Returning To College Essay

Adult students applying to college is more common than faculty thinks. Colleges are seeing more adults returning to college to complete a degree that they began when they were younger. The adult student is working longer in life and needs to keep up with their competition which is a younger group and better-qualified. The younger employee is technical savvy and has graduated from college with new ideas to share in the workforce. The research that will be included in this paper will focus on the conceptual framework.

I recently found a list of goals that I had written 20 years ago. Most of the goals were realistic and I was able to achieve them. While I was checking the items off my list that I accomplished, there was one that I have debated about for many years—returning to school to earn a degree. Returning to school has always been achievable; however, as each year of my life sped by and I got older, I always came up with more and more excuses as to why I should not return to school. One day I received a course catalog in the mail showing online classes at the college. I decide that an online class would be the first step to my future. I am so grateful for the first day of that class. All the excuses and delays regarding returning to school

To many high school students, college seems like a far away land, a mysterious place where everyone wants to be yet not many know how to get there. As children, our parents tell us how much time we have to think about college, and that it is too far down the line to think about. The truth is it is never too early to think about your future. I, like many people, put little thought into my future career and now am lost in an unfortunate mix of indecision and anxiety. Not knowing where you want to be in the future is a hard burden to bear. Many of us tend to find out that we only know what we do not want, not what we actually do want. Do we want to be poor? Absolutely not. Do we want a boring job? Of course we don’t. We all want our

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.

Deciding to pursue a degree was an easy decision because I didn’t choose to further my education for normal reasons. My two reasons on why I went back to school are because of competition and pride. The first being competition comes from the fact that I’m one of twelve children. Sibling rivalry is a very real thing and competing against eleven other individuals to show how you fit in the food chain is difficult. Only three of my siblings have completed their college education two of them graduating with a master in their fields as well as having 3.5 or higher GPA. As for the other sibling, she recently graduated with her bachelors with 3.9 and has been recently accepted into her master’s program. I’m one of three who is currently going to college

I do not believe the universe only knocks once, I believe it starts as a whisper and goes round and round till you get it. It is usually the quiet or the unexpected moments you hear it best, though still sometimes you might need several of those moments and a few reminders after that. It was in my most recent semester at school where I heard how imbalanced I truly was, and if I made it my mission to live my life in balance, to relax more and trust more, I will be more.

I decided that I was going to go to Craven Community College and work on finishing the classes I needed to get my high school diploma. Unfortunately, that did not happen either. When I was seventeen, my mother unexpectedly passed away. My mother was my best friend and it was a huge loss to me and the rest of my family. I went through a period of grieving which lasted for almost a year. The subject of school was brought up again and I decided to get my GED from Craven. The fall after I received my GED, I started my first semester. I had to deal with anxiety and this feeling I had that I was a failure. I had to remind myself that I suffered in school because of my mental illness, not because I was stupid. I have recently started my third semester at Craven and I have a 4.0 GPA. I still have to deal with anxiety, mood swings, and stepping up as a mother figure to my little sister, but I have never let any of this bring me down. I have not given up and I never will. I use my past experiences as a way of reminding myself have far I have come, and that I am strong enough to take on anything I want to do in the future. That is why I feel like I would be a good candidate for

There is a certain criteria which a college must meet in order for me to feel that a truly beneficial education can be gained from it, and with the costs that go into college it is highly important that this criteria be met. My first choice school would have definitely met my personal requirements, but in the event that admission to this college was not granted to me my previously used checklist would be applied to my three options in order to determine the best school for me.

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

A fork in the road only appears as such when both paths are seen as viable options; yet, once one path becomes seen as the only one, the other devolves into a deviation. Where the aberration would require justification to travel down, the perceived correct course would require justification to not travel down. This is precisely how the false question of attending college was presented to me: it was a matter of when not if. Upon inheriting white looking skin, a middle class family, and a pat on the back for bringing home white sheets of papers with little red “A”s written in the top right corner, it was ascertained that I was to be a productive and successful engineer after paying for college with hard-won scholarship money. In short, there were several socio-economic factors that contributed to my eventual position in college.

     It seems in the society we live in today, having a college degree is a necessity. Years ago it was the norm for people to just go right into a full time job after high school, if they even finished high school; they did this to support their families. In today’s society a person has a difficult time getting a decent job without a college degree. During an adults working life, bachelor degree graduates will earn about $2.1 million and a high school graduate can expect to earn an average of $1.2 million (Day and Newburger, 2002). This is quite a difference and it puts a college education in

Returning to school after 30 years poses its challenges, yet after looking back, the tassel’s clearly worth the hassle.

Moving away from home has been one of the biggest challenges that I have had to face so far in the eighteen years of my life. Moving from my home town to the collge dorm was a difficult transition that was necessary for growing up both mentally and physically as an individual. The little more than five hundred miles that separates me from my friends and family has allowed me to become the person I am today, and the distance allows me to grow and become more familiar with things that are a whole new experience for me. One of the many new things that I have had to deal with was making new friends in my environment.

What has my journey to graduation been like for me? My journey has been a crazy, fun-filled learning adventure. I met many goals and accomplishments I set for myself but I also faced some challenges on the way. For example, I finally met my goal of graduating with a 4.6 GPA and maintaining it. Also, I accomplished completing my last four years of grade school and now I am on the way to college. My last year has been interesting and there are many goals, accomplishments and challenges I can reflect on.