Going back to college!

[Santa's Helper]

Ok, so I'm going back to college and it's been a long time since I've been in school at all so I'm a little nervous. Does anyone have any tips for me about school, what to expect, what will I need, etc.? I'm going for radiology and I start in Jan. I really hope that I do ok. The last time I was in college was in 1995! I quit because I hated it. Now that I have some living under my belt and a direction of where I want to go I'm going back. Thankfully my college credits from 93-95 transfer! That's less that I'll have to do which is good since I'll be working full time while I'm going to school. Any advice would be welcome because I'm really, really nervous! Thanks!

[HolidayHoney]

Good for you!! It is going to be difficult for you, working a full time job and studying for radiology classes, but you can do it. I had been out of school for 27 years when I went back and the best advice I can give you is do the school work before the housework, the house can wait but if you get behind in your classwork it is really hard to catch up!! I made that mistake and almost ruined by grade average(I hate algebra!). Best of luck to you and keep us informed of everything. I almost forgot, have extra money ready, there is always something you need for class!

[sugarplum fairy]

I agree with Holiday Honey...prioritize. Is it really a big deal if all the clothes aren't folded and put away? Schoolwork comes before housework. Also, organize everything so you don't have to stress yourself out looking for something you need for school. Even if it is just a small corner of the room with boxes, organization is your friend. Your enemy is procrastination. If you have an assignment, don't put it off thinking you have time. You will be surprised at how time can creep up on you. Finally, don't forget to take a little time for yourself to relax. Even if it is just a soak in the bathtub, you need it. Good luck and congratulations!

[Santa's Helper]

Thanks for the advice guys. My goal is to make it through the first year working full time and then hopefully in my second year I can get a job at a hospital or clinic as a student tech. that will be part time but, due to the increase in pay from what my current job is it should even out financially. My car will be paid off in June so I will have that money to use for a reserve. My husband is really supportive and usually helps out around the house and if he's in my way he'll just go and find something else to do! I work nights with no boss so need be I can slack a little to do some last minute studying, there's only 3 people that work on my side of the building. My mom has offered to cook meals for me so that I have stuff ready to just heat up and she's offered to clean on Sat. for me since I'll be in class all day on Sat. My schedule right now is Math- Mon. & Fri. and Biology with a lab on Sat. Not too bad, they're all early classes too. Mon. & Fri. will be right after work so that's not bad and I'll be home by lunchtime. Sat. starts at 8:30 and goes until 1:40. I'm usually up early anyway on Sat. so that's not bad for me either. I'm hoping to take classes all summer too to get them out of the way, Physics and Algebra. Then in the fall the radiology courses start. I'm a little concerned about the anatomy classes but, I took Anatomy I before about 12 years ago so I'm hoping that some of it comes back to me and then I'll just have to worry about Anatomy II. After that it's all radiology classes and clinical. Thanks for the support.

[joyful]

That's really wonderful news and I know you will do very well.

Best wishes to you and keep us posted.

[JOHNOR]

all i can say is congratulations! i admire you alot for the step that you are taking. get yourself a 2009 diary and get organised, you are gonna be busy, but it will be so worth it!

[SparkleNana]

Good for you, Santa's Helper. In the USA - about 1/3 of college students are adults who have returned to school. It is very normal. HolidayHoney had great advice - do studying first. How great that your mom and your husband are being so supportive!

[bhenson]

I loved the anatomy and pharmacology classes I took. I agree with everybody else homework assignments first. you can do this!:snowball:

[Santa's Helper]

I loved the anatomy and pharmacology classes I took. I agree with everybody else homework assignments first. you can do this!:snowball:

Ohhh, good then if I get stuck on something I'll ask you! Thanks.

[Courtney]

Good for you, that is great! :)

[kerst]

Good for you !! It will be tough but if you keep your goal in mind you'll make it !

I went back to school and took evening classes for three years. Best advise I can give is to be organized and don't plan too many extras. Everything less important will just have to wait. Do take the time to relax whenever you can and you will be just fine !

[Wenceslaus]

It's so much better the second time around! You're there because you want to be, you know better who you are and what you want out of life. You have more self-confidence, and you don't mind at all if the teacher calls on you. You no longer sweat the stupid things because you know what matters. You're focused, you know how to manage your time better, and you don't whine.

Congratulations on your decision, and best wishes for your education and career.

[sgrover]

Good for you! No big words of wisdom here, but wishing you the best of luck. I know you can do it!

