Topic: Any of you geezers gone back to school?

[mrblasty]

I'm officially enrolled at the local University.  During my English class we split up into groups for a month long group project.  Turns out I'm 19 years older than my group mates.  It's funny to listen to them talk to each other, so far the only questions I hear are  What High school did you go to?
and how old are you? 
  Not really sure why I bring it up, I guess I'm starting to feel a little grizzled which I believe is one of the earlier stages of geezerhood.  I went through a technical school 10 years ago and have done all I'm going to do with that education. I could relate a lot more with everyone in my class back then.  How do some of you old timers deal with the generation gap, this is totally new to me and I'm having a little bit of fun with it but at some point I think I'm going to get sick of the shenanigans. 

[DsKing416]

I'm not in school but I'm in a small town VERY temporarily. When I'm at work I feel like I'm crashing someone else's five year reunion. I'm 31, so not comfortable in the least.

[Ecosse]

ha! try being 44 and being asked on the first day if i'm the prof.

"why yes young lady i am. and i'm afraid we must discuss your grades over vodka and fruit punch."



btw: i'm convinced more than ever college is one big money-making gaff. 

[mrblasty]

ha! try being 44 and being asked on the first day if i'm the prof.

"why yes young lady i am. and i'm afraid we must discuss your grades over vodka and fruit punch."



btw: i'm convinced more than ever college is one big money-making gaff. 

Yeah, I'm surprised I didn't see a "Fee Assessment Fee" on my last billing statement

[coldright]

I went back to school at 34... now I have a total of eight years of higher ed under my belt and I'm pretty sure I'm not any the wiser for it.  I do, however, have a very rewarding and satisfying career that I wouldn't have otherwise.  Don't worry about the kids, you will come to enjoy the virtues that your years bestow upon you.  None of their book smarts can compare to the critical thinking skills that real world experience has most certainly brought you by now.  I found that I taught as much as I learned when I was in school the second time around    

btw: i'm convinced more than ever college is one big money-making gaff.  

Ditto.

Question:  What are you going back to school for?  Anyone else?  My first go around I got a BA in general tomfoolery from an alternative public institution (with no grades) known as The Evergreen State College.  Went on to become a boat captain.  The second time I went to school for nursing and, well, became a nurse.  

[Ecosse]

i started college late, and after a change in careers and non-careers, then after getting (a nearly useless) associates in fine art, i took time off. it's been on and off due to "life" but now i'm taking a break because of... $$$. or the lack of it.

seeing as so many successful artists are self taught college seems pointless as i have learned so very little. however, i'm so close to a bfa it would be a waste to give up. so i continue the farce. 

there are rewards; that fancy piece of paper, and college networking, opens doors. at least that's what i tell my self.

[coldright]

Yes, but what do you want to be when you grow up?

[Retro Rocket]

GROW UP............














never.....

Mick

[coldright]

GROW UP............


never.....

Mick

Exactly! 

[clarkjh]

GROW UP............


never.....

Mick

Exactly! 

Growing old is mandatory, Growing UP is optional.

[GoatBaSS]

Yep and Got an assoc in Graphic design. On top of philosophy degree and a minor in art(sculpture) I got out right as the bottom dropped on the whole GD field. It was great to know why I was there and what I was going to do. Knuckle under as the goals are different when you are older. As for my current vocation I am working two jobs in the restaurant business and I will hope to be a Somollier (Wine Steward/bar manager)in the next few years. At least that is the plan.

[johnyvilla]

Most of the kids in my classes are 10 to 15 years younger than me. I cant really relate kids these days; but I could only relate to 1% of my graduating class back in the day anyway. Young children, house, wife, work and school is enough to make you crazy.

These kids don't know how good they have it.

[kvallelunga]

I'm trying to. Jumping through the hoops to get the funding is probably harder than any course they have. I hope to finish with a Law Enforcement degree and get a job riding as a bicycle cop in a small southern or western coastal town.

[tramp]

i'd go back for more training
but to get a degree at 55 i don't know

[demon78]

I went to university after 6 years in RCAF and a couple of years in California (seeing how you other half lived) came back to Canada and went to W.L.U. what an absolute revelation! I turned out to be about 8-10 years older than my class mates at the time, they mostly acted like high school students which I found to be unsettling, a lot of them sucked up to the prof big time even more unsettling. I felt a lot like I wasn't part of society, isolated. On the positive side the fluffies were amazing and I eventually fell in with a bad crowd of old crusty bastards like me. I found that with a couple of exceptions I had no respect for the profs and power structure of the university and what they were trying to instruct me in was largely irrelevant, I shouldn't have gone with expectations I had, which is my fault. But I would recommend the experience for every person at some time to go to university it is an eye opener. I wasted two years there, but on the good side I discovered I have a life long passion for history, that I'm not a scholar and that I met and married my wife of 42 years there and finally it's helped hone my BS detector.
Bill the demon.

