Thinking about school, teaching, tutoring

I'm still trying to decide. Should I research and do one more year of school to better prepare for teaching? OR should I jump right back into another Intern position? And what about tutoring full-time? Writing AND working? Other options?

It's worth weighing my options right now. There are always pros and cons to every choice.

I'll bet there are a lot of people who think about their career and school choices seriously each day. People with responsibilities and families have very limited options. I am lucky that I have a supportive husband and family. I know that some people don't. Today I again feel very thankful.

Non-Traditional Students and choices

CHOICES...

I think non-traditional students have so many choices to make.

Should they:
1) Go to trade school - limit the training time
2) Go to college - even though it takes awhile
3) Try for a scholarship or grant
4) Take an aptitude test

I know I had a very hard time deciding what to take when I went back to school. Should it be Art Education or English Education? I decided on English at first but there are many reasons why Art may have also been a good choice. Graphic Art or Computer Web Page Design is also a field that would be fun.

Also important for every non-traditional student is deciding whether or not to go back to school full-time or part-time, and whether to attend while working full or part-time.

I am consulting and selling online right now, and there is SO much to learn. There are choices for that, too - where to list your items, what to list, what to charge, etc. etc.

I chose to go to a local car dealership and try to win a jeep today. I only won a choice of prizes online that I have to pay $5 for plus shipping. I think I'll look and see what is there, though. There may be that proverbial knife set or another fun prize that is worth the fee.

Anyway, to get back to the subject, it's all about choices - in life, and as a non-traditional student. I think my advice to non-traditional students would be to take the time to really think hard about whether the choices (in classes) will be ones that you will definitely want down the road.

You may want to try out the career choice first as a helper or assistant, etc. before you invest a lot of time and money in those classes.

If you think you already know what you want, you can go ahead and give it your best try. I think non-traditional students make the very best students AND employees -- because our work ethic and experience really help in the job situation.

I know that I have seen my share of employees that did not have the proper kind of responsibility -- some people I worked with always were absent on Fridays or Mondays. Some pretended to work hard, but really were doing the very least amount of work possible.

Most non-traditional students know what real work is all about. And as a student, the non-traditional kind KNOWS that he or she must get a good result out of his or her hard-earned money, and that makes a huge difference. When Mom or Dad is footing the bill, the money isn't hard-earned.

Most non-traditional students know that they have to PAY their school money back or have earned the money working hard for it. They want to get their money's worth, and that means studying, listening, and working VERY hard.

Juggling work, school, and responsibilities

Somebody said something very true on the WKU Non-Traditional Students group the other day.

They said that sometimes a person has to let their family help him or her. A person can't possibly be going to school and still have time to do everything he or she used to do before going back to school. They just can't. The family has to step up and help. So it's important that your family is supportive of you in this huge step.

Going back to school changes things. You will be busy with homework a LOT, and simply not available to do things you did before in the same way. Something has to give --- you won't be such a perfectionist at cleaning, for instance, UNLESS somebody in your family gives you a hand, if you usually do that job. This goes for lots of jobs in a family. You may have always been there to help with certain things, but the time element just won't let you anymore.

Talk to your children and spouse, the writer suggested, and get them to take over things you used to handle. They need to do this so that YOU can concentrate on school. It's the only way. Otherwise, if you try to keep up with everything in the same way you did before school came along, you are facing an impossible task. Nobody wants to face that.

It was good advice.