Going back to school for older adults

“He went backpacking in the BWCA, he'll be back.”

“I wonder what these jerks are like in person. Trying to slam people over the internet... Yeah, real manly.”

“We aren't trying, we are actually doing it. Can't you read?”

“TPM = Tiny Pecker Man

hahahahahahahaha!!”

“anyway...


yeah twinks, im excited and terrified about this whole thing. like working full time, then after 1 to 1 1/2 years, i will need to find a nighttime job, because then I start to take lab classes and they are only offered in the day time.
but, like treebeard said, we will be ok and if we stick together, it will turn out for the good.
But i think id be freaked out of i had to do it all by myself.
your a brave woman and you should be proud.

even if your a friggin nija!!”

“nija=ninja”

“Yeah, I wish I had a Treebeard or that my folks were closer to the city, or that most most supportive friends who've known me for ages were in the city. :(

It's a bit daunting to be completely and totally alone on this. The idea of working to not only survive in this city but to also pay my school bills while getting A's and getting some food in my system before passing out in bed.....I don't know....it scares me.

What's that saying - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?

But hey, you've got kids to be a mom to while going to school - that's a huge challenge! Treebeard should get a "Man of the Decade" award!”

“he already did, now he is working on "Angel of the centry" award.”

“alright - that's enough - you're making me feel like a pathetic loser - okay?”

“me?

i'm sorry. didnt mean to.

it's packmans fault.
I swear it is :)”

“Twinks, I live alone, my parents are several hours away, and the rest of my family are at least one hour away. I work 40+ hours a week, and have to keep my future plans a secret here at work because I would very likely "be off the bus" i.e. fired. (Read the book "Good to Great by Jim Collins for an explanation of what direction my company is headed in - if you're not on the bus, you're off!). Anyway, this fall I'll be working a full time job, taking only one night class, but will also be taking a Saturday class to prepare for an 8-hour professional engineers exam in October. My best friends are not even in this state, but I still talk to them when I need them or they need me.

Getting all A's is not what its cracked up to be. Most employeers do not look at your GPA (unless its very low). They'll look at how hard you had to work to get through school yourself.

And, well, food is important, but you'll learn to live like every college student - ramen noodles and/or mac and cheese.

Keep an eye on the bigger prize - getting your degree. Of course it'll be hard, and there will definitly be some adjustments you'll have to make. But the frustration and lack of sleep will only last so long, then you'll be on the other side and be able to live life differently when you have your degree and job.

You'll be OK. :)”

“Good going Smiley Girl!

ps - I got the letter in the mail just now - it's official - I'm doing this!

Would it be lame to frame it?”

“If you know how to study and plan your time properly, you can get better grades in less time and have fun. I have a website devoted to that. It is aimed mostly at those who are studying math, science, and engineering, but it applies to everyone.

The two main strategies of what I teach are:

1. Planning for a balanced life. For example, a rule of thumb is that the number of hours of work at your job each week plus 4 times the number of credit hours should be no more than 60.

2. Notetaking strategies and what to do with notes once you have them. There are three different strategies for three different types of courses: (1) Transcription method for pure math and science courses, (2) non-transcription method for other technical courses, and (3) the St. PIE method for humanities, social science, and other non-technical courses.

I have had many students follow the advice and report great success. I had one student once who went from getting Cs and Ds to As and Bs. Returning students who are mature seem to appreciate the methodology the most.

Good luck!”

“um no, since I have mine on the refridgerater door at home :)


maple”

“You know what Maple - I'm very proud of us both - we've been talking about this since we first met way back in October - and now it's really happening!

Backpacking, city-dwelling, returning to college women rock!”

“smiley girl - Good luck on your PE exam.”

“oh and kayaking ninja/pirate butt kicking!

maple”

“Thanks Phil. It'll be my third time taking it. At least I'm not intimidated by the process and the range of questions I'll be faced with. :) But, I think the review course will help considerably. I do very little engineering, I'm more on a management track here and my technical skills have always been lacking. It's a wonder I graduated from engineering school! I'll keep ya posted on the results when I get them next year. LOL!”

