Education & Work Going back to uni at 39...

I did an external degree in my early thirties after leaving school at 15. Couldn’t get a job using that qualification. I went and did a completely different degree when I was 39, was at Uni for a week and discovered I was pregnant. Took me four years instead of three and a half and that degree, and that baby, were the smartest things I ever did. Go for it.

 

Congrats on getting a place!
My words of wisdom are
- universities do overstate how many hours you need to do for each unit but if you are unsure then consider just doing 3 instead of 4 units in the first semester and see how you go
- find all the university led support services early. Most uni will run free workshops on all sorts of things and offer services to support new students. As a mature age student you are wise in the world but not wise in the ways of current studying so reach out and find them. If you're at USYD quick google sends me to here Workshops, study tips and tuition
- you don't need to go to all lectures and you may chose not to if it's the only one on one day or it's an 8am one and that clashes with your life however you will get the most out of lectures if you are physically there and meet other people in your lectures. The labs and tutorials are generally compulsory so no slacking off there.
- group assignments will drive you insane. Acknowledge this and try and not go postal on the flaky person in the group - also do not do their work.
- don't be the annoying mature age student who sits in the front row and sticks their hand up for all questions

 

In my more recent studies students were asked to rate their group work teammates on how much input each group participant did on a whole lot of factors related to the group work. Then the marks by individual would be adjusted up or down using that feedback. This may or may not be applied to every group work assignment though. At least it keeps people somewhat honest and the people slacking off know that it would have consequences. Of course if 3 of your group work teammates are in cahoots and you are the odd person out maybe there’s not too much you can do about that.

 

Huge congrats @Ace in the Hole ! I'm sure that whatever decision you make it will be the right one.

As for me, I've got a year to figure it all out. I've decided to stay at the day job this year and continue to push the side hustle.

I figure that if the side hustle really takes off then the universe will have spoken.

Whilst all that is going on I'll up the research on Audiology so I'll be armed with knowledge if I have to make a decision.

This is my current plan and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

 

This is probably the best piece of advice. Stop. Wait. And likely the question will be answered in about 5 mins time..

 

Good decision.

Personally, I'm feeling quite overwhelmed and a little pressured organising my studies which starts in just 4 weeks.
Definitely putting me out of my comfort zone, I've had feelings of quitting a few times already due to frustration with all the admin stuff.
I'd probably rather start a new business at this stage if I had to do something as its what I'm comfortable with, but I know this will be a good challenge for me and I could actually make a meaningful career out of it even though I'm only doing it out of interest at this stage.
Can't just do the easy stuff if you want to grow.

 

I just started uni for the first time at 31. No other reason than just ticking along. I have my job and career, and a side business we are growing. Other than that this is just to further my qualifications in construction. I got credit for 8 of the 24 units so part time I will be done by 35. Tax deductible too.

Started earlier this month and i am enjoying it. Tuesday and Thursday nights, and Saturday afternoons, are uni time (online). They suggest 10-15 hours per week for each unit, I am doing around 6 and cruising. Part of the routine now. My wife is doing her masters and working full time to specialise as well so we take it in turns doing dinners and exercising.

Glad I pulled the trigger. Worst case if the side business never takes off it opens up moving into other disciplines of construction. Best case I will have a lot of credentials to list when queried by clients.

 

I wonder how many of those who went straight to Uni out of school are still practicing what they studied maybe one or two decades later, because they actually enjoy it?

I only found my passion in my late 30’s.
How can school leavers possibly know what they want to do with no real life experience and commit another 4 years of study to it.

I think it would suck studying and working in something you don’t enjoy just because it’s the expected thing to do.

I can understand that people often have to work jobs they don’t like when building up, but forward planning can allow them to do what they enjoy some stage down the track.

 

I think that is why some degrees are quite broad. Can do something like Commerce or Business and from there who knows where you end up?

Difference now is also the school subjects are more specific. I wish engineering was a subject when I was at school. I was enrolled in uni to start but wasn't sure if it was for me after some career expo days and ended up doing a trade instead since I liked being outside.

Think about year 12. 50 minutes of calculus. Then maybe an hour of english. Later that day doing biology or chemistry. Hardly starts getting you focused on something you may have found interest and enjoyment in.

