- #1
EProph
- 13
- 0
I'm 26, and depending on how things go I'll be entering college either this year or next, when I'm 27 or 28 respectively.
I'm thrilled to be going to college as this is something I've wanted to do since I was 18 but have only just now been able to accomplish (due to financial problems, military service, and family obligations in earlier years).
Ideally, I'd love to study geophysics/oceanography, especially as it relates to evolution and paleontology. I realize however that this will involve considerable schooling. I don't think I'll have any problems learning the material, as I've already been studying it on my own for the last few years, I do, however, wonder if investing this much time into schooling is the "wise" thing to do at this point in my life. Especially since I'm not exactly sure how "employable" I'll be after college.
Practically, I've been considering something that takes less time (a trade or less involved science) and that builds off my previous skills/experiences gained in the military - electronics, electrician, computer Science, etc.
Obviously if choosing what I wanted to do were the only issue I'd go with my ideal choice in a heartbeat. And my wife and my family keep telling me to do what I want to do, and don't "settle" for anything less. Yet there is this ever present anxiety (that grows stronger as I near the time when I will have to decide) that puts out things like "Do you realize how old you'd be after you got out of college?", "Do you know that some people your age (now) have already finished graduate school", "What kind of work are you going to find?", "Who's going to hire a man in his mid to late thirties when they could hire a guy 10 years younger with the same education?". Etc., etc., etc.
I'd just like to hear from people who may have been (or currently are) in a similar position (starting college later in life) and what there experiences have been.
Thank you much,
EP
I'm thrilled to be going to college as this is something I've wanted to do since I was 18 but have only just now been able to accomplish (due to financial problems, military service, and family obligations in earlier years).
Ideally, I'd love to study geophysics/oceanography, especially as it relates to evolution and paleontology. I realize however that this will involve considerable schooling. I don't think I'll have any problems learning the material, as I've already been studying it on my own for the last few years, I do, however, wonder if investing this much time into schooling is the "wise" thing to do at this point in my life. Especially since I'm not exactly sure how "employable" I'll be after college.
Practically, I've been considering something that takes less time (a trade or less involved science) and that builds off my previous skills/experiences gained in the military - electronics, electrician, computer Science, etc.
Obviously if choosing what I wanted to do were the only issue I'd go with my ideal choice in a heartbeat. And my wife and my family keep telling me to do what I want to do, and don't "settle" for anything less. Yet there is this ever present anxiety (that grows stronger as I near the time when I will have to decide) that puts out things like "Do you realize how old you'd be after you got out of college?", "Do you know that some people your age (now) have already finished graduate school", "What kind of work are you going to find?", "Who's going to hire a man in his mid to late thirties when they could hire a guy 10 years younger with the same education?". Etc., etc., etc.
I'd just like to hear from people who may have been (or currently are) in a similar position (starting college later in life) and what there experiences have been.
Thank you much,
EP