Overcoming Obstacles Of Going Back To College

Returning to school was a big decision for me, although it was a rather hasty one. I have wanted to return for many years to seek an actual degree; however I just didn’t have the motivation. Being turned down for a promotion gave me the motivation I needed. There are obstacles and lifestyle changes for anyone returning to school. The issue is how you handle them and looking toward the benefits of finishing school. Obstacles and lifestyle changes are hard to make when returning to school, but the benefits are so rewarding.

I have always had a passion to become an elementary school teacher; to do this I knew I would have got to go back to college to earn my degree. As I considered returning to school, I had thoughts of how I would do this there were so many events that could go wrong including not passing my classes. In wanting to return to school as an older student and after being out of school so long I would be obliged to compete with students that were freshly graduated from high school and were at least half my age. Returning to school at this point in my life would need a great deal of time on my behalf and how was I going to do this, I have a husband who has poor health issues from serving our county, having to work two jobs not to even mention the rest of my family that needed me to. Would I have the time required to put into college to keep up acceptable grades I need to complete my degree. Some say it is hard to return to college after being out, but after I talked with some friends and family I knew I had an

Coming to college as an adult, we have many expectations and preconceptions of what college will or will not be. The expectations we have can influence our college life for the better or the worse. My experience since starting college has been an interesting one. People have misconceptions about college because they do not know what to expect. After doing some research, I have concluded that there are three major factors that are often misunderstood about college life. The first is the financial aspect of college. Second, is the relationship between the professors and students. Third is time management. These three factors play an important role in why people are afraid to go down the path to college.

Returning back to school was a very natural decision for me. It seemed to be the next logical step in my personal and career goals. My ultimate goal is to be happy and healthy and be a good provider and role model. With that set aside for now, my next goal is to be financially stable and able to provide for my family in ways that my family was not able to provide for me. I definitely expect to work for what I want and earn every bit of it. The most recent motivator was that my company was willing to contribute a huge chunk of the yearly tuition, therefore removing some financial burden. This makes me feel like they truly care about my future and they really want to see me succeed.

Throughout high school, numerous students have obstacles that they go through that end up affecting their educational journey. For myself, my hurdle was learning to cope with having a job, playing sports and being a part of school clubs all while sustaining worthy grades.

As I start my first semester as an official registered nurse on the road to earning my bachelor degree. I can’t help but think of the challenges I will have to overcome along the way. Many RN’s may have fears of returning back to school after a long break, that is not the case for me. I earned my associate’s degree in May 2016. So returning back to school is as if I didn’t leave. Except this time it will be more time consuming and I will have to learn how to balance each role I play a little more strategically.

Going back to college after you have been out of school for quite a few years, had three children, been married, and divorced is a lot harder than I ever imagined. It takes hard work, dedication, and missing out on the little things previously taken for granted. I miss taking naps the most. I believe if you can tough it out through the worst days, you can finish school and provide a better life for your children and yourself. You need a lot of willpower and a large sense of humor.

Going back to college was a huge decision for me. I was nervous about what classes were to come and how hard they may be. I had to decide to take the high road and better my future for my family. Juggling work, school, and being a single mom of a two-year old has been tough, but I have enjoyed learning to reach my ultimate goal of graduation.

Coming back to school after being away for 17 years has been one of the most emotionally taxing endeavors I've experienced. My career experience was working in the quality control field. Being apart of the industry was very satisfying until the point in which the 2008 recession hit. Having to go through the uncertainty of being laid off and the frustration of trying to reenter the work force with only a high school diploma brought into focus that I needed to finish the bachelor degree I had started. While attempting to find gainful employment I took the opportunity to begin the process of transferring to a school here in California. I had originally started my degree in Lincoln, Nebraska, but moved out to California with my significant other.

My inspiration to go back to school started almost seven years ago. This is when I started my new job at Kraft Foods. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and I really did not know exactly what I would be doing. What I did know, was that I would be doing manual labor of some kind. I also did not know what kind of people I would be working with or what they would think of me. I was just happy to have a job after being laid off from my job as an accounting assistant in Long Beach, California. After being out of work for almost six months and the economy being so bad in 2010, I was desperate for a job. I decided to take a minimum wage position making eight dollars an hour. Little did I know at the time, but this job would show me

Entry #1: College has been one of the most intimidating experiences for me. This is the second time I started college the first time I got pregnant with my daughter and my husband joined the military so we moved many states away. I ended up dropping out. I blamed my husband joining the military and becoming pregnant for not finishing. Truthfully it was a lack of trying. Granted it would have been harder for me to finish school it was still do able under those circumstances. A hurdle I had to face before start college is to stop making up excuses and to stop blaming my situation for why I could not do it. I would constantly say that I could not do college because I was a stay at home mom. When being a stay at home mom should have been a reason

Due to the continuing increase of living it’s nearly impossible to be able to live alone. Since the demand of a higher education for better paying jobs is at an all time high trying to juggle a full-time job and returning to college is more than difficult at times. Frank, a full-time employee decided that he’d better himself by returning to college. Never considering that times have changed, he still continued to work and go to school. He stretched himself to the max; he worked late hours and then stayed up doing homework until the early morning only to have to get up and return to class to repeat the long days over. Several weeks passed, he realized that he was never going to be able to get ahead to matter how hard to tried. He was very aware that if he stopped taking classes his chances of being something in the world were even slimmer than if he continued and somehow managed to do both. Frank decided that no matter how tough these next few months were going to be he wasn’t going to let it stop him from meeting his goals.

College has traditionally been a path that one follows right out of high school. Over the past few decades, there has been a spike in enrollment of older adult women returning to college. The article “Starting from Ground Zero:” Constraints and Experiences of Adult Women Returning to College discusses this trend and studies the experiences of women returning to college as adult students. Researchers found that these returning female students face unique challenges and require supports from society, families and academia. Each student walks their own path and overcomes the roadblocks that they face to achieve success.

I made the decision to go back to school for many different reasons. I saw it as an opportunity to continue my education, potentially make more money in my career and prove to myself that I could accomplish this goal. Even after, placing this personal goal on hold for the past ten years, having three children and working. I knew this would definitely help me in the long run. It has always been dream of mine to graduate from college. To do what only two of my family members before me have done. Growing up in Compton, California. College wasn't an option for most, however I was fortunate enough to have parents who believed in me and my sisters and really pushed us to continue to further our education. I believe moving forward if I stay persistent

As a return student, there were many obstacle I remember during my two years of college however, the harder things got the more ambitious I become until I reached my goal, and successful graduating. There were many factors that came across on procuring my BA for example, I have a family of my own I hold a full-time job aside from life challenges, and daily routine to get through the day. Beforehand learning about GCU I went through two different University unsuccessfully however, that didn’t stop me luckily, I learn through my employee about GCU.