People who are considering becoming non-traditional students often do a lot of thinking about it before they actually enroll. I have had a lot of people talk about joining the Non-Traditional Yahoo group that are just thinking about going back to school.They want to talk to others about it - to find out more about what it is really like to be an older student among younger students.
Going back to school can be a challenge, financially and emotionally. The realities of filling out forms, looking at class offerings, and really getting serious about it makes people nervous sometimes.
It can make people question themselves, too. Some questions non-trads can ask are:
What if I make the wrong choice?
Am I really ready for all that studying and work?
Can I even do the work any more, now that I have been out of school for (your number here) years?
The non-traditional student often thinks about all these things and more. He or she also thinks about another VERY important question. That is, what is he or she wanting to do with the rest of his or her life?
That question really gets down to the nitty-gritty.
Many non-traditional students have had careers already. Some even trained for those careers, and now are not sure that they want to keep on doing the same job forever. Others just fell into jobs and stuck with them. Still others just did what they had to do, and never questioned it before.
But with age, sometimes comes introspection. Some people (many more than before, I think) decide that the same job, the same life path, the same old, tired way of thinking that has worked for them before does not work for them now.
So... what's next?
Thankfully, people are not locked in to jobs and career paths as much as people were in generations past. People CAN break free of what is "expected" of them, and many have decided that they want to pursue other careers.
This can be a very scary undertaking. The future is uncertain, always, and people can doubt their choices. The work can seem daunting - especially when people find out that to follow their dream will take years of classes and training in order to start again, from the bottom up.
Can it be hard? Yes, it can. But many non-traditional students decide that the work is all worth it. Doing what makes a person happy versus doing something that doesn't can make all the difference.
And if you never try it out, how will you ever know if you really like a new career or not?
To my reader, I ask, what is YOUR dream? Are you thinking of becoming a non-traditional student and going back to school?
I am here to tell you that the sooner you actually start thinking about it, the sooner you can decide to move towards your dream and make a better future for yourself.
And to those who have already decided, more power to you. I wish you great success.
E. Sheppard
The Non-Traditional Student Yahoo group
The Non-Traditional Student website
The Betsyanne site