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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 16 of 16. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Quintal on November 8, 2008, at 19:06:31
I have to do a group presentation on 'life as a mature student' and I volunteered to contribute something on getting back into the habit of learning after a long break from education. I don't know what exactly I'm going to say or where to look for info, so I'd appreciate any input from people who have gone back into education or any sort of training as an adult (I won't use posts or take quotes without permission).
I'm not looking for anything specific, just your thoughts on what it was like to back into school after years of work or unemployment, or illness etc.
Q
Posted by Phillipa on November 8, 2008, at 23:33:13
In reply to Need ideas for a project, posted by Quintal on November 8, 2008, at 19:06:31
Q for me it was a want to felt good raised three kids and knew would have to get a divorce volunteered first in psych hospital checked out college and bingo nursing school age 30's and absoluetly loved it. Student ages varied from out of high school to 50's we had a wonderful time. Love Phillipa
Posted by Racer on November 8, 2008, at 23:52:11
In reply to Need ideas for a project, posted by Quintal on November 8, 2008, at 19:06:31
It's rough. For one thing, I'm older than MANY of the instructors! Makes for a weird dynamic, since I'm looking for their approval, in the form of grades...
A lot of my classmates seem to assume I know a lot, or that I'm completely clueless -- seems there's not a lot of middle ground for some of them. Others want me to "teach" them -- as if somehow I can transfer knowledge to them osmotically. There aren't a lot of people I feel any connection with, since I'm older than many of their parents. That doesn't help. Makes for a strange sort of loneliness.
But I also get fed up with the lack of effort I see from many students. And many of them say things like, "I can't believe she *gave* me a C!" Uh, you skipped a third of the classes, you did the bare minimum of the work -- I think you *earned* that C, buddy.
It's also hard for me to get into any sort of study routine, because life has a funny way of getting in the way. Instead of being able to schedule life around school, now I find myself in meetings that go overtime, so I'm late for class. Or something will happen -- there was a crisis in my family recently, which ended up keeping me out of school for three weeks, for example. And now, I have all the responsibilities of my life, no one to help me with them, and still have to try to catch up with the classes. (And then I'll have to come to grips with the likelihood that I won't get all As this term.)
And yet, even at my age, I still have such strong feelings about grades. {shrug}
I hope that's helpful. Feel free to BabbleMail me if you'd like to ask any questions.
Posted by caraher on November 9, 2008, at 7:10:41
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » Quintal, posted by Racer on November 8, 2008, at 23:52:11
When I entered grad school full-time I found myself in my own little bubble. Unlike any of my classmates in some ways I was "settled" with my own house, my own family. And I was more scattered as well, worrying about childcare, etc. I tended to work alone more than others did, was simply not a part of their social lives, etc. I came to it with a much clearer picture of why I was there, how careers worked, etc. I had far less ability to do the all-night lab shifts that would have helped me succeed.
Posted by Quintal on November 9, 2008, at 15:50:43
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » Quintal, posted by Phillipa on November 8, 2008, at 23:33:13
That sounds very stressful fitting all those things around your classes! Did you have to find childcare? There's a wide spread of people on the course here too. Some of the classes start a bit later so mothers can get the school run out of the way, and most are working full time too. I don't know how they manage to fit it all in. Did any of your tutors make allowances for you being mature students? A lot of people on this course are going into nursing and physiotherapy and things like that.
Q
Posted by Phillipa on November 9, 2008, at 18:04:07
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » Phillipa, posted by Quintal on November 9, 2008, at 15:50:43
Q no allowances at all for kids as example if someones kid was sick they got kicked out of the program if they didn't show. Mine were teens two at least the smaller one was in school when I took my classes. No night ones all day ones. I ended up doing the college classes one year and then took stictly nursing. So that gave me more time off and graduate magna cum laude. Some LPN entered the nursing program middle of first year and had lots of years of experience so he was number one me number two. All A's 1 B . So was proud and studied daily always. Not a crammer. Love Phillipa
Posted by Quintal on November 9, 2008, at 18:52:59
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » Quintal, posted by Racer on November 8, 2008, at 23:52:11
I find it hard too and I'm also frustrated when I think people aren't putting enough effort into class and attendence. One or two of them sit around eating bags of crisps (chips?) and it gets on my nerves.
What classes are you taking? I remember you did some in statistics (which is what I'm doing now) and English. I find it hard to connect with people too, partly because of my history. Have you found a way of accounting for things like hospitalization etc? I haven't told anybody in class and I'm not really bothered if they find out. I don't want to make them feel uncomfortable though so I don't mention it.
I'm not good at organizing my study time either, it's hard enough just looking after myself most days. And then there are other setbacks to contend with such as med changes, drug withdrawal etc.
Q
Posted by Quintal on November 9, 2008, at 19:28:05
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project, posted by caraher on November 9, 2008, at 7:10:41
Thanks caraher, it would be interesting to know how you managed to adapt your study schedule around your family life, if you had to make any sacrifices with either of them, and anything like that. Were you much older than the other students? I guess so many of them would still be enjoying the 'student lifestyle' it would be hard to fit in with their social lives. Years ago I went on a taster course at Uni and felt alienated from most of the other students. They were all fresh faced 18 year olds and I felt a little worn down by all their energy and enthusiasm.
