Happy 2010!

I've been thinking about doing this type of blog for months and what better time to start than the beginning of the new year.

This blog will focus on starting, or returning to, college for the non-traditional student. I'm reading more and more about older students going to college. Maybe their kids are older and they now have the time (and money), maybe they're finally getting a chance to finish a degree they started when they were younger, or maybe, like me, they decided to do a career change and are back in school working on that degree. The reasons are as varied as those of us back in the world of academia.

In my case, I was a music major at Crane Conservatory (SUNY Potsdam) after high school, transferred to Binghamton University in my senior year and never was able to finish due to finances. Eight years later I went back to Binghamton University as an Industrial Engineering major. After seven years of working full-time and going to school half-time I was within two course of graduating and was transferred to New Mexico. This was back in the days before online courses so I was unable to finish that degree. I talked to people at the University of New Mexico thinking I could transfer the credits and finish there but they wanted to start me as a sophmore because, they said, since my employer would pay for it it shouldn't matter to me. Well it mattered a lot since it was my time and I was again looking at years to finish. Long story short, I ended up not going.

So ten years go by, I leave the company I was with for twelve years and go to work for a small Research & Development group. After I start I find out that two of the three partners had just left, taking most of the scientists with them (the things they never divulge at the job interview...), and the company is in financial trouble. They were able to keep going for a few years but the doors closed in 2009.

There I was, out of work and fifty. I had almost thirty years of work experience in various areas and had offers from a few companies to do consulting work but I thought it was time for a change. I decided it was the ideal time to go back to college. As we all know, the economy was, and still is, in bad shape and there's no guarantee of job security at any company. My plan was to go to the local community college, get my AS, and then either work while doing my bachelors degree part-time or continue to be a full-time student for another few years. Ideally, the economy will be more stable by the time I graduate and I'll be more marketable because I'll have a degree.

In my next few posts I'll talk about choosing a school, choosing a major, financial aid (we're at that FAFSA time of year), buying books, and how to deal with real life while going to college. I'll also be doing a giveaway here and there. If any of you are also going to school, or dealing with your children getting through it, I'd love to hear from you.