[whychristmas]

That's great SH! I've got a couple of friends who are radiologists. (they glow something lovely!!!!)

I can't add any other suggestions, but you go for it.

[JanaBanana]

Best of luck my friend :D Im sure you will do great!

[HolidayHoney]

LOL, what color do they glow??? cheesy


That's great SH! I've got a couple of friends who are radiologists. (they glow something lovely!!!!)

I can't add any other suggestions, but you go for it.

[whychristmas]

Depends on what they've been x-raying!!!!

[miller4plusmore]

Ok, so I'm going back to college and it's been a long time since I've been in school at all so I'm a little nervous. Does anyone have any tips for me about school, what to expect, what will I need, etc.? I'm going for radiology and I start in Jan. I really hope that I do ok. The last time I was in college was in 1995! I quit because I hated it. Now that I have some living under my belt and a direction of where I want to go I'm going back. Thankfully my college credits from 93-95 transfer! That's less that I'll have to do which is good since I'll be working full time while I'm going to school. Any advice would be welcome because I'm really, really nervous! Thanks!

Try not to be nervous! I went back in 2003 (I was 34) to a major university (Tennessee State U.) with a bunch of young people! I had a toddler still in diapers and an infant--it was a major undertaking! I'm still plugging away five years later and now I still have the kids, but I'm also working as well! It is definitely overwhelming, but well worth the effort. I'm sure you will do well. Just walk in with your head held high and your eye on the prize...a degree! You'll do just fine.

Let me know if you ever need to talk or become overwhelmed. I'm sure I can relate!

Good luck!

[Santa's Helper]

Try not to be nervous! I went back in 2003 (I was 34) to a major university (Tennessee State U.) with a bunch of young people! I had a toddler still in diapers and an infant--it was a major undertaking! I'm still plugging away five years later and now I still have the kids, but I'm also working as well! It is definitely overwhelming, but well worth the effort. I'm sure you will do well. Just walk in with your head held high and your eye on the prize...a degree! You'll do just fine.

Let me know if you ever need to talk or become overwhelmed. I'm sure I can relate!

Good luck!

Thank you very much. I just might take you up on that. Once I get in there and get used to the routine I think I may be ok. I'm working on having a back up plan for my job. After I have 1 year in it's going to start to get a little rough with the clinicals and my job so I'm trying to work on a plan for if I need to cut my hours at work some. It's a lot of juggling but, I know there are people out there (like yourself) who have done it and with more complications than me. So, that is my motivation.

[miller4plusmore]

Thank you very much. I just might take you up on that. Once I get in there and get used to the routine I think I may be ok. I'm working on having a back up plan for my job. After I have 1 year in it's going to start to get a little rough with the clinicals and my job so I'm trying to work on a plan for if I need to cut my hours at work some. It's a lot of juggling but, I know there are people out there (like yourself) who have done it and with more complications than me. So, that is my motivation.

No problem! Keep me posted on things. :)

[Shiny Brite]

Congrats on going back to school, I went back myself in 2007 at the ripe old age of 36 , I m due to graduate Next Dec with a degree in special education. I too have had to work but that was mainly on the weekends so it didnt interfere with school . Ive read the posts to you about priortizing and I can say that is a very important thing to do and will be the key to your success. Also , as a non traditonal student there is the temptation to put a lot pf pressure on ourselves.I had to get perfect papers and all A's. I put myself under th gun all the time and was so stressed , Somewhere along the line I figured though i had to work hard ididnt have to work as hard as I was to get the results that I wanted so I eased up on myself a bit. I most likley will graduate with honors. Another thing that i was not prepared for was the culture shock of technology , i GOT USED TO IT and am alot better with it. All I can say is that it has been fun and at first I was nervous about being older, but the kids love me and they treat me no different than one of their own age group and vice versa. Ive even been invited to a few parties. lol:snowball:oh and another thing if you can do any early christmas shoppiing and planning throughout the year that will be a big help ! for the last two years everything has been last minute and it felt like I was just going through the motions when it came to christmas cause I was so busy with finals and all.:cry:

[Meceka]

You'll do great! Make friends with those who sit by you, get to know your professors, ask questions, keep a calendar with all assignment due dates clearly visible and most of all, enjoy yourself!

