And, at age 40-something, 25 years after I graduated from high school, I will have my Bachelor’s degree. Finally.
I chose a Sociology Major and a Mathematics Minor, and apropos to that, going back to school allowed me to secure my current job, as a programmer/analyst in a market research firm. Furthermore, going back to school has given me better skills and confidence in my ability to support myself whatever may happen.
I am a strong believer that life happens the way it’s supposed to, I might go mad otherwise, but I can’t help but wonder if I would’ve had an easier time of it if I was able to finish college the first time around. My husband would disagree, he thinks that 18 is too young for someone to go to college. I think it’s somewhere in the middle: 18 is too young for some and just right for others. [And there are real logistical/financial aid-ish reasons to attend college at 18, some colleges only admit and/or give assistance to traditionally-aged students, but that’s beside my point.]
If you are older than the average student and have a strong desire to go back to school for whatever reason, I totally recommend it.
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