Q
Posted by Quintal on November 9, 2008, at 19:36:26
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » Quintal, posted by Phillipa on November 9, 2008, at 18:04:07
That was a real acheivement to get so far under those conditions. I'm pleased things have moved on though and attitudes have changed since those days. That's the best way to study, but unfortunately I am a crammer. I tend leave things to a day or two before they're due. I'm trying to force myself to keep one step ahead of class with the booklet we're given. I just hope it pays off at the end of the year. Thanks for sharing.
Q
Posted by Phillipa on November 9, 2008, at 19:39:14
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » Phillipa, posted by Quintal on November 9, 2008, at 19:36:26
Q if you cram you may do well on the test but the info won't stay. Best to go over notes daily. Rewrite them and read the book daily too. Will pay off in the end. Phillipa
Posted by Quintal on November 9, 2008, at 19:48:13
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » Quintal, posted by Phillipa on November 9, 2008, at 19:39:14
Thanks Phillipa, I go through my maths notes every week and re-do question sheets on the areas I found difficult. I also do revision with someone I know who is good at maths, so I guess I have a free personal tutor of sorts! I'm hoping this will pay off in the end.
Q
Posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on November 10, 2008, at 0:00:32
In reply to Need ideas for a project, posted by Quintal on November 8, 2008, at 19:06:31
> I have to do a group presentation on 'life as a mature student' and I volunteered to contribute something on getting back into the habit of learning after a long break from education. I don't know what exactly I'm going to say or where to look for info, so I'd appreciate any input from people who have gone back into education or any sort of training as an adult (I won't use posts or take quotes without permission).
>
> I'm not looking for anything specific, just your thoughts on what it was like to back into school after years of work or unemployment, or illness etc.
>
> QHey...
Well, I guess this is my 'fun' day..lol. I am an Adult Education major, so here are a few little nuggets you can throw out and impress the pants off of a few..hahaa.
Use the word Andragogy...you may know it..it is basically adult learning. (Pedagogy is just a latin-derived word for education) Also, mention one of my mentors..Paulo Freire. He was a very cool dude (well, in formal, an 'educator'..heh) who was into what is called transformational learning, and stood up for the poor people, the 'oppressed'. So there ya go...have fun!Jay :)
Posted by Quintal on November 10, 2008, at 2:20:33
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » Quintal, posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on November 10, 2008, at 0:00:32
Thanks Jay, would you care to let me in on what an Adult Education Major is?! The terminology varies so much accross the world. Also, what does it mean to have 'majored' in something? Thanks for the tips.
Q
Posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on November 10, 2008, at 14:26:44
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » Jay_Bravest_Face, posted by Quintal on November 10, 2008, at 2:20:33
> Thanks Jay, would you care to let me in on what an Adult Education Major is?! The terminology varies so much accross the world. Also, what does it mean to have 'majored' in something? Thanks for the tips.
>
> QHey, no problem. Major is just what I am taking in "concentration" (I guess you could say) at university. "Adult Education" is just studying how adults learn, and how to teach them.
Hope that helps...
Jay :)
Posted by caraher on November 11, 2008, at 4:58:29
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » caraher, posted by Quintal on November 9, 2008, at 19:28:05
> Thanks caraher, it would be interesting to know how you managed to adapt your study schedule around your family life, if you had to make any sacrifices with either of them, and anything like that.
As a grad student who'd taken a few courses over the intervening years I only really had 1.5 years of coursework. Our older son was in kindergarten when I started back and so I'd pack the younger one in a stroller, walk to school with the older one, walk to day care, play for 15-20 minutes to settle the younger one in, dash off to class. From there it was a mostly pretty normal day; my wife would round up the kids.
My wife was never happy about the arrangement, and it was an unending source of stress.
> Were you much older than the other students? I guess so many of them would still be enjoying the 'student lifestyle' it would be hard to fit in with their social lives.
I was about 8 years older than most of them. I was pretty clearly in another world as far as they were concerned, not that anyone was unfriendly. But a lot of what happened in grad school for them occurred in their offices in the evening, working on homework together, whereas I was home doing whatever needed to be done, and did my homework by myself.
Posted by caraher on November 11, 2008, at 5:08:22
In reply to Re: Need ideas for a project » caraher, posted by Quintal on November 9, 2008, at 19:28:05
I forgot to add that most of my time in grad school I was supposed to be doing research, and the challenge there is that it's so open-ended. With courses there was some structure, and I could say I need to be in location X at time T because there is an exam and it would stick. But with the kind of lab research I was doing I needed to be in the lab to make progress, but there was almost no particular time I needed to be there. So it felt like I was always supposed to be there, but always had a lot of flexibility not to be there if I had reason to do something else.
The problem this tended to cause was that I would enter long periods where my research was stymied and I'd feel hopeless about it. I'd feel like I wasn't doing much good in the lab, and my wife would pressure me about child care. One summer when I was having depression problems that mushroomed into my babysitting another family's child and watching our own boys all morning, since I was having trouble getting out of the house anyway. (In other words, the approach wasn't, "What can I do to become productive and get out of grad school sooner?" but "As long as I'm a lazy depressed piece of crap we might as well save some money by staying home while my wife is at work and maybe going into the lab in the afternoons.")
The other problem that would happen is that even when I was being productive, frequently decent data would start to roll in around 3 AM. That tended to mesh poorly with schedules for getting kids off to school, etc.
This is the end of the thread.
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