[Dead Bound]

I started college late due to partying, National Guard commitments, and lack of dinero. Mostly partying.  I recently graduated as a Mechanical Engineer when I was 28.  It doesn't sound like much of an age difference, but students are such unemployed pussies now.  They all have learning disabliities and the material is dumbed down so their self-esteem is not hurt.  Not everyone is supposed to graduate, who is going flip those burgers.  

When I was in school we didn't have the A-D-D excuse.  It was called D-U-M-B.  

[coldright]

i'd go back for more training
but to get a degree at 55 i don't know

You have to think about what you'll be doing in two to four years from now if you don't go to school.  I say go for it if it's something you really want to do, esp. if you can swing it without the loans.

On the positive side the fluffies were amazing and I eventually fell in with a bad crowd of old crusty bastards like me... finally it's helped hone my BS detector.
Bill the demon.

What's a fluffie?  Do you use it to polish your BS detector?

[754]

 Ecosse, consider this...
 I know a guy named Richard. grew up in New Yawk.. went to design school ..ended up in styling at GM till around 65. Then he became an art instructor, taught Sculpture in a Fine Arts department at several colleges.. ended up out here in the local one..
 Worked 2 days a week for around 20 years but drew a salary.. said the last time he worked 40 hr weeks was in 1965..

 Had a really good time, every summer off, rode his bike probably more than anyone I knew..

 Lived like that till he retired about 3 or 4 years ago..

 Does that sound so bad..

...............................................................................

 I went to trade school at about 30 years old for around 9 months.. Most were younger than me.. I found about 1/2 were there cuz they were pressured to learn something or they thought "that being in the ***  trade might be interesting"

 

[demon78]

Coldright hopefully.
Bill the demon.

[Holubs]

I quit farming when I was 10 years out of high school and went to tech school for Electronics Engineering Technology so I could try to get a job at an electronics company.  Farming was a good life, but wasn't paying the bills for someone starting out. 

It was interesting to watch the fresh high school grads I went to tech school with.  Most thought it was an extension of high school and put forth the minimum effort to get a "C" average.  They knew which bars had quarter draws each night, but not the answers to the homework questions.

There were 45 or so of us who graduated from that 2 year program.  Of the top 4 GPAs when we graduated, I was the youngest at 29!  I thought the kids out of high school would blow me away.  Wanting to do well to get best job we could must have been a motivator for the other older students too.

I went on to get a BS in Computer Science at night, which my employer paid for.  Am a senior systems engineer at a large defense contractor now, which keeps me busy.

I'm a big believer in additional education as a way to advance yourself.

[coldright]

Coldright hopefully.
Bill the demon.

 

[bucky katt]

back in mid 2005 i went back to school, 35 hours a week at AMI. i hadnt been in a classroom since i was 17, unless you count traffic school.

[Uncle Ernie]

I was working in a downtown liquor store.  Among other things, we made deliveries and many big-shot advertising companies oredered for parties and regular break-room supplies.  I would push a hand truck because there was so little parking.  Finally, it began to dawn on me that these guys are making money for what's in their heads, so I enrolled at the Academy of Art.  Moved to a slum studio to save money.  I was in my late 30's I guess.

You could tell who was footing the bill for a lot of kids;  they'd come in late and fall asleep while I was trying to get my money's worth pumping the teachers with questions.  I think I learned a lot about how things are done, colour, etc.  But- this was right before computers, and doing things by hand soon got to be like racing buggies professionally.  

The main thing I learned was afterwards;  ambition and drive are the most important skills.  
Skills this old hippy just never developed.  (sigh...)   I just never wanted a lot of money.  

[coldright]

Ambition and drive don't necessarily have to be equated with money or income.  I consider people, artists specifically, who follow their passion to be ambitious in another sense.  Doing something you love in is primary, whether it's your day job or not.

[MickeyX]

I got my 1st degree (engineering) after I got smashed by a cager. I was going to be permanently disabled according to my docs and wouldn't be able to go back to my old job. I showed up to class in casts for years. I got back on my feet on my own, was a productive member of society once more but never really liked what I was doing. It was a compromise because I was led to believe I would never walk again.

I got my 2nd degree (xray tech) in my mid 30's. About 1/2 of that comm college campus was older students like me. In my particular degree program, most of us were 28-53yo. The manufacturing type jobs were drying up and we were getting ahead of the curve, so to speak. I look back and only wish I had done it sooner. No regrets about going at all except I wish I could have gotten some grants or something to help. I paid it 100% out of my own pocket. I had no loans when done either. For the first 2 1/2 years, I worked 65-70hr weeks, took 2 classes at a time and averaged 4hrs of sleep/night.

Funny enough, in my xray class was a guy I graduated high school with years before, had an engineering degree too...