Posted by noa on February 17, 2003, at 14:18:07
In reply to Re: Going back to university after 7 years oftreatment, posted by shar on February 17, 2003, at 12:50:07
Some thoughts. First, congrats that you are feeling ready to embark on a new chapter of your life!
I wonder if starting by taking one or two courses for a semester or two would be a good way to start, to get your feet wet. Full time uni can be stressful and very demanding, and you have been out of the routine for a long time. Also, could you look around at various universities, even community colleges, to see the percentage of older students? Some seem to attract more returning students than others, and you might feel more comfortable at one of those.
I don't know if correspondence classes would be better than in person, but allow me to share my personal pov: Universities are great places to not only do your coursework, but to expand your mind by meeting all kinds of people. I would also think that in social work, which is probably rather stressful an occupation, one needs the support of fellow students, in person. Besides, I remember school being a time for studying in groups, etc. But, of course, this still takes some initiative for part time students or older students (I was close to 30 when I entered to grad. school). But the support of fellow students can be quite wonderful--no one else in one's life really understands the intensity of the school experience, the ins and outs of a particular uni program, etc. I am still friends, over long geographical distances now, with some of my grad school friends. But this is just my personal way of looking at it, and I can't really say what would be best for you!
A friend of mine who had already had a bachelors and masters degree in one field, and had been working in her profession for 10 years, at 35, decided that career was just not for her. After a lot of soul searching and career counseling, she decided to pursue an entirely different career, which meant started over, almost from the very beginning of uni to get a bachelors degree (they gave her about 1 year's worth of credit, but because it was a whole new field, the other 3 years had to be done from scratch). She was older than many of her professors!! But she did it.
One more thought: Do they have disability support services (sometimes called "vocational rehab")where you are to provide advice and counseling, and sometimes material support, for getting back into career training and education? If you qualify, it might help to find out what they offer that could support you in the process of returning to school.
Fwiw--I understand that when the economy is bad, it is a good time to be in university, if you can pay for it, of course. In the early 90's, apparently grad school enrollment soared because of the slumping economy.
poster:noa
thread:201074
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030215/msgs/201185.html