Amid much inner turmoil, I am RETURNING to SCHOOL . . . At 34 years old.
Yes, I did it! Today is my first day of school. It was a hard path to get back to class, but I have been determined and now here I am, at the school library, writing this post.
Here is a little softer side of me, the more artsy, nerdy, librarian GiGi.
It took a lot of convincing that school was worth pursuing again.
I mean, look at all the negativity circulating about higher education. Between ginormous student loan debt and young people waiting tables with bachelor's degrees, school has gotten a pretty bad rap.
I am sure many of you on here can relate to staggering student loan debt. So can I.
I started out my journey of higher education 12 years ago. As a single mom, I worked, went to school full-time, qualified for some grants, and I still had to take out student loans.
I made it through 2 years of full-time school and received all of my general education credits (minus 2 courses, which I am taking now). However, my life took a nose-dive and I was unable to attend school and care for my child.
BUT the STUDENT LOANS still LOOMED.
The Federal Stafford and Sallie Mae Loan agencies have been lurking in the background of my life, reminding me that I need to complete my higher education. After all, what is the point of carrying the debt if I had nothing to show for it??
So for the past 12 YEARS, I have been trying to get back to school.
I <3 Library!!!
And I did it. I finally did it.
I had to put my foot down, I had to make the conscious decision that I would make it back this semester NO MATTER WHAT.
Major . . . ?
Still, I am unclear as to what exactly I will be majoring in. At first, I decided on a solid Business Marketing degree (bachelor's). Then, I realized that I would not be happy with that career path. I have been an entrepreneur, freelancer, and small business owner for a good chunk of my adult life. So I figured business would be the natural course of things, right? WRONG. Well, at least for me.
When I looked at the course of study, I kinda puked a little bit in my mouth. Microeconomics, macroeconomics, statistics . . . Was not happening. I then had an epiphany that a degree in Business was prepping students to climb the corporate ladder. Uh, no thanks. If you have been following my blog, you will most definitely see that I am nowhere near any type of corporate personality.
I found my personal little study nook on the third level of the library.
Then, I made a conscious consideration of changing my major to ART. Yes, a Bachelor's in Art. I posted about it and got quite a hefty response (and a dose of reality, thanks Steemians!) and have reconsidered my choice.
For now, I have decided to focus on my last 2 prerequisites, and settle on a degree in the spring. I am thinking possibly a double Major in Art and English, focusing on technical writing (GREAT profession that makes good $$$) . . . I might even add a teaching credential to the mix.
What do you guys think? Does anyone have a major in either of these? Teaching? Art? English? How about technical writing? I would love feedback.
To end this blog, I have decided that I will be contributing more brain to Steemit as I learn interesting and juicy tidbits in my studies. I have focused primarily on contributing my adventures in Montana to Steemit. And I will continue to do so. The point is that I want to CONTRIBUTE here, and create unique quality posts for you all to enjoy and learn from.
This semester I am taking "Religious Quest" and "Biology 101" . . . Prereqs, ugh. Although I do feel that I will enjoy them.
In the end, I just love to learn :)
I <3 Library too :) Good luck to you! Coming back to University is a move i'm thinking about too, world is going too fast, we need to relearn everything, and especially learn from our mistakes in order to make the most of our lives. One step back in order to make three steps forward.
Thanks, I have always had mixed feelings about school and what it can do for us, but now that I am back I am so stoked that I am going. Its a huge life accomplishment.
Have A Good Year At School
I Study Online
Steemit is Kinda An Outlet
But, I Need To Get Back To My Studies
Much Luck To You
@queenmountain
You Should Be Fine!!
Keep Us Tuned
Steemon!!
Sure will, thanks!
Fantastic! I just completed a degree in computer science last December at age 34. It wasn't easy, especially with the kids, but if I can do it so can you!
Best of luck.
Did you consider a CS degree? ;)
Nice, a cs degree. Thats no joke! What do you plan to do with it? I've thought about it and I know I have the capacity to do it, but man. That is a serious amount of work, not to mention a career in programming. Gotta have the passion to be a programmer, its a life commitment.
Best of luck:)
Thanks a bunch!
Best of luck! I see older students doing well. They have a base of life experience to connect with new ideas, that they just didn't have when they were younger. It's true even for subjects like math. I see people shy away from math as older students because they had a bad experience with it when they were younger. But I think it's easier to learn math and science when you're older, because you can tie concepts together better. You've learned a lot all through life, already. You're a step ahead of the kids straight out of high school, not behind!
That's a good point you make about math. I had a terrible experience in math throughout high school, and not such a good experience in college either. But now, I bet I could handle it much better. Wisdom most definitely comes with age!
Wisdom comes with age -- if we survive our life lessons, lol! I'd be interested in hearing how you take to math again, if you take any more classes. And I've come to appreciate that some of the biggest schools use math and statistics classes as a way to weed out folks, while some of the smaller schools are more committed to people learning the stuff really well. Best of luck!
Good story and good luck. You will have to blog about your journey. I have to finish a computer science degree I started over 10 years ago myself. lol
You have a new follower.... :)
Thanks and awesome! Gotta go for that CS degree, can't really go wrong there. I contemplated trying that route but its pretty intimidating.
Good luck!
@queenmountain, this is two days late but if it helps
I also asked my mom the same question about which course to follow when I entered the university at 15 , not because I'm a genius - just because I went to school early and the Philippine education is just different from the US.
She told me to think of three things that would help me decide which major to take. I was choosing between fine arts, pathology and teaching.
She told me to think about these three things..
Would that land me a sure job?
Is that sort of job necessary where ever I go - abroad or just in the PH?
Would that job still be necessary till I get to be 75 cause back then that was the age for retiring.
I chose teaching .. even though my first love was pathology. I fell in love with what I'm doing now - I think that even if I get rich and won't have to work later, I'll still be doing it even as a volunteer in Laos.
I saw that chose art ... these days - it seems to be the trend so you'll never know where it could get you. Good luck!
Thanks for the advice. I think that teaching could be very rewarding for a career. What subject do you teach? I like the idea of going for english/art and attaching a teaching credential to those subjects.
@queenmountain - english indeed...
actually if you just take a TESL/ IELTS it could land you a job in South Korea some summer or spring vaca.. then maybe you could save to invest in crypto currency , stock at the same time pay your study loan.
Right on, I will look into that!
I wish you luck - plenty of offers in Linked in ;)