Going back......I feel old!

shannahan · Feb 18, 2008

I'm still in the process of choosing a school, but I'm 45!! Since I haven't went through school yet, I can't say from experience, but in my opinion, you're not too old as others have done it. When you consider the number of working years you'll still have after graduation it makes it a worthwhile endeavor. I noticed that since I hit my 40s it's been harder to retain knowledge, but at 34 my brain was still retaining well. (I didn't have 3 little kids then either and I know they take a lot out of you.) good luck!

tonyal · Feb 18, 2008

I started back to school last year. I am now 35 and on the waitlist at my school. It wasn't hard to get back in the study mode especially since it had been 14 years since I was last in college. I have 3 kids ages 16,13,and 8 I just study as they do homework and after they go to bed.

missninaRN · Feb 19, 2008

I started back at the age of 43 after over 20 years out of the classroom. I'm a better student now than I was way back when. I'm earning top grades, tutoring freshman nursing students, and was elected class representative.

Going back to school was the best thing I ever did. And I graduate in 60 days!

Shay08 · Feb 19, 2008

hi,

I started back last summer when I was 34 to a BSN program. I'm also 10 years out of school and was terrified! But I LOVE it so far! My children are young like yours (6 and 2) so I study during the day when my older one is at school and my younger one is napping. Going back to study mode was not hard...in fact, I have a greater appreciation for what I am doing this time than I did when I finished my master's degree in 1997! I only go part-time at the moment because I stay home with the girls, but doing so allows me to concentrate really hard on the 2 classes I take per semester. In completing pre-req's I have done a few online and that's been a great way to do certain classes.

Good luck! You can do it!

Becca76 · Feb 19, 2008

I'm 31 and trying to get into an ABSN program starting this summer. Oh, and I'm married with two little guys of my own (4 and 7). Yep, I think we're crazy!!! :) BUT, I do think we can do it! We just have to be VERY good jugglers! Good luck!!!

mammaoftwo · Feb 19, 2008

Your still a baby! I am 55 and doing pre-reqs for the nursing program and I have two young sons, ages 7 & 9 (they are adopted) and I am a single mom. In my view, you are one of the young'uns. You will do fine.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Feb 19, 2008

Your still a baby! I am 55 and doing pre-reqs for the nursing program and I have two young sons, ages 7 & 9 (they are adopted) and I am a single mom. In my view, you are one of the young'uns. You will do fine.

:yeahthat: From one oldie student to another! I'm 52 working on BSN. Got my RN at age 46.

Bennie44 · Feb 19, 2008

I want to thank all of you that responded. I have hope!!! It is so good to hear from others that they have done it! I especially like hearing that as an adult you have a different appreciation for school now versus as an undergrad. I think I will be the same way.

Also, thanks for those who responded who have young children. I hesitated to include that because I didn't want people to read that and think, "this woman is crazy"! I have a tendency to bite of more than I can chew and I need to be careful of that. Good to hear that it is manageable.

Now, I just have to wait to hear. But, if I don't get in to the post-bacc program...I am moving on to plan B. Not going to give up that easy!

Thanks!

Sarah Bellum · Feb 19, 2008

I'm 38 and am taking prereq's. I'm also married and have a son with autism and twin daugters less than 2 years old. If you're nuts then so am I! Getting back into study mode wasn't so hard once I got organized. I got a zippered 3 ring binder and I make sure I punch all my notes, handouts, etc. and use dividers to keep each chapter's material separate. I make flashcards when I need to memorize stuff (lots of that in A&P).

You probably won't be the oldest person in your class either. I fully expected to be surrounded by 20somethings and younger when really the average person in even my prereqs is about my age or older.

Good luck! You'll do great!

Hotflashn · Feb 19, 2008

You are not old! Like someone else said, you are still just a baby! Your 30s are a great time for doing this. I am in my mid-40s and while there are times I feel ancient (when fellow students treat me like I am the instructor, or group mom, or squeal that they can't believe that I have kids older than they are) most of the time I feel at a distinct advantage. First, my instructors speak and lecture directly to me. They know my name. I have way more confidence than I did in my late teens and 20s, which aids in learning, and getting my needs met. I am definitely treated differently, preferentially, as slight as it may be. I have life experience that allows me to synthesize information in a different, more effieicnt way, than I did 20 years ago. I have amassed a great deal of knowledge. I can and do think critically on my own. People hold doors open for me and I can walk right into the staff bathrooms. The perks go on and on.

The downfalls are that my memorization and learning by rote aren't as sharp - but conversely, I can actually understand now - rather than just memorizing. At times I feel like a fat, ugly middle aged toad when I am surrounded by all these beautiful, young women (who don't realize that the beauty of youth is fleeting and/or that just yesterday I was a hottie!) Yet, being where I am in life, I see that it is so much easier to just relax in my toad skin than to have to work so hard trying to look cute every second, or look good in my jeans, or snag a boy. So much pressure. Meanwhile, I am nearly invisible. It is a very liberating place in a way.

Sadly, I pay in other ways. My house is a wreck, my younger kids (we have 5) are spending too much time watching TV and playing video games, my homework comes before theirs (would have never done that when my oldest kids were little!) we aren't eating as well as we used to, I am not exercising as much as I used to, or should. I hate spending money on my education when we have already been there, done that - not to mention paying for kids in school, and more to come! But, I LOVE IT. I feel so expansive!

So like the old adage - you are as young as you feel. Some days I feel old, and that is OK. Some days I feel on top of my game. Sometimes it is just scary enough to be invigorating. I find as I am becoming More reluctant to take physical chances - extreme sports and what-not, this is in its way an exhilarating risk. Go for it!

KIMYNURSE2B · Feb 19, 2008

I am 38 years old. I never went to collage. I always wanted to ,but life always got in the way. I am married no children.

I start an LPN program in March. I do want to be an RN,not sure how I will do that. One step at a time.

Good Luck