Never too Old for School
One of these days, I’m going to be old.?
I have a vision about what that time will be like. I’ll be sitting on a park bench, along with a couple of cronies, and we’ll be lazily feeding popcorn to the birds. One of my buddies will be reflecting about his life: “I should have done this” and “I should have done that” He will grumble. I look at my future, old self and feel a hint of desperation.?
“I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to in my life.” I’ll say. “But I tried.”?
Next month, I will graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree. It will be exactly three months shy of my 50th birthday.?
Yeah, I know. I should have gotten this little chore out of the way 25 years ago. Like so many I started, I wanted it. Then life stepped in and, well, one thing led to another. So, school took a back seat to work.?
It didn’t matter, I thought. I was strong. I was well-read. I took advantage of the opportunities my company offered and worked my way up the ladder. To a point.?
The moment of truth came years later when my position was eliminated, and I had just basic education to fall back upon. Shed no tears, however. I’m no victim. I lived with my decisions and was OK. I found other work, but the jobs I applied for and really wanted came back either with a negative response or, worse, no response. After my kids grew up, went to college, and moved out, I decided I wasn’t going to just drink beer, watch TV and fade away.?
I still wanted the degree. So, I signed up in August 2005.?
Adult education hasn’t been easy. It isn’t like being 19 years old, living in a dorm, and the toughest decision all week is how much to devote to studying and still have time to party on Saturday night. Going to school — at any age, but especially as a non-traditional student — doesn’t relieve a person from responsibilities.?
For an adult who works full time, school means a drastic schedule change. Even with the promise to “Get your degree going to school just one night a week,” there should be a truth-in-advertising clause: “One night a week, but the class time is 6 p.m. until 10 p.m., plus six hours spent with your course team, usually on weekends. And anywhere from 12 to 20 hours of weekly reading and homework for individual assignments, tests, and projects.”?
Don’t kid yourself. Going back to college is like taking on another job for two to four years, depending on transferable credits. (That’s another story all by itself). Not to frighten anyone considering going back to school, but according to the U.S. Department of Education, if you are not fully committed you may be looking at some grim statistics:?
·???????Among students seeking a bachelor’s degree, 50 percent of nontraditional students were no longer enrolled three years later, compared with 12 percent of traditional students.
·???????The “traditional” student is not typical. Fully three-quarters of all postsecondary students in 1999-2000 had at least one nontraditional characteristic (employed full-time, responsible for family, or single parent).
·???????Among postsecondary students seeking degrees, nontraditional students are more likely than traditional students to leave without earning a degree.
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·???????Nontraditional students are most at risk of dropping out in their first year.
Sobering? Sure. But like any job, if a person sticks with it long enough, it can work.?
Earning a degree means spending less time with family, who also make sacrifices and compensate for the added schooling. Adult college means a less sleep and juggling schedules. It means writing papers at midnight and studying at lunch. Some students even burned vacation days from work to bone up on a particularly tough course.?
My toughest course? Algebra, hands down. But it was also the most beneficial. I found that it was a metaphor for everything in life: Algebra teaches us that large problems are solved by breaking an equation down into smaller, manageable problems. It takes unequal situations, finds ways to balance the inequity, cancels out like terms, and presto! Problem solved.?
Algebra also teaches us that for some problems, there are many answers; other problems may only get you one possible answer; and, sometimes, no matter how hard you try, some problems have no solution.?
Brother, is that life defined or what? It was the toughest (and only) “C” I received.?
Still, I enjoyed the past few years. My horizons were indeed expanded, especially making friends with some of the finest people.?
After being rejected for what I considered a dream job I applied for years ago, the company’s vice president was nice enough to call me. I had everything required, she said, except a degree.
It was then I decided I wasn’t too old to crack the books, to take another shot at what I missed so many years ago. One thing is clear: Even if my career doesn’t change, I am determined never to let the “lack of education” reason be used again.?
In Maslow’s chart of human needs, basic requirements like food are at the bottom and larger, life accomplishments are at the top. For me, a section of that peak will be realized at graduation.?
For a few seconds, this old dude will get a dose of self-actualization. From that point on, walking across the stage in the shiny black robe, I will get to once again read in earnest (besides textbooks). I will get my life back, and I especially look forward to normal sleep.?
Beyond that, I anticipate looking to family and friends, and especially to my “old” future self on the park bench. I’ll hold that degree high in the air and quietly repeat “I did it. I did it. I did it.”?
I did it.
Armand Lobato ([email protected]) of Broomfield works in the produce industry. He is a member of the of the 2008 Denver Post Colorado Voices panel.