Heh. I’m procrastinating on doing my online sociology class’ response paper by reading your blog … and also by making fun of my 19-year-old online classmates.

Congrats! I’ve toyed with the idea of going back but between the barely getting by money situation and this wedding stealing what little soul MMORPGs left behind, I don’t have the oomph. Plus, by the time I’m done teaching my own classes, I’m ready to forego literacy and intelligence for a while. If I ever get the guts to sign up, I’m thinking PhD. Yep, I’m cracked :)

rock on! enjoy the journey.

Yay! I believe so many people would get much more out of the whole collegiate universe if they didn’t go straight to college after high school. We appreciate it more, know what real life entails, and have more on the brain than our co-eds, noctural activities, and destructing our bodies from the inside out…

Good for you! Phew…now the first day is under your belt and you can relax a bit.

My husband teaches at a community college and he says that the nontraditional students (i.e. those not in sweatpants) are the best. He’s so tired of the younger crowd who think it’s okay to text during class or turn in their papers half-past whenever Teen Mom is over. You will be great. And you could check into what scholarships are available.

Sociology is a great class. I think you’ll love it!

Congratulations! I’ll be joining the same team in the fall as I start my MBA – hopefully… Got to pass or at least DO the GMATs in March and the math, it has me terrified. So does the tuition bills, but hopefully doing this program will qualify me for BIG. PAYING. JOBS. and then I can just pay off that tuition lickity-split.
You should take a writing course and f-ing slaughter all the kids in that class.

I’m saving money now so I can go to nursing school next year. I will have to quit my job for one year. I am terrified, but SOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!

So. Awesome.

So proud of you & excited for you! They’ll be hating you for screwing up the curve in no time.

My sense of direction is so bad that before I went to my first classes at my state college, the state I had lived in all my life to that point, I did a dry run the day before to make sure I knew how to get there and wouldn’t be late. And that was just to find the campus. TOP THAT!

In all seriousness, you go girl. I’m sure you’ll do great, and cute shoes always help!

So, so happy for you, Linda. You’re DOING IT.

{An aside: When you talked about your ability to get lost the photo of you and Kristin with dueling iPhones came to mind. ;) }

I, too, can get lost in a restaurant! And starting in Jr. High, I always went to the school ahead of time and did a dry run on my classroom locations. Nowadays you can’t do that; the schools are LOCKED. I’m jealous; I wish I could go back to school. But I have more than enough going on right now, so…

So proud of you!

WTG! I’ve got my University Studies book beside me that I should be reading instead of reading blogs. I’ve only got 2 hours before the bus gets here so I’m enjoying some quite time before the kid gets home. I have 1 class I go to on campus and had the same anxieties as you. Luckily the class was in the main hallway and most of the students are 30’s-40’s. Just a few young whipper-snappers. Enjoy!

I adore you.

I’m pretty sure we’re meant to be BFF except you don’t know it yet. Therefore that makes me a weirdo and you weirded out. Whatev!

:) Seriously though, I love your blog and your humor! Good luck with school; it’s gnarly but I keep hearing it’s worth it.

Isn’t it awesome to be in school and be grateful for the experience? I finished college (and grad school) later in life because that’s how I roll and because there were all those drugs that needed taking when I was younger.

You know how people reminisce about college and say “If I knew then what I know now…” Older students GET TO DO THAT!

Congrats on a successful first day! And for remembering your clothes.

Yeah you!!! And, of course cute shoes trump youth every time.

So awesome!!! And dying laughing at the Twibbon. :)

I’m thinking being naked would have gotten you a seat. :-)

I teach English – Composition to be specific – at community college. I’ve taught at 4 year universities also. I can pretty much guarantee your teacher was happy to see you. Having students who have been somewhere besides high school is a joy.

And just so you know, teachers worry about all that same stuff – will I be able to find the classroom? Will my keycard actually open the classroom? (I had to call security to open my classroom door today.) What if I can’t remember everyone’s name? (It always takes me weeks.) What if I say something stupid? (pretty much guaranteed.)

You are not alone. :)

I am so very impressed with you. You’ve been challenging yourself over and over with physical things, and then you somehow keep that up and flip over and challenge yourself in a whole different kind of learning and growing. It blows me away how much of yourself you are able to put towards improving yourself in so many directions all at once. Sometimes I’m proud if I manage to not leave the house in tan slacks and black socks.

Rock on, Linda.

You are not alone. I finished my Master’s more than ten years ago and I STILL have nightmares about a)getting lost in the school b)forgetting about a class until the final exam c) forgetting to wear clothes to said class etc, etc, etc. (Neurotic much? Yes thank you)

I am so thrilled for you! What a great experience. Going to college as an adult with a life is different and in many ways better than being a 19 year old undergrad, I think.

Learning is good. I work in education and am also a Master’s student. Its not the piece of paper that is the joy…it is the journey, the expansion of one’s horizon. Hokey pokey but true.

Good for you! I can’t wait to go back to school…

I’m dying to figure out where you’re attending. UW? Seattle U? Seattle Pacific? TELL US!