“You can do it Twinkle Toes....I did it and survived. :) Raised my daughter basically by myself worked either full-time or part-time(depending on the job market) and doing the opposite with school, while also carting my daughter between whatever sports she had going at the time(ie, soccer, basketball, or softball) or music practice. All the way from my my daughter being in grammar school through high school. I finished my degree just 4 yrs ago now and have time for myself now. Seemed like it took forever, which it did, but I finished and now have a very good paying job. Is it worth all the pain and aggravation, well yeah, it certainly is. There will be some trials and tribualations to overcome, but it can be. So good luck and stick to it, you can do it. :)”

“smiley girl - Good luck! I bet you make it this time.”

“Education is a beautiful thing......at any age. I really love going to class. Some of the people I work with can't understand how I can go right from work to class, they just don't understand how much I enjoy it. It isn't work that's for sure.”

“Twink, if you have the chance, hook up with "Danababy" who posts here occasionally. She's starting school this fall too, in her mid thirties.

Thumbs up and keep in mind what I told my brother..."If you go to school for three years, you'll be 35 when you get out with a doctorate, how old will you be in three years if you don't go?"

He finished his postdocs a year ago and is way happy he decided to go back.”

“Twinkle Toes...FRAME IT. I still have my 1966 letter of admittance from the University of Maine, and it one of my favorite documents. I earned two degrees, and I started at age 24 after leaving the Air Force.

How you delegate your time will be the key to your success. I always got my school work done first. Everything else came after that. I was married, and I worked nights and weekends at a TV station in Portland, Maine.

I truthfully thought high school was much more time consuming and more difficult than college. After teaching HS for about 30 years, I still think that.”

“I would be more terrified of finding a job after you graduate in this economy. Are you taking out student loans?”

“well i recv'd my placement tests results. I only need to tak a course in Math (ugh)
but hey thats not bad. I could have to take all 3.
So here is the problem.
I have been offered a class called Quick Start. It is a 3 week course
4 nights a week from 6 to 10pm.
starting tonight. I will only have to miss one class (i'll be in the Daks)
at the end, i will retake the placement test and if i pass then come Sept i can start my reg. classes.
the kicker is, it's FREE

ok here is the other problem

I can just relax for the rest of the summer and take a semester in math, retake the test and then the following semester start my reg. classes.
but I would have to pay for it.
I can spread out the classes.

so im not sure what to do. i think im freaking out a little because i thought i had the rest of the summer to gear myself up for this.
but i have a chance to get it going early and for free.
so do i work 8hrs then go to school for 4 hrs and not get home until 11:00pm.
wont see my family for the next 3 weeks. not even on the weekends because i had trips planned.
(do you think they would even miss me?)


~sigh~ what to do..
help :)”

“take the free class! if you pass the test, that's one less class you have to take later. three weeks isn't all that long in the grand scheme of life!”

“I guess if i find its to hard to cram it all in at once, I can say thank you for giving me this chance and drop out and take the classes in Sept.

this is just a little scary :(”

“its supposed to be. that's how you know you're still alive. ;)”

“very true :)”

“Give it a shot Maple. Take the free class and you may be one step closer to your dream. I have taken a few condensed classes and found them easier than I expected. Eventually you get into a rhythm and the class is over in no time. You are strong and smart. You will do fine.”

“Your choice, Mapleleaf. I think that I would find it a major struggle to work full time, take four hour classes four nights a week, do homework and take care of my house and family, even if it is for just three weeks. But you have to judge for yourself whether you are up to it. It is a big help that it is free. If it is too much, you didn't lose any money.”

“well treebeard is great. i dont need to worry about the house and the children. he is willing and always has been a great supporter of mine.
and the children are not in school so there is no homework for them to do.

im leaning towards doing this.”

“Ummmmm Mapleleaf, don't YOU have homework when you are in school?”

