[OT] Going to University as Mature Student

[Angcuru]

Thankfully, I know exactly what I want to do in life. I'mg going to be one of three things:

A) History Teacher/Professor(here's hopin' on the professor part!)
B) Mueseum Curator(long-term goal)
C) One of the Dudes who host shows on the History Channel. This would be the dream option. (YAY Conquest!)

All of which require goodly amounts of public speaking and history-oriented courses, and those are two things that come naturally for me! WOO!

Don't know exactly what my degree will be in, but I definitely want to get my Masters. The higher your education, the farther you go in life.

(Also hope to be a freelance novellist in my spare time, since I love writing )

 

[Acmite]

Dal is where I'd be headed. Briefly considered heading to Guelph to take the honors zoology they offer, but Halifax is closer to extended family (mine in PEI, wife's about 3 hours away still in NS), so it offers potential 'ditch the kid for a week' places.

Plus, my current employer here has an office in Dartmouth, so we can pretty much transfer there and keep our jobs, although I'd probably switch to just 1 day a week.

Dude, listen to Cor Azer. You don't want to be anywhere near Kitchener-Guelph-Waterloo.

I know it's on the other side of the continent, but the EOS department at UBC is very good. But since I know you islanders like to stay out there.....

I say go for it. There's no such thing as a wasted education...unless it's in Arts. j/k

 

[Agamon]

Hey, I'm planning on doing the same thing. I have some CC and car debt to pay off, but in a couple years, I'm going back (I'll be 32).

My first time around I was pretty confused for 4 years (major in Astrophysics...no, major in Psychology...ah, screw it.) I'm glad to hear studying should come easier with age, that was a problem area for me as a 10 years ago...

 

[tetsujin28]

A) History Teacher/Professor(here's hopin' on the professor part!)
B) Mueseum Curator(long-term goal)
C) One of the Dudes who host shows on the History Channel. This would be the dream option. (YAY Conquest!)

I highly recommend a very informative book with a lousy title: Museums: A Place to Work. Planning Museum Careers by Glaser and Zenetou, from Routledge Press, ISBN 0-0415-12724-6. I would also recommend looking into museum studies programs for your MA. I'm heading that route or towards heritage studies in the UK, myself.

 

[Kichwas]

But I particularly enjoy laughing at other students (particularly the grad and PhD students) who have precisely zero real-world experience, having spent their entire lives thus far in an academic setting. Their views on how the world works tend to be a bit ... naiive.

I'm working my way towards a new path in criminal defense, having exited the tech world in 2001.

I can understand the disjointed view of the outside world among my fellow students, but when I get it from the professors it just makes me cringe inside... Academia has this certain oversized ego about itself, whule at the same time being utterly clueless about what is really going on in the world.

That said, being back in school is an interesting reality... I personally feel more people should spend a few years between high school and college getting a good dose of reality first.

It does feel wierd from time to time sitting in a room full of people who are young enough to be my children - if I'd been a little naughtier in my teens...

My financial route for it all is the GI bill, which fills out that vital spot letting me do this full time. Make god use of financial aid too... the real boon there is fee waivers.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Dude, listen to Cor Azer. You don't want to be anywhere near Kitchener-Guelph-Waterloo.

Cor just doesn't want me to leave the gaming group, I'm the only good player he has

 

[Wippit Guud]

B) Mueseum Curator(long-term goal)

*snip*

Don't know exactly what my degree will be in, but I definitely want to get my Masters. The higher your education, the farther you go in life.

Texas Tech in Lubbock offers masters program in Museum Science... you don't wanna know how a guy in PEI, Canada, knows about a program in Texas that he has little interest in.

 

[Cor Azer]

Cor just doesn't want me to leave the gaming group, I'm the only good player he has

The other problem being, if you move, I lose both you and your wife as players... as well as a place to game.

 

[Wippit Guud]

You could always get a job in Halifax, probably a better place for your education... don't they have a computer game company or two there?

 

[Joseph Elric Smith]

Well I'm 39 and returning to school to pick up a degree in computers, I got my AA in business, back in 86. After being laid off, a family friend offered to help out with tuition, so my wife and I decided, that this would be the time for me to go back to school and get a better degree, and a few cisco certificates, to improve the resume. of course now that I am about a year from graduating, we are looking into open our own business,
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