[Santa's Helper]

Thank you to everybody for your encouraging words and support. I started my first class on Sat., Biology. I'm already struggling with it. I have to do a lab report with independent and dependent variables. I was given a choice of what to choose from to do my observations but, I'm a little confused on whether I'm doing it right or not. I finished one of them and plan on taking it to my professor on Sat. for some guidence. I still have to do another one though. To my surprise there were a lot older students in my class. I don't know what my math class will be like but, my bio. class is a mixture of older and younger. Mostly older though and most people have kids and are married. That made me happy! I'm no longer nervous about going to my Sat. class since I got 1 out of the way, it's just the assignments for lab that I'm nervous about and struggling with right now. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it and get in a groove. I got a day planner and wrote my assignments in it and classes in it as well and my husband gave me a credit card to use if necessary for last minute school stuff that might come up. So, that helps too that I have a backup. I have a loan on standby if I need financial assistance for school but, I'm going to try to pay for it myself as I go. Hopefully I'll be able to. My car will be paid off in June so that will free up some money. I'm just hoping that it keeps running well and that I have no major repairs to make to it. It will only have about 63,000 miles on it and it's a 2001 so it's a little older but, not milage wise. I don't drive much! I think I'll get through school and work ok but, I'm working on a plan to get into a doctor's office now so that I'll get experience and they'll be more flexible with my school/work if needed. Also, I'm hoping that by working there that I can get my clinicals there (some of them) and get paid for work and clinical credit as well. One can wish right? I know it won't go as I hope but, if only a couple of things work out that's better than none. I'm just hoping to graduate, I'm not even thinking about honors right now. I used to do that in high school but, at this point I'll be happy to have a diploma in my hand! Thank you all and if anyone has a clue about lab reports let me know!

[Shiny Brite]

wI dont know much about lab reports but I do know the importance of that little assignmnet planner thing , it keeps my boat afloat. Hey how bout them Stillers?

[Santa's Helper]

Here we go Steelers...Here we go! I love the hype around a Steelers Super Bowl.

[MsChristmas]

That is great! Im not much for advice... I was working full time and went to college part time but i only lasted about a year in college because it got to be too difficult. I wish you the best of luck... Im sure you can do it cheesy

[Santa's Helper]

Ok, so here's an update on my schooling. So far I have had 2 biology classes. I only go on Sat. for that class. I have my first quiz on Chapter 1 coming up this Sat. and I have 3 lab assignments due. I had to do 2 lab reports and I'm not sure if I did them right but, I tried to follow the guides that I had and hopefully I'll be ok. I've made some study guides for myself from my notes and I took the practice test and did ok on it. Now, I was supposed to have a math class on Mon. and Fri. only but, it was cancelled so now I have it on Mon., Tues., Thurs, and Fri. It's not too bad though because it's only an hour each day. I had my first math class today and we didn't do anything but, go over the class schedule and rules of the campus and class. There is supposed to be 14 in the class but, only 9 showed up. I had to buy my bio. books and for 2 books it was $132.50! What a rip! Not even any used books to choose from. So, today I bought my math book after class and I found a used one and it was $80.50. Still a lot to spend but, a new one was $107.00. Not much savings but, I'll take it. I go back tomorrow for math again and we'll actually do some problems. I'll let you know how the quiz goes and the homework! Keep your fingers crossed that I pass this quiz! Thanks.cheesy

[HolidayHoney]

You are enjoying school aren't you? It sounds like you have it all under control and doing great!! I am happy for you. cheesy

[Santa's Helper]

Well so far so good! I like it so far. I've made a couple of classroom buddies and I sit with and my 2 professors are nice. They aren't intimidating like some can be so I'm comfortable right now. I think I'll do ok and I'm staying organized. I plan out my clothes the night before (well the day before since I work midnight shift), I pack up all of my books and supplies and take snacks and a drink with me. Then I'm out the door to school or to work and then school. When I'm at work I review my notes and try to memorize as much as I can. I hang the papers up at my bench and I periodically glance up at them and read them off to myself and then I try to write them without looking at my notes to see how I am doing. I think I'm on a good pace to get all of this studying done and be prepared for the quiz on Sat. We'll see. Thanks for the support!