“i just asked them that. all the work is done on a computer. so i can do it while im at my desk at work during my lunch and breaks,”

“Well that is a big help! Give it a try and see how it goes.”

“I think that if you can get the requirement behind you, you can focus on classes that you really like.

One of the advantages of a concentrated course is that you can focus on that subject and not distribute your time and mental activity across several courses.

My vote is 'do it' and put it behind you.

Mark”

“I'd go for it. The worst thing that can happen is you can't handle the pace, and you have to drop out. Then you'll be in the same situation as if you didn't take the class at all.

Before going into a four-hour class, be sure that you have a little something to eat. Your brain will need the energy. Learn some stretching exercises to help you be able to sit in a chair for that long. I assume there will be breaks; take advantage of them by getting up and walking around a little.

Set up a study group with some of your peers if you get the opportunity. Sometimes they can explain the concepts of the class better than the teacher can, or has time to.”

“i wish there was time for a study group. but i will need to sleep sometime :)

as for droping out, the guy said that i may get some credit and it may help me in Sept.


class starts tonight at 6:00pm”

“Shut your whinning trap - take the dang FREE class and get on with the rest on your college career! Three weeks is not a very long time Ms. Mapleleaf (as long as it does not interfere with the Ninja/Pirate weekend, of course).

And your family is awesome - they will survive for three weeks - I know they really want this for you!

GO FOR IT”

“I just signed up for my college credit fall class (discrete mathematics)- Tuesday and Thursday 6-7:20 PM. That's not so bad. Now I have to go sign up for my Saturday review class for the P.E. exam - 6 half-day Saturdays from the end of August to early October. Ewww!

Needless to say I won't be on the trail this fall. :(”

“I just signed up for my college credit fall class (discrete mathematics)- Tuesday and Thursday 6-7:20 PM. That's not so bad. Now I have to go sign up for my Saturday review class for the P.E. exam - 6 half-day Saturdays from the end of August to early October. Ewww!

Needless to say I won't be on the trail this fall. :(”

“well thank you all for the good advice.
I will be going to the class starting tonight. didnt think when i woke up this morning that i would be going to school tonight.
but ive got my pencils sharpened and im going to do it.

so much for sleeping and eating and seeing my family...
but it is the beging of my dream!”

“first off, I did it!! yeah
second, I am so glad that I did.
it was just what I was looking for. If i can bring up my grade, then come Sept I will not need to take another basic math class. I can bypass it and go to my req math class.
plus, i saved myself $600.00
i felt at ease. i was relaxed.
i did like the teacher, but then found out he was not going to be our reg. teacher. oohhhhhiimm
so, i just hope our teacher will be cool.
i like the other people in the class. they are in the same boat as me. older adults going to school after being away for many years.
so its a beging and so far im happy.

ask me agin in 3 weeks and see if im still happy LOL

im thinking of maybe finding an evening job and go to school full time. that way i can finish in the 2 years.
if i go part time, it may take me more like 3 if not 4 years to earn my A.A.S

so many things to decide on. now i know way people do this when they come right out of HS.”

“So, how did it go?”

“12 secs. to slow goof ball

LOL”

“Grrrr.....

Hey, it took me 12 years to get my BS, so 3-4 years for an AAS doesn't sound too bad.”

“someone on the family camping trip asked me what i was going for, and I proudly said "i'm going for my A.S.S degree"

yup, im going to be just fine....”

“I'm looking at going back to school also. We spent about 7 years of our lives together puttng my wife through school, now at my job, I've hit the brick wall, no advancement, and no support. Trouble is, what to go back fer? Nothing really gets me going, excecpt outdoors related thangs. If only I could make BPing pay...”

“Maple, I'm (again) deciding what to do with school also. I could attend a year-long program and quit my job, or stick it out here longer and do part-time school. Yikes! What to do????”

“its so hard!
i think if i was not married w/out children it would be easier.
but it is hard. just finding out what you want to be now that your all grown up is the hard part.”