Moral Support

[CeeCee]

I was just wondering how many of you either have gone or are going back to school later in life.
I'm just beginning the journey into the abyss, where the young sprouts seem a little intimidating, and am hoping for some encouraging words.
If you've had an unpleasant experience, well, hey, go ahead and share, I suppose there are plenty of lessons to be learned.
All advice will be appreciated!

[CeeCee]

I'm in my 40's as well.
I wish I were as clear on what I want and how to get it as the older people you mentioned.
Navigating through everything seems a little, oh, I don't know, overwhelming. But, I do have the "drive" that I lacked when I was younger.
Is your "little lady" taking any hands-on courses, or is she just sticking to internet?

[CeeCee]

Well, best wishes to her, accounting and I would not get along well. When I was younger, I was aiming at bank teller or something with numbers, but now? Give me that kind of job for a week and they'd be coming with them designer white jackets, and my initials engraved on the pocket!

[Steve_L]

I was just wondering how many of you either have gone or are going back to school later in life.
I'm just beginning the journey into the abyss, where the young sprouts seem a little intimidating, and am hoping for some encouraging words.
If you've had an unpleasant experience, well, hey, go ahead and share, I suppose there are plenty of lessons to be learned.
All advice will be appreciated!

Hi. I'm 51, and I'm still taking classes. I've been in school, at least part time, most of my life.

My late mother had an 8th grade education, but I would have pit her 8 years against any of today's high school students. An education is what you make of it.

In my humble opinion, you don't need to go to a school with a stand up teacher in the front of a class to get an education. As Sister Miriam Joseph said, books are teachers. You can learn just about anything you want to know from the right book. Part of the usefulness of a school, though, is that they know what are the right books. At least, they a long time ago, they knew. Now...

The best reason to go to school is to meet people and to explain to your classmates what they don't understand. If you can explain something to those who don't understand, you've really learned it (or you came up with a very convincing error...).

The worst reason to go to school is to get a diploma. I've going to school right now to get a Master's degree in physics. I started a masters in physics more than 20 years ago, bumped it up to a Ph.D., and then quit to go make money. Now I'm trying to finish what I started back then. I'm going to finish this masters, and hang that paper on the wall. That's all the good it will do me. I suppose I could show it to some ignorant person with a degree in "Business: human resources" and he might offer me a job that doesn't really require an MS in Physics, working for some company that has pigeon holes where they fit degree A to position B, and they have no idea what you really can do or not, but they hire you because you have better lies on your resume than the next guy. They don't even expect you to know physics, but they expect you to have the skills they know that most people use to get the degree... kissing up to the prof, suckering other students out of their homework, networking, cheating and other skills that are useful in our modern world. Actually knowing the physics (or engineering)? Gawd, they didn't expect that. The honest man who earned his degree is as out of place in the modern work place as the cheater was 100 years ago.

I think I ranted. Opps. ;D

[machinemaker]

I hope I never stop learning. If our culture turned off the TV and read or did almost anything else what a different place this would be. I love the fact that I can go to my local libraries web site and get book from nearly any university in the region. curious about a topic do a search on the web. need skills find someone to learn from. OK there's my rant
kent