I got lucky that I found building interesting, but definitely didn't mature until my mid 20s. As a male I know I will likely never reach full adult maturity anyway.

 

Excited to read about this - going by the dates, presumably you've already commenced. Please keep me apprised when time permits ... given your practical interest in the subject matter, I think its more likely to be a pleasure than a burden. Well done for doing!

 

Hi G,

5th week in now and have my first test tomorrow on Biochemistry.
I was struggling so hard for the first 2 - 3 weeks adapting to the workload and I was falling further and further behind even putting in 30 hours a week on top of the 15-16 hours of class time + travel time and in between class time about another 16 hours.
Going from comfortably retired with a very relaxed schedule to this was way out of my comfort zone, so much mental workload.

I’m much more adapted now and actually feeling extremely confident about my first test tomorrow. The first 2-3 weeks of this subject I had absolutely no idea and had to put about 75% of my time on just this one subject out of four total subjects. It’s all come together in the last couple of weeks and I’m understanding all the material well now. Stuff like anatomy which others find difficult is quite easy for me now.

At first it felt weird being around mostly teenagers fresh out of school. I’m easily the oldest student by far but I don’t care about what anyone thinks now.
I really thought about quitting after the first week considering it’s not something Inhave to do and I’m also paying a decent amount of fees for this voluntarily education which I probably won’t even use in a professional career.

Anyway, so far it has tested me more than anything I’ve ever done before and when I get through it I’ll be even harder, which is the goal of life, along with education.
I’m actually glad to have been pushed out of my comfort zone this much, but hope to get a little more life balance back soon as I tend to commit 100% to only one area at once so other areas of my life tend to get neglected a little.

 

- 'If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.'
- 'Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them.'
- 'Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.'
- 'The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity of like is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give.'
- 'Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.'
- 'The greatest hazard in life is to risk NOTHING.'
- 'The optimist lives on the peninsula of infinite possibilities; the pessimist is stranded on the island of perpetual indecision.'

by William Arthur Ward.

Hopefully you are inspired by him to give it a go...If you don't try you will not know or succeed!

 

Good on you Ace, bloody legend.

 

@Ace in the Hole beejus....ole boy...I can't fathom doing anythung.....but study for a 4 year course!!

Ya givin us a bad name....

 

Inspiring stuff!

 

Spot on, both my spouse and myself do not work in the professions we started and studied for at UNI (geologist and IT) and too found our passion around 30 (spouse earlier, me after about 10 years of corporate work).
That forward planning was my constant searching, now known to me as personal growth, which translated into few ventures, many failed but great lessons learned, eventually into finances/investments and other endeavours.
Now as I write this I am next to my adult child who's in this pressure cooker madly trying to finish his 2nd year UNI, 750 words Lab Assignment for Pharmacology (couldn't even understand the title to pass to you here!), due midnight today, wondering does he really like what he is studying (had this conversation with him today as I dislike how this pressure instills stress in him)?
So the key is to finish something, BUT continue to read, to search, to try, even after school or UNI, even when at work, that personal development stuff made all the difference in my world!
By the way also as my mentor JR said:
- Don't let your learning lead to knowledge. Let your learning lead to action.
AND
- Don't read a book and be a follower; read a book and be a student.
I am a student of what I read, every-time I read something I try to apply or act on at least one thing to make my life better!

 

Hey Ace,
This is essentially the degree I did many years ago, although I am sure it has changed a lot since then. I see you are into it now, and getting more and more comfortable. That's great.

It was a fun degree, and I learnt a lot that related to my sports / hobbies at the time - track and field and weightlifting / powerlifting. Give me a yell if you are ever stuck on anything, although I have been out of this field for a while now - I might be able to point you in the right direction. My specialty areas were biomechanics and exercise physiology, and went back and did an extra honours degree a few years after graduating.

Cheers.

 

Sir,

This is beyond impressive, and is really the stuff of life! It is always the journey and not the destination. From what I can glean, you are learning far more than just academic texts, and that self-knowledge is priceless. With zero financial need to do so, accentuated by the sense of incongruity of being older than your classmates, this makes it only the more impressive.

Now ... how did the inaugural Biochemistry test go? Nail it?

 

I changed careers at 34. I picked up a job during first semester so it took me a few years to finish my masters. I finished at 38. I have had full time work since first semester.