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Cubism

Returning to study in mature age

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In a few weeks I will be starting at University, at the age of 36. It will be the first time I have attempted to study since getting kicked out of school at 16. So.........I gotta say I'm pretty bloody nervous, and to a lesser extant, somewhat overwhelmed by the idea. I am determined to give it my best shot, as I am completely over my career in the construction industry, and have little interest in returning to it, apart from making some cash when necessary as I am studying. I will be doing an Arts degree, majoring in either Anthropology or Archaeology (not sure yet, and dont have to nominate until 2nd year). As a second major (minor?), I am planning to study Botany. I figure this will tie in nicely to my long term interest - ancient cultures - and with my relatively new interest in ethnobotany and entheogens.

A little background. At school, I was in the higher level classes such as Chemistry, Physics, Algebra etc but had little interest in school at all. Some mental health (mid level) problems, drugs and problems with authority figures etc led to me being asked to leave mid way through Year 11. After quite a few years of drug addiction and other problems I managed to get away, travel, and ultimately turn my life around. I learnt a trade and have been a tradesman for the last 13 years or so. Which brings us up to the present.

So.......basically, I'd like to hear any and all stories of similar experiences, whether positive or negative. If anyone has any suggestions, advice or anything else I'd love to hear it. Recommended universities, courses, hobbies, groups to join, etc etc etc. As insignifigant as something may seem, I'd still love to hear it, as it may just be that little golden piece of knowledge that I needed to get me focussed and set on this new direction in my life.

Cheers

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I graduated uni a couple of years ago in my early 30s. I started in my mid 20's. I was working full time all that time and studying part time. I found most students straight out of school had no life experience. This caused most of them to treat it as an extension of high school, expecting to be spoon fed by the uni and unable to think for themselves. In my experience lecturers prefer independent thought so those students struggled.

Having said that, ps get degrees, so if you worked out what you were going to be assessed on you can just focus on that and avoid a lot of the bullshit (like attending lectures). I'd just read the text book and the lecture notes, I think the whole lecture approach is pretty outdated these days anyway.

Uni is social for new school leavers but as I already had friends and a life it wasn't as social for me. Maybe that helped my focus too.

Good luck!

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I feel I need to do the same thing... I however did uni and then instead of working that career I got a job in construction and have been doing that for 10 years... I need to get out. My problem is I am married with kids and on a single income... how does one overcome that hurdle ??? Do you have any comments on that aspect @Cubism???

I will be watching this thread ;)

All the best man. It is a brave move!

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Having said that, ps get degrees

Thanks for ya great input Mad. Can I ask what you mean by "ps" ? The lectures thing is certainly in interesting view too. I gotta say though, not having experienced it yet, I'd prefer to just put the hard yards in an attend everything at least until I get my head around the whole thing. Might come in handy once I'm settled in and confidant with my ability to learn again.

I feel I need to do the same thing... I however did uni and then instead of working that career I got a job in construction and have been doing that for 10 years... I need to get out. My problem is I am married with kids and on a single income... how does one overcome that hurdle ??? Do you have any comments on that aspect @Cubism???

I will be watching this thread ;)

All the best man. It is a brave move!

Fortunately for me, or unfortunately depending on your view, I don't have that pressure of providing for a family. No kids and been single for a couple of years now (never married). Due to some problems an stuff, I had to move back with the oldies last year, which was a bummer, but on the positive side, I don't have to worry about a roof over my head whilst I get myself together, and find some casual work, and then some accomadation of my own. I absolutely hate materialism too, which is sometimes to my detriment, but also means I don't like owning anything I dont explicitly need, so I have no mortgage, loans etc to worry about.

And huge thanks for the good wishes both of you!

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Ps = passes = pass grades. It means provided you pass you'll get your degree. You don't need distinctions or high distinctions.

I put in the hard yards in my first semester and smashed it. It made me realise I didn't have to try so hard!

