When I started college in January 2008, I was fifty years old, and had never been a academic success. Why, given my history, did I even want to go to college? I had a good job( and I still work there) working the the line at General Motors. Why knock myself out for something that would never pay off financially. The answer lies in getting an education for its own sake. I want an education as much as some people dream of being rich and famous.
Unfortunately this desire was not evident in high school. I was an indifferent student. I daydreamed through the lectures, and never studied outside of class. Fortunately, I was a voracious reader, but seldom were my text books included. When I graduated, I was so unprepared academically that even my own mother told me " you are not college material."
She was proved to be right: In the winter of 1983 I enrolled in Mott college. I took a full load ( a big mistake) during an extended layoff from General Motors. I struggled, and soon realized that I wasn't ready for school work on this level. I gave up; I was even too embarrassed to formally drop my classes.
At the age of thirty, in 1987, I joined the Book of the Month Club" and the "History Book Club," and began the odyssey that eventually brought me here. I began reading about four books a month in a quest to know things. I kept up this rigorous schedule until my enrollment here, in November of 2007.
Being accepted at U of M-Flint was a big surprise; I thought they must have made a mistake; however, there were strings attached: I was put on academic probation do to my poor high school grades, and my failures at Mott. I had to prove myself, or I would be let go as a student here. For some reason, it finally came together for me. I have 54 credit hours with a 3.63 grade point average. I'm not sure if I'm just a late bloomer, or my years of voracious reading prepared me for college. Maybe I just want it more.
I would like to teach history or social studies, but I know my job prospects are dim; On the other hand, I love the college experience; an education is a worthy goal in itself.
See http://www.ehow.com/how_2071041_succeed-as-older-college-student.html James Johnston
No comments:
Post a Comment