Good changes for nontraditional students!

Why it's a great time right now to be a nontraditional student.

I am excited about the trends today and how schools are starting to help nontraditional students more and more.

When I research new articles, and see how different states are doing in regards to nontrad student support, I am coming up with more and more links to groups, pages, and a new recognition of nontraditional students across the country, and across the globe.

Many more schools are choosing to support their nontraditional students today. In the past, nontraditional students had to just tough it out by themselves and do what they could to get through classes and learn new things. It really could be hard.

Everything used to be slanted towards new, traditional students. Now nontraditional students often have so much more support from the schools and also have many more other nontraditional students to talk to.

Ten things I like about today for nontraditional students:

1. Nontraditional students may not be alone at their school. (See above...)
2. Nontrads get to choose online OR face to face classes today.
3. Some schools have dedicated professionals helping them pick classes, find daycare, and much more.
4. More research is available online for nontraditional students to find out what jobs will be available when they graduate or get that training.
5. It is now easier to do research because of the internet and many libraries going online.
6. Student loans don't just apply to younger students. Older students can also apply for them.
7. More and more schools are offering scholarships and other financial aid just for nontraditional students.
8. Some on-campus groups, including fraternities and sororities, are starting to welcome older students.
9. Some schools are making guide booklets especially for nontraditional students.
10. Other schools provide a "one-stop shop" for nontrads to get registered, get information, and have a place to study.

Can you add another reason why it is great to be a nontraditional student going back to school right now?

Some Nontrad links:
The Nontrad site and blog
Join Nontrads on Facebook
Nontrads on Yahoo
Nontrads on Twitter

Are you in a nontraditional student group?

Nontraditional Student Groups - are you in one?

Not all schools have nontraditional student groups. But they are fun to join and participate in.

You can check the Map Page at the Nontrad site to go to your state or country and see if there are Nontraditional Student groups at your school or in your state.

Ask your school too, they may be able to give you a contact number or the location of the Nontraditional Student lounge, if they have one.

Also, if you are a member of ANTSHE, you can check their groups list and locations there too on the Discussion Boards.

Also, some groups are listed on Facebook. I have found a few and listed them as favorites on the left side of the Nontrad Facebook page. 

And you MAY want to consider starting a nontraditional student group of your own at your school. Just saying!

If you are in a group, or want to find out more, talk about it in a comment. Thanks!

Some more Nontraditional Student links:  
The Nontrad site and blog
Join Nontrads on Facebook
Nontrads on Yahoo and
Nontrads on Twitter

Guilt and the nontraditional student - is it healthy?

Guilty Feelings and Nontraditional Students...

Yes, nontraditional students DO feel guilty about being back in school sometimes.

Some nontraditional students feel guilty because they seldom get enough time with their kids or family.

And if they do their homework or projects, home projects and family get the back burner.

Women seem to have this guilt more than others, and have even more the more traditional their role is in the family.

From the J. Benshoff and H. Lewis article, women who are going back to school can worry about these things:

"*feeling guilty about not "being there" for their children;

*concerns about quality and expense of childcare;

*feelings of responsibility for maintaining their role within the family;

*making compromises in careers due to family considerations;

*minimal individual free time;

*perceived lack of credibility when returning to college;(and)

*insufficient support from family for returning to school."

Cyr, who was a nontraditional student with a child, worried about her daughter being affected by her being back in school. She remarked, 

" I also have huge guilt over not being able to put her sports or scouts or some other extra-curricular activity with some of her friends, but I'd never be able to take a class if I did. I just keep telling myself that when I'm done, there will still be plenty of time for her to do all those things and things will be better for all of us in the long run." (From the CollegeNet Forum).

Amber Stephens at the Fisher College of Business hits on another point. She says that other people (and even pets!) can try to make nontraditional students feel guilty about going back to school too.

"Even when you’re not at school, you are still in school. There is always something to do. This means the ones you love will see less of you. They’ll be supportive. They’ll also find ways to make you feel guilty, even if they don’t mean to intentionally. Even my German shepherd works the guilt card, running to be with me whenever I’m home, always trying to burst in the door to sit by my feet. It’s pitiful, but I miss him too. I miss everyone. So plan your get togethers, picnics, parties and coffee klatches before school starts. Afterward, it’s a crap shoot."

She goes on to say that it's important to think about relaxing or having fun when you are back in school. I love it when she says: "Remember how much fun school used to be, like when we were kids in the ’80s…or whatever your decade of choice might be. After all, we’re never too old to be students again."

I can add to that. I think that feeling guilty is a huge time-waster. Nontraditional students need some times to just have fun and take some time off from studies.

Participate in some fun activities AT school just for fun, or go to a nontraditional student meeting once in awhile.

Taking some time for yourself may be a new thing, but I think it's healthy.

After all, feeling guilty can be a choice, and a time-wasting one at that.

Your thoughts? Leave them below as a comment. Thanks!