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this may sound a bit of a downer.......................but having been through the uni system................there are a few realities that I figure you probably already aware of...................firstly MV has some really good insight......focus on passing the papers....avoid lectures etc......and it can be a full time party for the high school leavers.................that said a few good study partners to discuss ...focus and bounce the info around are worth their weight in gold...................but the part that grinds.......I would go a little further than MV....and say UNI is really out dated ...its time has come and gone...........my impression was it had very little to do with education and more about keeping lectures and would be researchers (science's) who can't make it in the real world employed at the expense of the gullible young (myself included) who were suckered into debt.......and often being treated little better than sheep....herd them around..line them up.....keep them waiting......push them through...............I had one bio chem lecture who would waste the 1st 10 min's complaining he wasn't being paid enough................I was late to uni and was also a builder for a time............this guy like so many had never been in the real world....................that said most lecture's were sincere educators...............10 - 20 % just egotistical ass holes................there are I believe free degrees available online (its has been a while since I looked).............I don't wish to be negative, and of course have no idea of your financial position or if your seeking a path to employment via uni...................if so check out how many grad's obtained employment from the route you pursue......................all I have are some expensive pieces of valueless paper in a saturated job market........doing today what I was doing before - years of stress and sweet.................

This Ted posted by Ceres ........hacking education...................this is today...........................the biggest library that ever existed at your finger tips .............its one big positive thing of our age....................information ......................

http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13393&page=93

Posted 11 January 2014 - 08:09 PM

either way good luck :)

oh and................neat dog.......looks really friendly................... :)

Edited by Dreamwalker
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It's just like highschool and easier than you may think, it's just life's issues that get in the way. The hardest thing about uni is the chore aspect of handing in one assignment after the next and thinking that you're just doing them for the sake of it and not actually learning all that much for the amount of work you are putting in.

It's hard, boring work but the teachers are very lenient (although they can't be overt about it). They will often turn a blind eye to assignments that are a few days late etc.

One very important tip I'd like to tell you is this...It's most vital to work very hard and pay xtra attention in the first semesters, despite the fact that it will often seem ridiculously easy. The reason being, everything else will depend upon you having a very firm grasp of the things you learned early on.

This is where most people go wrong. They see how easy it is in the first few weeks and are totally unprepared for it. So they go off partying etc and all of a sudden BOOM, it gets complicated and everything falls apart for them.

This very thing happened to my own brother despite all the help and advice I tried to give him. Now he has nothing to show for his efforts except a hecs debt.

So the first half of the semester is essential for the second half of the semester, and the first semesters are essential for the following semesters.

So work your ass off in the first year and ride the wave home.

Also do a weekly revision for every subject RELIGIOUSLY!!! (This will only take you an hour or so) And you'll cruise through your exams :) Seriously.

Oh and get a study buddy and have a read over other people's assignments as often as possible and see what mark they got etc. If you put in a big effort you'll totally make it.

& save your drunken parties for the weekend. :P

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A couple more things to add...

Study something with a guaranteed job at the end like nursing or teaching, and don't study something that is too hard. I studied science and it sucked balls. waaaay to complex for the limited amount of time you have to actually learn it properly.

You say you're doing arts , well consider a dip ed at the end and you'll have a decent-paying job for the rest of your life.

Have a chat to the people at student services first to make sure you do the right electives etc. It's a good 'Ace up your sleeve' and jobs in fancy fields are not easy to get mate.

The saying we went by was C's get degrees. As in, there's no point getting an A+ in one subject and a F in another. Put your time and effort in the most difficult subjects, and if all you get is straight C's across the board then FUKKN AWESOME!!!! At least you've got your degree!!!!

Doublebenno, USQ and UNE are well known for their online studies. One of our classmates had to go part time studying/working and then did his masters thru UNE now he could be our boss. :P Pretty cool...

Edited by Halcyon Daze
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I went to uni straight out of high school and think it was a minor mistake. At the time it felt like during high school there'd been a lot of pressure about "if you don't get a degree, you won't get a job", so I kind of got swept along with the tide into the place without having an interest in learning. It was definitely a good experience but I wish I'd waited til I was a bit more mature to go there (I think I'd have gotten more out of it at a later stage), so don't feel discouraged about starting a degree with high school a while behind you.

Anthropology and Botany are in separate faculties, so (I could be wrong) I don't think you could "major" in Anth and "minor" in Botany on your degree. If you want the paper qualifications for both I think that'd be two separate degrees (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science). If you do Arts, don't expect it to open a lot of doors for jobs afterwards. If you want to get the degree so that you can make a career in that field afterwards, I'd recommend making an appointment with your chosen university's careers counsellor before you get into the degree and ask them what kinds of jobs you'll be qualified for with that degree, and what the employment rate in the field is like.

I have to disagree with people who say lectures are unimportant. The lecture notes never cover the material in as much depth as the lectures do. Lectures are a chance to listen to someone at the top of a field you're interested in speak with expertise on their subject. They also introduce the ideas you're going to need to understand in a really easily digestible way, whereas course readings are often more complicated and difficult to understand without any background knowledge of their subjects. Going to a lecture and reviewing the notes afterwards is a good way to understand the material and to make it stick a bit better in your memory.

