That is just wonderful Billy!
Best of luck and wish you success and happiness as you enter into this next phase of your life.
Old dude... me... going to college!?!?!
by Billy the Ex-Bethelite 95 Replies latest members private
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rebel8
Advice....
If you're doing this purely for self-fulfillment, college is great for that--go for it.
If you're doing this for employment purposes, be extremely cautious about what you take, how much you spend, and how long you are a student. It's a financial decision--an investment.
College counselors are like car salesmen. Their job is to sell you something, not to inform you that you're entering a profession that is flooded.
Check job forecasts and then check with some graduates who are in the field or looking. That will tell you a lot. My profession is touted to have a huge growth rate (in the past and future)., but those stats are misleading without knowing the other facts. 300 applicants per job, minimum. Already a surplus of underemployed candidates. Employers are saving bucks by hiring high school grads for jobs Master's level people should be doing, so there's not much left for the educated candidates.
Nursing and engineering are safe bets in the US. Pretty much everything else is in the can right now and will probably be for a long time.
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darthfader
School is what you make of it. Get in there and kick some a$$..
I went back to school a few years back to fill in some areas I was missing. I thoroughly enjoyed it and did way better than I did when I was in my teens and early 20's.
Cheers
Darth Fader
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Mad Dawg
Bill, congratulations! Being an older students will give you certain advantages:
Ø Maturity.
Ø Clarity of purpose, you know what you life will be like if you flunk out.
Ø You will relate better to your professors.
Ø You know what it is to work without your mother nagging you.
Ø You are at a point in your life where you don’t feel the need to express new found freedom by partying till dawn.
As someone who finished my B.S. at 39 and currently looking at a master’s, I offer this advice:
Ø Do what you love.
o If you don’t love what you do, you will eventually hate it – no matter how much money you make.
o Doing what you love is more important than money, you can’t buy happiness.
Ø If you have a professor from a foreign culture, study that culture to see what makes them tick. I had a prof from China. His classes were obtuse. I went to his office hours twice a week and praised him for his knowledge and wisdom. I got A’s in his classes despite learning very little.
Ø College is a joint effort. Other students can help or hinder you, particularly when it comes to group projects. Hitch your wagon to those that are working hard to succeed and are willing to help others. I was friends with a Japanese student who taught me everything I know about Excel spreadsheets. I happily checked all his written assignments for grammatical errors – which were many.
Bill, I hope that it is as good an experience for you as it was for me. Even though I hated school as a kid, I loved college immensely.
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out4good3
Great Decision.
One thing going to college does is broaden your horizons and make you think of possibilities you'd probably not thought possible for yourself.
I already have a AAS degree, but I'm back in school and loving every minute of it, three classes away from an AA, chasing down a BA degree. Currently carrying a 13 hour class load, an 80 contact hour 8 week teaching assignment while holding down a full time job. Needless to say, I have to very carefully manage my time? A couple of the classes are online, and I'm in the technology field, so, in my downtime, I get a lot of homework done during my working hours.
I should've done this long ago, but I got stuck in the same mudpit as everyone else here, that is letting WT salemen convince me that going to school was a waste of time, the end will be here soon, wouldn't your time be better spent out in service.
All of it the biggest craps of nonsense I think I've ever heard.
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daniel-p
College counselors are like car salesmen. Their job is to sell you something, not to inform you that you're entering a profession that is flooded.
This is an irresponsible and false statement. I've never met a college counselor that was like a car salesman, and I've met with more than a few on my way to finishing my masters degree. Their job is to help people figure out what they want to do, and then to help build confidence in them to do it.
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bigwilly
Congrats to Billie and the other school folks!
I too am finally going to college
I took a few math classes a few years back but had to let it go due to my work schedule at the time (50hr work week plus classes made for poor brain function). I was laid off at the end of April due to the downturn in the economy (I worked in plumbing wholesale which is directly tied to the construction field, no new construction meant no job for Big Willy). I spent the summer enjoying time off with my gf but have enrolled at the local community college to begin full time for winter term. I'm excited and a bit nervous as I've never done school full time, but really look forward to the education and other opportunities. -