Learning & Earning A College Degree At Any Age
My Experiences As An Older College Student…
At 17 years old, I graduated high school and then I went to a private college out of state. I loved my experience there! I was learning a lot in my classes and being young and being able to enjoy the full on-campus college life experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity! Living in the dorms and making new friends was a lot of fun! But, it was also very expensive, so I had to leave that school after completing only one semester there. But, even though I left that particular school, I never left my love for learning or my desire to one day earn a degree.
However, the immediate pursuit of a degree was not very important to me, since I have kids that I enjoy spending time with, and sometimes work would keep me very busy as well. So, for quite awhile, a degree was not very high on my list of things to do. I always hoped that as I took various classes at various colleges off and on throughout the years, at some point all of the classes would add up to a degree. Although, as it turns out, it’s not just about how many classes you take, but there are specific required classes that must be passed.
For many years, I still took classes that interested me. These classes weren’t always the ones that were required to obtain a degree. But, I enjoyed learning new things within my preferred subjects. After awhile, as a lot of people in my age group and then younger people too were earning their degrees, and I still didn’t have one, I regretted not completing all of the required classes.
Eventually, I decided that instead of just taking classes that I enjoyed, I was going to focus on taking and passing the classes that I needed for a degree. One of my biggest reasons for making the decision to seriously pursue a degree was that my kids were getting older and I really wanted them to see me as an example of a person who worked hard to achieve an academic goal, with hopes that it would inspire them with their own academic journeys.
For years, the only class that I needed to fulfill my graduation requirement was math. Passing the required math class was a huge challenge for me, and it took me multiple tries to pass, but eventually I did it!
My path to earning a college degree was definitely a long one. I was still a teenager when I started taking college classes, and I didn’t earn my degree until I was in my 30’s. Ultimately, I earned an Associate in Arts Degree in Theater Arts with a Certificate in Theatrical Performance. At my graduation ceremony, I even had the honor of being the commencement speaker where I got to speak about some of my college experiences. I don’t know yet if I will pursue any higher degrees, but having something to show for all of my years of taking classes is a great feeling!
As an older college student, a lot of my classmates were younger than me. However, there were also some students who were my age, and some who were even far older than me. While in my classes and while participating in on-campus activities, age was never a problem for me. As a theater major, I participated in school productions, and obviously I would play one of the older characters, and that was okay. It probably even made the production better that they had an age appropriate actor! I was also a member of the Black Student Union, and I quickly became the president of the Black Student Union. As an older student, I feel like I had more leadership skills than I did when I was younger, therefore, I believe that I was able to be a better club president than I would have been if given this leadership opportunity when I was younger.
If anyone is older and they’re considering going back to college to complete their degree or going to college for the very first time, my advice is to do it! Overall, my experiences as an older college student were great! Even though most of the classmates might be younger, students of all ages have something valuable and important to contribute to both the classroom and the extracurricular activities experiences on-campus.
A degree might physically just be a piece of paper, but for me it’s a piece of paper that represents a lot of time, and energy, and hard work! It represents the culmination of many years of learning and the proof that I had a goal (to earn a degree) and that goal has been accomplished! In my opinion, and based on my own personal experiences, at any age, it’s definitely worth it to go to college and earn a degree!