I also disagree with "ps get degrees". They do - but you're spending a lot of time, money, and energy by just passing a class - why not put the effort in and get the most of the experience? In my experience you can talk to someone with a degree identical to your own who knows little to nothing about the field their degree is in because of the "ps get degrees" attitude. I always end up wondering why people bother to spend 3-4 years and 10s of thousands of dollars getting a degree when they seem to barely have an interest in the subject.

In my experience students that just cram at the end of semester or bullshit their way through essays come out of uni with little more than a sheet of paper saying they've done it, and some novice-level insights into their field. If you're going to uni specifically to get a job (doing a business degree or whatever) that's fine, but if you're going because you're interested in getting to know your subject in depth, the lazy approach won't get you far (speaking as someone who took that approach for the first couple of years of uni before waking up to it).

The headline is, if you don't put in the effort yourself you won't be spoon-fed the material and you'll likely come out bitter at the system at the end and none-the-wiser. If you do put the work in, you've got an opportunity to learn from people who have dedicated a good part of their adult life to mastering their field.


doublebenno - you could consider a distance degree part time. That way you don't have to move your life around to get to campus, and can continue with your job and study in the evenings. It's going to be a serious workload and you'll have to be motivated and interested to get through it.
Dreamwalker makes a good point that you can learn a lot of this stuff for free online, too. Yale University puts lots of lectures online for free, so you can learn a lot about your topic of interest without having to pay a cent or make a commitment to a degree, and you can do it on your own time at your own pace.


Hope I don't come off as a degree proselytiser, I reckon you're just as well off without one as with one.

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if you guys found uni to be such a drag maybe you're not in the right field. i packed up and moved to melbourne at age 27 with absolutely nothing, to study electronic engineering (focussing on dsp/dip) and i'd love studying. and as halcyon daze said if there's not going to be a job at the end of it it's probably not worth your time. i have no idea what the employment market is for archaeology, it seems like it would be something with low attrition rate and maybe if you want to do field work you'll have to go into postgrad degrees? dunno, just riffing here....

The saying we went by was C's get degrees. As in, there's no point getting an A+ in one subject and a F in another. Put your time and effort in the most difficult subjects, and if all you get is straight C's across the board then FUKKN AWESOME!!!! You've got your degree!!!!

way to aspire to mediocrity. like racketmensch says if you're going to all that trouble (especially financial) why not put the effort into it? and if it's something you enjoy you won't mind at all studying. besides, at the employer table someone with HD's vs someone with passes or credits, which would be more attractive?

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I have to disagree with people who say lectures are unimportant. The lecture notes never cover the material in as much depth as the lectures do.

I agree, skipping lectures is the first step toward failing IMO. Once you start skipping lectures, your assignments come in late and BOOM! You're finished... Everyone I knew who dropped-out had been skipping lectures in the run-up. Lectures are great, like watching an interactive documentary at the movies with all your friends there :)

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way to aspire to mediocrity. like racketmensch says if you're going to all that trouble (especially financial) why not put the effort into it? and if it's something you enjoy you won't mind at all studying. besides, at the employer table someone with HD's vs someone with passes or credits, which would be more attractive?

In a perfect world YES...

My point is that passing is better than failing. It's a tried and true approach, I can testify to that :)

Some people literally put all their time and effort into one subject and fail the other. It's just a matter of balancing your time and efforts.

Uni can also be a great way to kill a passion. So many people don't want a single thing to do with their chosen field for a few years after uni. It can be that nerve-racking.

At the 'Bitter End' passion and enjoyment end up coming second to that bloody piece of paper with your name on it. LOL

Edited by Halcyon Daze

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Wow. Thanks for the input everyone.

Very interesting to hear both positive and negative experiences.


Anthropology and Botany are in separate faculties, so (I could be wrong) I don't think you could "major" in Anth and "minor" in Botany on your degree.

This is what I originally thought too. But apparently it is so. I would still have only the Arts degree, but my minor can be in any degree apparently, Arts, Science, Commerce etc. I don't know the full story, but to get a Science degree in Botany, requires 4 or 5 complimentary units on top of whats required to do it as a minor here. So at the very least, I would guess I'd have to cover those units too, to even think about a Scince degree in Botany.

