Attending University at 35 Years Old
Benefits of being a “Mature Student”
Quitting my full time job, as a single mother of three to go back to university full time, was the biggest leap of faith I have ever made. It meant all the money I borrowed not only had to cover my school costs, but it also had to provide everything my kids and I needed for several years. Even my mortgage. Then those loans would all have to be paid back. I was more scared of staying in the same dull job for years on end than I was taking on a new role on campus and going into large amounts of student debt.
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Before I’d even started, one semester of communication studies from when I was 18 was dragging my grade point average down. I had taken two night classes and one during the day as it wasn’t offered in the evening before I jumped in full time. I worked at a doctor’s office and volunteered to go in on Sundays, at no additional costs to my bosses to catch up on the work I missed while at class twice a week during the day. I knew I was capable of university level work, that wasn’t the issue. The issues were time, money and fortitude. I never doubted any of it. I knew I could do it. It was more the unknown that concerned me, I looked at is as a challenge and you can too.
Going back to school when I 35 was intimidating. I remember feeling SO old. Which is funny as that is over ten year ago and now I think it is SO young! I wondered if I would be excluded in groups, I wasn’t. Would my answers in class be intellectual enough, yes they would and I would make mistakes and learn? Yes. Would I experience ageism? Not really. There were several benefits of finishing my degree when I was a mature student. I made friends, even other mature student friends whom I am still in touch with today. One of my professors told me about how he had gone back to school as a mature student too and he went on to get his Masters and PhD. It was so kind and empathetic of him to take that time to share with me that he was once where I was.
I took school seriously. This was the second chance I had been waiting for. I sat at the front of the classrooms. I didn’t skip classes, ever. I read the books, completed the assignment and learned how to do the research. I had to, there was too much on the line to fail. It was tempting to think I’d be letting my parents, kids or friends down, but all that was secondary to letting myself down and there was no way that was going to happen. I found it easier to think of things in terms of the current semester, rather than the whole degree process. I learned to turn the tv off. I would schedule breaks while doing hours of homework. The great part of an English degree, when you love reading, is that you have to read-a lot. It was a challenge having the profs choose every single book. I was required to read so much that I would not have picked and that turned out to be the beauty of it. My education is well rounded I am so happy my professors opened up a world of new ideas and authors to me.
At the end of my university journey, I was the one that would have to pay back the loans and this fact was almost palpable. It caused me to take this opportunity so seriously. To get up every day and put in the work. To dig for answers and figure stuff out. The process of going back taught me non-academic lessons that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. I dealt with financial aid, applying for and winning scholarships and grants, fixing scheduling issues with the Office of the Registrar. Making dinner every day and doing laundry while studying for quizzes and exams. I knew at the time that this would be a good example to my kids. I didn’t know how good. They would come home from their school and ask me what I learned at school that day and we’d see who earned which marks on their tests etc. They thought it was fun checking in on their mom to see how I was doing. It taught them that you can do anything-if you want it badly enough and apply yourself.
I met so many people that were and are life long learners. No one cared about my age, they cared what I was studying and that I was learning how to think critically and developing my agency. Completing my degree was a dream of mine for a long time and whatever age you are at, if it is your dream, you can do it too, age doesn’t really matter at all.
