Linda Nelson

Did you go off to college after graduating from high school?

Most times, if you are going to continue with your education, you enter college right away. What about those who had to put off their higher education for various reasons? Do they stand a chance at their degree years later? Or, is it a lost cause?

Image courtesy of creative commons by: Vernon Chan via flickr.com

Maturity Happens

High school graduates think mostly about finding a mate to pass their time away. They have their lives ahead of them, and they’re in no rush to get on with living a professional life. Once they enter college, it marks their freedom from the parental rule. It is party time, with boys and girls, social life is more important to them at this stage in life vs. that educational path to Professionalism.

Their studies suffer if they can’t give their full attention to the class work, causing many to drop out of school after their first year.

At 50+ years, life has already happened for us. Most of us now have grandchildren, while our own children should be graduating from college. We are more focused on what we want in life as we come closer to our retirement age. And yes, we have bucket lists.

What is on your bucket list?

College is one of the top items on my list. It has been for many years. I feel focused on where I want to go with my life. What I want to do and how I want to do it.

I was going to stop at an Associate degree when I first decided to go back to school last month. Now I think I want that bachelor degree after all. So what if I have 15 more years until I am at retirement age. For all I know, the government may raise the retirement age before I reach 65. I’d have to work longer in life after all, why not make a career change that would see me through the rest of my life.

I believe I will pick Bachelor of Science – Integrated Studies. Then I will be able to pick and choose what I want to learn. Whether it be Human Resources, management, accounting. Maybe a little of everything.

My Answer

Yes, you can pick a degree at 50+. You have your whole life ahead of you. One never knows when they are going to die, just make the best of things while you can. Take care of yourself, you’ve made it this far. Maybe you will be around for another 50 years anyway.

Image courtesy of creative commons By: Internet Archive Book Images at Flicker.com

Do you know how much college has changed over the years?

I didn’t. I found out when I decided to enroll this past term. The last time I looked into taking classes was way back in the ‘90s. Back then there were Traditional classes during the day, classes at night for those who had a job during the day, and classes on the weekend. I hardly ever saw any mention of long distance learning.

When I began looking at returning to school this past March, I was surprised to see that there were more choices to obtaining a college degree from a reputable school. They still had the traditional classes and the night time classes, but now there were a couple of other options offered. Hybrid and 100% online courses.

What are Hybrid classes?

These classes are attended as either in a classroom setting or online. Some people need to be in a real room with others to learn. This gives the choice to take part in the classes online at the same time of seeing the teacher and other classmates. It all depends on your style of learning and whether you have the computer skill sets to learn online. It the online experience is not working out; you have the option to appear in class instead.

I picked the 100% online classes. I have no fear of computers or the internet. In fact, I prefer the online classes over the traditional setting. I can do all my school work from the comfort of my home. These classes allow you to work at your own reasonable pace. Yes, there are still deadlines for when your school work must be turned in and for when a test must be submitted.

One drawback, though – Students must learn to ask questions if they don’t understand the work. You can’t assume that the teacher will know if you don’t understand something. They can’t see that puzzled expression on your face. You’ll have to do more than raise your hand. It’s called email your teacher with your question. Don’t be afraid to ask either. Your grade counts on it.

The online courses are a bit harder. You will need to know how to use a word processor like Microsoft Office or Open Office. All your Assignments and Tests need to be submitted in doc. files. The discussion questions are online only. It is sort of like a chat/group activity. You post your answer to the topic forum by the specified day your instructor has given and then respond a reply to two other classmates before the week is up. My weeks run from Monday to Sunday.

Maybe it is because I am older than most college students, but I find the 100% online classes appeal to me.