I’ve been in school for a lot of my adult life. I went to college right out of high school and spent seven years there. This was partly due to the fact that I changed my major three times and partly because I really liked college.
I graduated, got an office job and thought that part of my life was over. I eventually moved to North Carolina, got married and had a baby. But one day before I was suppose to return to work from maternity leave, I was laid off because of the bad economy.
I looked for a job for about six months sending out hundreds of resumes but I only got one interview. At this point, my husband and I both decided to go back to school.
My college experience this time around was vastly different. I only had one major and I had to play schedule Tetris ever semester in order to not clash with my husband’s class and work schedule. We were pretty lucky that we only needed daycare one semester.
I didn’t enjoy school as much as I did the first time. I feel a lot of pressure to do well so I can get a job come December when I graduate. I went into Medical Office Administration because we figured that it would be a good job field to go into.
I don’t really like the field as much as the majors I had the first time I was in college. And I realize what I really wanted to do with my life, and it had nothing to do with working in a medical office. While I will still work on becoming a published author, I will probably have to work a normal job for several years.
College can be a great experience and so can going back to college. I do wish I hadn’t had to go back to school. But I’m doing what I can to help my husband so we can provide for our family.
I went to college and stayed there, but I kept moving up the ranks, and now I’m in community college teaching quite a few adult returners who I know are juggling the same stuff as you were! I try to keep that in mind when I can. I love academia though, so I think I’m going to just stay there forever.