All in all, this is more of a life change for me. I have been deeply unhappy in the construction industry for years. I can quite easily earn 80-90 grand a year by just turning up and going through the motions on site every day. Thats way more money than I can even spend week by week, but money is unimportant and being miserable isn't worth all the money in the world. As far as work prospects, I have no other skills. So giving Uni a shot, meeting lots of new fresh faces, shaking up my life a little and getting out of my comfort zone again, on top of the possibility of learning and gaining broader skills, sounds pretty good to me.

And yep, I can't imagine there is a huge amount of work for Archaeologists around. Anthropology probably more opportunities but still not heaps. And Botany I honestly don't know. It's more about a change. Simply by studying, I am already opening the doors to studying overseas on exchange or studying at different Uni's around Australia. I could quite easily work my way around Australia doing building work, but I would still be getting up everyday to do something that makes me miserable.

Does that make some sort of sense?

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I'm not trying to discourage anyone from trying their hardest and getting the best mark they can. If you love what you are studying then it won't seem like study and that's what it was like with me. Noting I was already (and still am) working in a relevant full time job. In the same way if you work at something you love it won't seem like work.

I still think uni is significantly overrated and a piece of piss if you work it right.

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well heres my tidbit of insight Cubism.

i spent three years after highschool learning on my own terms and in my own ways before beginning uni, so i wouldnt really have considered myself a mature student, but to my surprise it made a big impact...

be prepared for the likelihood that a large percentage of the other students will probably treat you like you are an alien, and theres not a heck of alot of benefit in trying to translate the nature of your reality into terms that they will understand.

i spent a lot of time, and a fair amount of energy attempting to share my perspective in first year, but i soon realised that not only was this not valued or respected...but it was usually resented.

don't fret about the social environment, there will inevitably be bullshit flying this way and that at times, but just focus on what you are there to do, which is learn. chances are you'll find a comrade soon enough, and having one or two classmates you can study with can really help to build a holistic perspective of the content, however don't let it get to you if you don't come across classmates who you can relate to immediately.

building a rapport with your lecturers is a wise move, one which i wish i had been open to earlier. after all, these people are here to help you and if you learn to pick your moment well you can learn a huge amount from them when they are out of the time and behavioural constraints of the lecture environment. this becomes more evident in second year and onwards, however you can seed a positive relationship from the beginning with just a little courtesy.

it sounds like your in it for the passion of learning, so really do commit all your ability to it. the more effort you put in, the greater fulfillment you will feel throughout.

set good patterns at the start, don't let your work pile up on you, consider it like finger food, pick at your study little and often. then it becomes more ingrained in your daily thinking.

and for exams and tests, there are a few lil tricks i have noticed. utilize the power of plants. i couldn't believe the leap in my comprehension when i started drinking yerba mate and ginkgo tea while studying instead of coffee.

also memory is closely related with smell and taste, and you can capitalise on this by chewing gum or burning essential oils while studying and then chewing the same gum and wearing the same oils when you sit the exam. different flavours and scents for different subjects. rosemary oil is fantastic for sharpening memory

good luck, try not to be nervous, and have fun :)

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Thanks Ceres.

Thats quite insightful and much appreciated. Especially the study "techniques" using plants. Very intersting indeed :)

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I am not familiar with the state of education or the job market in Australia, but I imagine it isn't too different than the US (though maybe it's closer to the system in the UK) so I will give you my perspective and hopefully you can learn from my experience and of those who I have mentored.

I would hold off on choosing a major if you can unless there is a tangible benefit. Take the widest variety of classes in what you think you are interested in and see what you find absolutely fascinating. Maybe it's anthropology, maybe it's archaeology, maybe it's botany, but you can't know until you are truly immersed in it. Echoing some sentiments above, choosing a major which you happily study in your own free time because you think it is that awesome makes the whole college experience a lot easier.

Some people argue that major choice is not important and that you should chose what you love. I understand this to some degree, but at least anything in the US with the word engineering in it has much better job prospects than a major without. For example, chemistry vs. chemical engineering. If you graduate with a B.S. in the former, then you will be making 1/2 of what someone who took a little more rigorous version of calculus and physics and a few extra courses will be straight out of college. In terms of anthropology and archaeology, none of the people I know who studied anthropology (including many at the graduate level) are currently employed as anthropologists with the exception of the one who went to work for a 3-letter intelligence agency. Likewise with archaeology, I know a single person who is still employed in that field, and I was making more as an intern in college (no not at Google) than he is now. Not that money is the end all be all, but it does make a difference to most. Since you are leaving good money to go back to school, I take it that your time/happiness/well-being is more valuable than money. That's how it should be. Just be aware of the realistic job prospects--don't just listen to advisers/professional associations--of a potential major so you don't end up disappointed.