Some Nontrad links: The Nontrad site and blog Join Nontrads on Facebook Nontrads on Yahoo Nontrads on Twitter 


Article/Posting resources:


Nontraditional Students by James M. Benshoff, and Henry A. Lewis via Eric Education Reports

Guilt - from the 2003 issue of the Non-traditional Student News at the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg

Cyr's comments at the CollegeNet Forum  

Nontraditional Student? Here's What I Wish I Knew by Amber Stephens


The photo of a nontraditional student with a headache is from the Microsoft Clipart pages.

Great postings from other nontraditional students

There are many nontraditional students who have blogs today. I have gotten some great advice and thoughts from all of them.

This Art is from the Microsoft Images pgs.

Every once in awhile, I list a couple of great blogs and postings here on the Betsyanne Nontraditional Student Blog for people who have not yet checked them out on the left hand side of the blog (some links are there) or online.

Here are just two out of many great blogs and sites I like.

#1. Older Non-Trad Student - this is one of my very favorite blogs. Zickbee lives in Ashville, North Carolina. She recently graduated and has her graduation picture up on the site. She is still a nontraditional student, though, and is still taking a college class this semester.Her latest post is "Are You Auditing?" I think that auditing a class could tempt a student not to work as hard and maybe not to learn as much.

#2. GED Stories - this blog features actual emails from people going back to school to get their GED. They talk about successes, fears, and what getting a GED means to them. Some of these stories are really touching.

I like to visit this site as often as I can, because sometimes I can get tunnel vision about who I am helping. It's not just college students. I have to remind myself sometimes that going back to school can mean getting a GED, which can open many doors for nontraditional students.

I think people can encourage other people here just by commenting and encouraging GED students and other nontraditional students who blog about their experiences.

What is a favorite blog that helps nontraditional students that you read regularly or know about? Please list it below as a comment. Thank you!

Some Nontrad links: The Nontrad site and blog Join Nontrads on Facebook Nontrads on Yahoo Nontrads on Twitter

Grandpa gets a webcam - shades of some Nontrads?

 Be truthful. Have you ever seen a nontraditional student who didn't know how to operate a computer?

These oldsters don't know that they are being recorded. This YouTube video has now gone viral, and has been shown on the Today Show and also Good Morning America.

I think you'll find it cute. I liked it.




Back to talking about nontrads though. I had a couple of nontraditional students in my speech class who seriously did not know how to access the class blackboard files online. This really became a problem further along in the class. We all tried to help, but they probably thought they could figure it out themselves. Anyway, they missed an online assignment and that hurt.

So what did I learn from their problem? Maybe to advise some nontraditional students to brush up on computer skills. And maybe some nontraditional student groups need to ask about having a refresher course available at their school to access coursework and learn how to access blackboard and other school sites.

I would time this for before school starts.

Just saying.

Hope you like the funny video.

Some Nontrad links: The Nontrad site and blog
Join Nontrads on Facebook
Nontrads on Yahoo
Nontrads on Twitter 

Here is the signup for the Nontrad Newsletter too:

Many would-be nontraditional students can get in a rut and put dreams off to someday...

In a cubicle - from the Microsoft Clipart pages.

Responsibility for others... 

Older people can sometimes be very responsible... for other people.

And nontraditional students going back to school after a break - or thinking about it -  can spend a lot of time doing things for other people, and ignoring themselves.

Sometimes life just happens. You get married, you have a child or children, you are working full-time and feeling more comfortable, but really you are in a rut.

You just  do what you have to do, and that is a choice of honor for many. And it's easy to forget what you really wanted to do, once upon a time.

Putting dreams off... to "someday".

What ever happened about college - about trade school - about those dreams you or others used to have? Well, many times, they are put on the back shelf. There is only so much time, and there are responsibilities people have to others, to family, parents, or (sometimes) to debt collectors or things they must have and pay for.

It's great when a student has somebody else to help, maybe a family or partner, or money set back. But that is not always the case for many people.

When you - or somebody else - can break through and go back to school, it can be the start of a whole new life, greater happiness, fulfillment, and a change for the better. As I hear a lot, it can be "a dream come true."

Looking towards the future - from the MS Clipart Pages.

Do you know somebody who wants to go back to school? Or maybe it is you yourself? Try these links out for size, and see what opportunities are out there for you.

A nontraditional student can start going back to school anytime... in the spring, next fall, next summer, or sometimes right now.

Here is the official FAFSA site - find out what help is available for nontraditional students wanting to go back to school.

  




And check out the 3 most popular postings here on the BA Nontrad Blog:

 Finding Scholarships and Grants for School

 Thinking about Graduate School - is it for you?

 Michelle Fabio's Introduction to Law School for Nontraditional Students

Some more nontraditional student links:
The Nontrad site and blog
Join Nontrads on Facebook
Nontrads on Yahoo
Nontrads on Twitter