Mostly so I can figure out if anyone I know is taking class with you. :)

That’s not at all creepy. Right?

As a college professor let me explain that we don’t really like going through the damn syllabus line by line either. But if we don’t, there will always be some 18 year-old dillhole who complains ‘But you didn’t TELL us we had to actually turn in our work to get an A.’ Older students are usually good though. The chances that you’ll have your Mommy call us to dispute your grade are pretty slim. Just don’t ask for special treatment just because you have a family, a real job that isn’t at a mall, and a real grown-up life.

Oh, and for the record I’m not ready to teach my classes tomorrow either.

So exciting! I wish I would get off my butt and go back to school. As for sweats with words on the butt, ugh. Like any 20 yr old needs MORE attention drawn to that area?

Congrats to you. How wonderful that you enjoyed it.

And Jay the professor who commented above and used the word “dillhole” is my favorite person of the hour.

I’m already in week three of my classes! We made it in!

And it’s weird, but it’s SO much harder and SO much easier than it used to be … AT THE SAME TIME.

I’m only 26, but I’m still OLD in some of my college classes. It’s funny how much time changes you as a student! I went from the kid who regularly skipped class to the obnoxious one that always makes comments and *GASP*, participates! And in real clothing too, not Uggs and goofy rolled up sweatpants (what is with that look anyway?) I like learning now though :) Still hate actually sitting in class, but I like learning! Good for you for chasing your dreams!

Yayy! Good for you, Linda! No, AWESOME for you.

(Sweatpants. Ugh. I hope they all were at least wearing shoes, and not slippers?)

Woot! You survived the first day with your dignity intact. Congratulations!! :)

I just got home from my first economics class. I was the oldest person in the class and I was also dressed in a suit and cute shoes which was far more than I can say for the other gals in the class-WOW.

Good for you, good for me and now I need to go do my homework.

Oh yeah- I was in the front row too. Dorktastic.

Awesome! Good for you!

PS I friggin LOVED Sociology, hello double minor!

Congrats on surviving your first day! Seriously – you are kicking a** these days. I think we should have a competition on who is the most comically direction challenged. Do YOU have to print out a Mapquest on how to get to AND home from an unfamiliar destination?

you are awesome. period.

Congratulations! I went back to college to finish my undergrad degree in my late 20’s, graduating 10 years after high school, and often felt so much older than others in my classes, but I also had this whole other perspective than I would have had I not been working for years before then. And I appreciated it so much more; I loved being a student and often daydream of returning again. Enjoy every moment. And kick some ass!

So excited for you! I miss school (I? Am also a nerrrrrrrrrrrrrrd).

Very cool.
I wore sweats for four years straight at college… and the other day I was wishing that I had ‘dressy’ sweatpants that I could wear in public. Anyway at our school all the athletes wore sweats and I remember how the student paper has an article in it about how we were all so slovenly, and we were all like *shrug* Jealous! Give it try one day. You may love it.

I loved this post, because I knew exactly how you felt. I went back to school a few years back to earn my certification in massage therapy. Before I got into that program though, I had to take a math class and a biology class. Although the math class reminded that I’ve liked, um, mathy things, the biology and massage therapy classes were awesome. The biology class was the first one I took, and I just soaked it all up. I loved learning again, and I definitely had more appreciation for it this time around. It was good to see that you can still learn new things, study hard, and excel in a subject. I earned my massage therapy certification, but I’m still not licensed in MT. To be honest, some life things changed, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be licensed in MT…but taking those classes was completely worth it…even the tuition bills! It proved I can still do the school thing and learn. Very awesome feeling.

How’re you finding note taking? I’ve found that, due to 12 years of mostly computer typing, every time I try to handwrite something over three sentences I turn into Crampy McClaw. I could never sit an actual exam ever again without extensive physical therapy before and after!

I wish I could say something more insightful than “good for you,” but that is exactly how I feel. I think sociology is such a fun subject, but even if you don’t, I know you are (and should be) proud of the step you are taking toward your future. Have fun! (ps when I was getting my masters, I loved/hated the ‘older’ moms in my class- each was so sweet and helpful, but oy! overachievers!)

How Exciting!! I’m really jealous now because I’ve always wanted to go back to school and LEARN something. My two years for a secretarial degree – well I knew it all, I just needed the freakin’ diploma.
Maybe my husband will be more receptive to me taking college courses instead of getting the braces I’m insisting on for my rapidly crookeding front tooth?

Awesome! I’m so excited for you! Your description as always made me giggle :D

When I first went back to school as an adult I had a near panic the night before over . . . bookbags. Did the kids these days carry them? Or just their books? Would I look completely lame and idiotic carrying just my books when everyone else had a bookbag (Or backpack. OR satchel. WHAT THE HELL.)? Or what if I carried a bag when everyone else carried a book? So. . . yeah. Adult panic over school. Understandable!

Congratulations! You rock. And Sociology was one of my favorite classes ever. I am very proud of you (says the first time commenter and long-time reader).