Ok, so it’s not that joyful. Ok, maybe a psychology major might enjoy it, I’m just saying. As you can see, its been months since I’ve posted. Why? Because my “relatively light” 13 credit hours towards my dual bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering and physics are a real drag on my time. What little time I do have is spent with the family or working on the house. That’s my life.
So it may not be all sweet roses and candy, but is it worth it? Absolutely! I’m challenging myself to be better all around and to be able to do something I enjoy for a living. Is it for everyone? Probably not.
Coming in as a non-traditional student has its advantages and disadvantages. Most non-traditionals are there because they want to be there. Something about growing up gives a new perspective to time and money, and it seems most non-trads have decided it is worth the time and money to come back to school, so they give it their all. We’re not here because mommy and daddy or the school counselor said we had to go. We’re most here because either we never went the first time and have personally lived through the difficulties of not having that paper, or because we’ve decided to change career directions.
It’s easier because we know we want to be here, and we are willing to give it our all. But on the same note, it is also more difficult. We have mortgages or rent payments to make, car payments, credit cards, the works. We’re more like the typical college student’s parents than the student his or herself. A lot of us also have spouses and children. Our time gets eaten up between the school/family balance, and I haven’t even included what a job puts into the equation as well.
We are also further away from the high school education that in theory prepared us for college. I find it humurous that when I first started going back, I was in a high school algebra 2 equivalent development class. I’m in calculus 3 now, working towards degree requirements plus an additional minor in math. All of that math and chemistry and biology, well, most of us never needed much of it in the real world, so it all went to the wayside.
We’re also more willing to participate in more leadership positions within the student organizations we join. Sometimes we are too limited by work to be involved, but if we are not, then we stretch our valuable time even more.
So basically, for all of those 18,19, 20, 21 year old students who are in college or will soon be in college, make sure you give plenty of respect to those older students in your class. They have worked harder than you go get to this point, and they also have the wisdom and experience that only comes from age.
Was there a point to this? Maybe, maybe not. But I pay the bills for this domain, so if I want to vent, then I’ll vent =)
Off to go test my beam for the required freshman engineering class I’m in. Thank god for next semester when I’ll be a bonefide sophomore soon to be junior.
If you notice up top, there is a new page listed as Reading List. This is a currently small list of the books I have read and enjoyed over the last couple of years. They are in no particular order for now, though that may change. I will be adding links to Amazon over the next few days.