Given your interests, I would suggest thinking about majoring in geology or some sort of other degree where you could get GIS certified easily. GIS is heavily used in all three disciplines you mentioned and many of the fun field work and travel around the world jobs in those disciplines require GIS certification and experience. Plus you could always go work for the oil industry with such a certification not to mention a geology degree. The geologists I know who work for oil travel around the world for oil exploration and love it what they get paid to do--rather handsomely I might add.

Those who argue that it is not important (e.g. Cal Newport of the Study Hacks blog - some of his best-of might be worth a read) argue that university is a time to be awesome, interact with the thought-leaders in the fields you are interested in, job shadow, hone time-management and other skills necessary for success, pursue your passions, and produce a "portfolio" of work that will convince people to give you a job. In other words, they argue that your degree is really just a piece of paper stating you managed to get through college and what really matters is what you do outside of the formal curriculum. Of course you need to do well academically (but you don't need perfect grades), but with some hard work and good time management you can find the time to do a lot of very impressive stuff like starting a business, doing research, starting a non-profit, etc. You should be able to do very well with ~35-55 hr/wk of actual work including class time. That leaves a ton of time for other pursuits. Use it wisely and do not squander it like most people in uni. I think there is a lot to be said for this idea. Very very few people treat university this way. I definitely did not nor did most people I knew, but the students and friends I had who did follow this advice are doing extremely well for themselves now. I think it isn't necessary in an engineering field, but if you are studying anything else like say anthropology, archaeology, or botany then I would strive to treat uni this way. I wish someone had impressed this idea upon me way back when.

On that note, at least in the US, one of the best things one can do to ensure placement into a good job after graduation is to take advantage of as many internships and coops as possible. Maybe you could intern or work for the Australian equivalent of the Smithsonian (or maybe the Smithsonian itself) for course credit and maybe even make money on top of that. Not only is it good experience and exposure to what you are interested in, but you also add some great contacts to your professional/academic network.

Double majoring is doable and minoring in botany is very doable as an anthropology major (or visa versa). There are no problems here. One thing I wish I had had the balls to do is take advantage of my universities progressive curriculum choices and created my own ethno/economic botany major. It would have been kind of a pain in the ass involving meetings with deans and professors and a few papers outlining the benefit of this custom interdisciplinary major, but on the flip side I would have had a lot more interaction with people who could have helped me find good summer opportunities and/or jobs. Not sure if this is a possibility in Australia, but if it is I would strongly encourage creating your own interdisciplinary major if there is not a major which matches your interests directly. It's good experience anyway. A lot of really interesting careers like that of an ethnobotanist require you to cut your own trail anyway. Might as well start young.

As for returning back after a long educational gap, you likely feel a bit slow on the uptake or lost at first. That's okay; it's natural to feel rusty when you are starting back up again. Keep faith in the fact that you will adjust and it will become easier as time goes on. Socially you will probably feel out-of-place, but as someone stated above don't sweat it. Do you own thing and as long as you don't make a big deal about your age it shouldn't be a problem. As an older person with "real-world" experience, you have a tremendous advantage. A lot of the petty nonsense that consumes the emotions and thoughts of your younger peers will seem laughable to you so you will be less distracted. You also know the value of hard work, and I imagine that uni even with outside pursuits will feel very low-key most of the time. Be humble, be nice, and try to put yourself in other people's shoes. It goes a long way in uni (not to mention the world), but you already know that. Watch out for drugs, alcohol, and mental health problems. For whatever reason university is full of people with problems with 1-3 of them. Easy to slip to get caught up in it if you are not careful, but most universities have counseling services you can take advantage of if need be. Don't delay seeking help for anything whether it is help with a class or help with a life issue--you are old enough to know avoiding problems is counter productive.

Learn and master a foreign language and study abroad if possible. I'd argue Spanish is the way to go given your interests in archaeology, anthropology, and botany/ethnobotany. While there are more Mandarin speakers in the world, Spanish gives you access to a much wider section of the world (Spain + nearly all of Latin America). French (also gives you access to a large number of countries) or German (for historical texts/resources only) would be a close second. Ultimately the language depends on your interests, but do actually become fluent in one.