[JanaBanana]

Sounds like you have it :D

[Santa's Helper]

Ok, I just had my 2nd test in algebra on Fri. and I'm not sure how I did. I have a complaint though and I must vent. I am in a class of 14 but, since day 1 we have never had a full class. Not even on test days! Everyday class starts at 7:50 am and everyday there are only 4 of us that show up on time (me included of course!) Then around 8:00 the door opens up and a kid comes in with his keys hanging off of his pants and they clink and clink together disturbing the class. When he walks past me I always call him Schneider (from One Day at a Time) in my head. Hee,hee!! Then a couple of minutes later another kid comes in, then another. There is one kid who failed the last test who shows up late everyday but, he's been coming in at 8:30! This is only an hour long class!!! So the teacher usually lets us go at 8:45 so this kid only gets 15 minutes of class time. Anyway, we were supposed to have our test on Thurs. but, the teacher asked if we wanted to do it on Fri. instead and this kid was the 1st person to speak up and say YES! So, the test was postponed until Fri. But, the teacher said that we would do a review on Thurs. so if you didn't feel that you needed the review then you could just stay home. But, he said that those who wanted the test on Fri. had better be there! So, you'd think that this kid who failed the last test would show up, right? No! He didn't. I did and I was the 1st person there and 3 others came in late. So, on test day, Friday, I'm there early as usual and I get the instructions from my teacher who informed us that there was a typo on problem #8 and he told us what it should be and wrote it on the board. Ok, fine, everything's ok so far. I start my test, a little confused as I usually am when doing these problems. I'm trying to concentrate and the door opens and it's one of the regular late comers. So, the teacher has to explain about the change to #8 again, which ticks me off because here I am trying to concentrate and he's talking and he's saying numbers out loud. It's like trying to count and someone counts out of order to mess you up! So, this kept up for about 4 more kids entering the classroom. Then the kid who failed the test shows up at 8:20 with his iPod on and turned up so loud that I can hear the music. He doesn't take it out of his ears and he doesn't turn it down when he's getting the instructions about the change to #8 on the test from the teacher. So, you know how if you are listening to headphones and can't hear yourself talk you tend to talk loud yourself? Well, this kid was talking so loud it was bordering on yelling! I was so mad that he did that. Here I am, I show up early everyday, I came on the review day even though I didn't really have to and I'm the only person who has perfect attendance and I'm having to deal with this ignorant person disrupting not only me but, the entire class with his lack of respect. I'm considering emailing my teacher about this and suggesting that he address the class and make a policy that on test day if you are not there at the start of the test that you can't enter the class and take it. It's not so bad of a distraction on regular class day but, when the class is quiet and you're trying to concentrate on a test that you are getting graded on it's a huge distraction. What would you do in this situation? I don't want the teacher to be offended that I would make such a suggestion but, I feel that I'm paying for this class and I need to pass it with a C to move on so if this is something that is possibly going to prevent me from doing that then it needs to be addressed. Thanks for listening, I know it's long!

[Santa's Helper]

Oh, also I had a Biology quiz today and I got an 87% on it and I got a 95% on my lab homework! Whoo Hoo!!!

[Wenceslaus]

You're right, these students need a lesson in classroom etiquette. And the teacher has to be the one to give it. He should have written the correction to the problem on the board, explained it verbally once, and then let the latecomers read the board for themselves.

Whether latecomers should be excluded from taking the exam, I'm not sure about. There are often legitimate reasons why a person is late, although on exam day students should be taking extra care to be on time.

No cell phone or personal stereo use in the classroom, period!

[Santa's Helper]

Yes! I'm not saying that they can't take the test I'm just saying that they shouldn't be allowed to enter after it starts. They should have to make it up later that day with a different test than what we took. Also, at the beginning of the semester the teacher handed out and went over class policies and one of them that he covered was one that he added himself, no cell phones or MP3 players allowed in class. He broke his own rule. Instead of trying to talk to him while it was playing he should have told him to take it off and turn it off. Also, if someone is late to class and has a legitimate excuse that's one thing but, it's the same ones every day! There is no excuse, they are just lazy. The lateness to class doesn't bother me as much as it does during a test.

[HolidayHoney]

Congrats on the grades!
(and that Professor needs to take control of the class)

[Santa's Helper]

Yes, thank you! You know how much I struggle with this algebra stuff at times so you can just imagine how frustrating it is for me.

[Santa's Helper]

Ok, so even with all of the distractions that were going on during class I still got a 94%!!!!!!! I did better this test than I did on my 1st test. I'm so relieved and happy that I did well on the test. I can't believe it. Thank you to all who have helped me understand my algebra! It must be working.

[HolidayHoney]

94%!!!!!! Whoooo!! I'm gonna start asking you for help!! That is a good grade!

[Meceka]

I just read about all the distractions you had during the test - I cannot believe that prof. let those kids do that. Inexcusable!! And, again, GREAT JOB !!!!!!!!!!