My college mid life crisis

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Here comes the condensed version of my life story.

I fucked off in school, and barely limped across the finish line for my high school diploma, mostly because I had suckers for teachers who thought “potential” was just as useful an attribute as discipline is. Or maybe they just felt sorry for me.

Of course I didn’t go to college. I got a part time job, a shitty two bedroom apartment with a roommate who was as much a loser as I was, in a part of Vegas that smelled like a dumpster fire could probably could have been improved with a good old fashioned ww2 style aerial bombing.

5 years later, and I was a supervisor at the shitty job. It was still a shitty job, but slightly less so. I married a woman who actually knew things and had her shit together in a job using her bachelor’s degree. It felt like I had to move quick before she realized she was out of my league.

A few years later and my wife gives birth to my son, while in the middle of completing her Master’s degree. My son was a toddler before I was ashamed enough to actually go make something of myself. I got certified at a trade school, traded my coffee shop supervisor apron for a uniform with patches on it, and started watching people die. I shared at least one of these stories here before, and I won’t go into the details now, but the job officially beat the dipshit child right out of me and left behind something I’m proud to say was at least halfway worth a damn.

Several years, one industry change, two promotions and an extra digit on my salary later, and now I’m in a very comfortable place in my life. Amazingly, I still feel young enough to appreciate the freedom and security I get from all the money I can’t believe they’re actually paying me to do the stuff I do. But I never did get that degree. I don’t feel “finished” yet, if that makes any sense. Sure, I’m doing okay now, but I still take orders from more people than I give orders to, and all those people have on me is proof from an accredited institution vouching they’ve adequately demonstrated that they’re not a dumbass.

So I looked into it. I’m almost 40 years old, and there’s no way I’m dragging this pile of receding hairline and back pain to a campus. But I don’t want a cracker-jack box diploma-mill degree. I want the real thing, from a real university, and it turns out you can trade a lot of time and effort and a LOT of money for an honest-to-goodness state university degree from any one of a number of institutions without having to leave the comfort of your computer chair. I picked the one with the right combination of accreditation, prestige, and tuition cost, and I took an admissions exam made for people like me.

It was tough and long, but I just finished the admissions test and I’m feeling pretty good about myself. I’m not the same jackoff kid that slouched his way to adulthood figuring “good enough” was actually good enough. I don’t have any doubt that I’ll be able to finish this. I have the support of my wife, who I love (of course) but also (maybe even more importantly) respect and admire. I have a tweener kid who I’m pretty sure looks up to me even though admitting it would be the worst. Thing. Ever. And I still have enough neurons firing to pass a tough academic exam.

So I guess wish me luck. I already have everything else I need.

2

Good for you! Good luck! My mother decided to go back to school in her 50s to get the degree she needed to do the work she always wanted to do, and I’m incredibly proud of her. Even if your son is too much of a tweenager to admit it, you are setting a fantastic example for him.

3

Congratulations. Sounds like a wonderful next step in your life.

4

I’ll wish you luck if you wish so, but it doesn’t sound like you need it, my friend!

It kinda sounds like you have the tiger by the tail. I think it’s awesome that you’re going to see it through. It’s not easy to return to studying once you’re out of it. I admire that very much.

What a great example you are to your child, and what wonderful life experiences you’ll have to illustrate the struggle and triumphs of life’s challenges.

Congrats! And Good Luck!

5

I’m impressed. Way to improve yourself!

6

I spent most of my 30s grinding through college. It was worth it.

7

Good job, and good luck! Might I ask what school you decided to go with?

8

Good job. Just one word of warning. I once dated a girl whose mother was a HS dropout in the late 1920s (when people, especially girls, were not really expected to finish). So the mother did whatever she had to do to get into college (I’m not sure the GED existed in the 50s) and went to college at the same time is her daughter. Who resented mightily the fact that she saw her mother as being in competition with her. So try to finish before your tweener is in college. Or anyway, somehow avoid the idea you are in a competition.

9

That’s something I hadn’t considered. Thanks!

10

After researching a bunch of different colleges, I found a program at Northern Arizona University that seems to fit exactly what I’m looking for. It’s also an area of study my current employer considers relevant to my job, so they’re splitting the bill with educational assistance as long as I earn good grades.

11

Congrats. I withdrew from college because I played way too much. No excuse. Great that your employer is helping. Go for it.

I got lucky and am doing very well as a programmer at age 57. It’s kind of funny, the only programming class I took in college (punch cards), I dropped. Hated it.

I DO wish I had any degree though. I am comfortable in the job that I have (for 24 years) and if I HAD too, I could retire early. I would never get another programming job without a degree. My field (GIS) used to be very specialized, now, not so much. I realize that I’m very, very lucky.

12

On the flip side of this, my mother graduated high school a year after I did, and I could not have been prouder of her.

Props to you, Mosier.

mmm

13

Your story shares some similarities with mine.

I went back to school in my mid 30s. School is much easier when you have a stable home life. The math was a little harder when I was that age. Math seemed intuitive when I was young, not so much when I was older.

I changed careers when I graduated and almost twenty years later I have not one regret.

Good move.

14

I went back to school at age 40 and now have my dream job. Going to campus wasn’t a problem. People are mostly impressed by people going back to school.

15

Good luck, Mosier! I went back last fall at the age of 52 and am taking both seated and online classes. I have a business degree, but I want to do something more meaningful and am double-majoring in psych/sociology. I thought my mind would be pretty rusty, but it’s been pretty sharp even through statistics. This time I’m thoroughly enjoying the process, learning for its own sake, and spending time with college kids.

I hope you have as good an experience!