It is never too late for Adults to Go Back to School. And there is always something new to learn or a skill to enhance. The local community colleges are an ideal place to start. Also, the High School Adult Education courses, if your school system has them. There you can just take a course or two just to learn. It doesn’t have to be for any type of degree program. If you start and get really revved up you can always transfer your units into degree or certificate programs.
Just Get Started
The hardest part is to get motivated to sign up for that first course. Sometimes, if you start out with just a single course, you can sign up online. And a lot of the classes are given online too. I was looking at our local Community College. They actually have a course about learning to take an online courses. It is a course to learn how to use the online tools required for the online courses.
I Did It — So Can You
As with many of my articles, the subjects I write about revolve around my life. After I graduated from high school, I went away to college for one year. There, I was enrolled in a Medical Technology course. You see, I thought I wanted to be a doctor, but my Father did not think that was a good profession for women at that time – 1953. Not unheard of, but not all that common either. He was probably also looking at all those years of tuition.
As it turned out, I did poorly that first year. Because I did not like my science courses and didn’t do well in them. And because of some other family issues, the following summer I went to work for a dentist. I did not go back to school.
I liked working for the dentist and after a year I applied to Dental Hygiene school, where I was accepted. But then I got married instead of going back to school.
Find Your Niche by Going Back to School
Many, many years later after a divorce and raising my son alone, I found myself enrolled in some Adult Education night courses. One of the companies that I was working for sold Electronic Teaching equipment to High Schools. And one of the instructors invited me to take the class he was teaching at night. When I went to sign up the for course, while standing in line, I noticed that there was also a class in Computer Programming. Another of the companies that I was working with had an instrument that was programmed using paper tape from a Telex machine. Since I was often asked to punch the code onto the tape, I was curious about it and decided right on the spot to also sign up for the Programming class too.
Those two classes – Beginning Electronics and Computer Programming were a far cry from Biology and Chemistry. But with those two courses, I found my “niche”. And one class became another in Programming. I still don’t understand Electronics, but it was interesting.
Going back to School
By Going back to School I eventually was able to get a job doing programming work and that became my career for the next 35 years. After getting my first computer job, I started back to a Community college in a degree program. It took quite a few years to complete the courses, but I eventually got my AA. And then I got into an Accelerated Adult Program for my Bachelor’s Degree. Nine months later I got my BSBA from the University of San Francisco twenty-two years after I started college in 1953. My college diplomas look funny because according to the dates on them, I got both the AA and the BSBA in the same year. And that was quite a year. I looked like death warmed over in my graduation picture.
Some Tips for More Credit
One of the things that I learned along the way was that work experience can be applied toward college courses to obtain credit. So if you have worked doing something and know the subject well, you can write papers for credit in the course. It is call challenging the course.
Because I was already working in the computer field and knew quite a bit about the computers themselves and about programming, I was able to look at the outline for a university course and then write a corresponding paper. That way, I probably got the equivalent of a year’s worth of credit.
It Just Takes the First Step
It was hard work, but I did it. And I know you can too. Just make up your mind to take that first step. Find that first course and sign up for it. And it might just be an English course or a Math course that is required as a base subject. Or, if there is something already that you are interested in learning more about, sign up for an Introductory course in that subject.
I found that what I thought I wanted was not actually where my talents were. Experiment. Take some classes. I’m sure you will find your “niche” too.
Let Your Fingers Do the Walking thru the Internet
You can find your local college(s) on the Internet and request a catalog or just scan them online and find a course. And, I learned that the University of Phoenix offers classes in may states across the nation. One requirement to many of these schools might be a High School diploma or its equivalent. So, if you do not have one, the admission office of the college can assist you in applying for testing to get your GED (General Education Diploma). Life teaches us many lessons and you will be surprised at how easily you can pass a GED test now as an adult. Or there are also online classes offered where you can get an actual high school diploma. Just be sure that the courses are accredited.
The key to the whole thing is to take that first step. You will find you are not alone and there is a lot of assistance available for you.
Classrooms are Fun
And even if you find the course you want to take and it isn’t totally offered online, you might be surprised at how much fun it is to go back into the classroom. So many classes are designed for working adults with evening class hours. And I guarantee you, you will have lots of company with other student your age. Subjects that were boring in High School suddenly have new meaning after being out in the business world.
Also, you might also check with your boss or Personnel Department. Many companies will even pay your tuition and it certainly will put bonus points in your Personnel folder. Maybe even put a bug in your boss’s ear about promoting you to a different position. The possibilities are endless.
Just remember, nothing is impossible. You can do it!! Take that first step NOW.
A Heartwarming Story
Here in conclusion, I would like to share a story about a woman I met here on the Internet. She has two small children and not adequate support for them. I encouraged her to go back to school. Whether it was my encouragement or just her own determination, she did go back to school. I learned recently that she had completed her Associates program and is now working on her Bachelor’s Degree. She did all this while caring for her two beautiful young children, who are now doing well also. It was not easy for her and there were many roadblocks, but where there is a will, there is a way. If she can do it, so can you.
Another road to take
If going back to school just isn’t going to happen, you might even want to look into this Blogging with Rory stuff we do here at PBS. It’s not all just about writing. It’s a whole new field of Online Marketing. Advertising which was once done as glossy ads in magazines are now electronic ads on telephones and computers. We all are buying on the Internet more and more. Amazon and sights like it are flourishing. It’s whole new world. Rory teaches us how to do that marketing and earn income doing it. And you will find a whole wonderful new family here. Lot of help and support. Come check us out and see what it is all about.