Study hard, live a balanced lifestyle, take advantage of this amazing opportunity to study whatever you like, have fun, take calculated risks, enjoy the young tail, and strive to be awesome.

Good luck!

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Crazy. I was working in the construction industry when I went back to uni at 34.

I went for something which complemented my previous work experience - architecture. Makes me wonder if you have an interest in something like architecture or engineering? Architecture doesn't involve exams but you have to learn heaps and do a tonne of work.

Anyway, it has been one of the best decisions I ever made. It completely changed my life for the better, I love every minute of it.

Fuck this "Ps make degrees" horse shit. Kill it, man. I've made the Dean's list every year and it has sky-rocketed my confidence and fills me with pride...plus, it's not going to hurt your job prospects.

I hope it turns out for you as well as it has turned out for me. Also, try and get into your own digs as soon as possible because your sex life will increase exponentially.

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Thanks Mira for the info. Very interesting, I'm definately going to read over your post a few more times :)

And Rabelais cheers for the pep talk hehe thanks man

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I left high school in year 11 because I just wasn't interested, and was too stoned most of the time to pay attention in class. I spent a few months lying on the couch watching TV until I realised I needed to get a job, at which point I ended up starting an apprenticeship. I ended up skipping trade school after a few because it was just totally boring and the other apprentices were mostly morons and assholes, so I didn't actually end up getting my apprenticeship, but I had enough experience to grab jobs in that field anyway.

I hated my work, but the main reason I went back to school was that my back was always causing me grief, and I realised I needed work that wasn't so physical if I didn't want to be on disability by the time I was forty. It was a pretty difficult decision, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

I was about 23 when I enrolled in yr 12, and I had about a 6 month wait before the school year started. My back gave out again at some point, and rather than take lots of time off work and have the stress of all that, I decided to just quit my job and start preparing for studying. I quit smoking weed because I was planning on styding maths and science and knew my brain needed to 'detoxify' if I wanted to have any hope of concentrating on these subjects. I was living with my Mum, so my other expenses were non-existent.

Year 12 was somewhat difficult because I was doing things like specialist maths and hadn't done the yr 11 subjects that precede them, but I worked my ass off and managed to get a final score well above what I needed to get into my course. First year of uni, I had the same experience as a lot of people here, that everyone else seemed to be getting drunk and socialising while I was actually studying. I managed to breeze through 1st year, but then things started getting tougher. 3rd and 4th year were particularly hard for me, but I managed to push myself hard enough to graduate with first class honours, and that's what I needed in order to get into a PhD.

The rest is history, as they say. Going back to study is probably the best decision I've ever made, and I don't regret having a gap of 6 or 7 years, because I think it was just where I was in my life at the time, and I don't think it would have worked for me if I pushed myself through school the first time and went straight to uni.

The fact is that if you want to make a lot of money, there are way smarter choices than going to uni. But if you love learning, and you want to improve your mind and be around other people with similar interests (you probably won't find these people until about 3rd year after all the try-hards have dropped out) it's definitly worth it.

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Thanks Ballzac.

Pain and injuries had their part to play in my decision too. My knees are both pretty much gone, one ankle has a bone about 1cm sticking out the side, just had op on left wrist after work accident, two screws holding my right elbow together, blah blah blah I could go on. Mostly not work injuries, but man it's hard to get out of bed in pain every morning, just to go to work and make it worse.

Fortunately I've only had relatively minor back injuries. They are a killer. I hope your backs doing better these days mate, thats a bloody uncomfortable, painful and frustrating problem to live with.

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I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread, and reading it has given me fresh perspective. How's your situation at the moment Cubism?

I guess you could say I'm in a similar situation. I'm currently 26 and have worked in consumer electronics for the past 8 years. The retail industry has been weighing heavily on my conscience as of late, I dislike the way I'm trained to speak to people, and answer their questions in ways which help me to close sales, it's psychological persuasion and imo borderline bullying of consumers..

I completed year 12 but for me it was a party, I don't regret it as I reckon I woulda fucked uni up for sure if I followed through. But now 8 years down the track, I have little interest left in my current job but no skills to allow me to look elsewhere. I've been entertaining the thought of heading to Uni for the first time but have no clue where to even begin. I'll re-read all the comments tomorrow to soak everything up before posting anything else.

It's a massive life change you've undertaken, congrats, thanks for the inspiration and good luck! :)

Edited by Brendo
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