As the average life span of human beings is being extended due to better health care today, the world is facing a lot of challenges brought about by the aging population. One of the biggest problems is to find enough employments for the senior people, because they need to remain productive as well as to earn a living for themselves. In order for a senior person to be employable, he needs to have relevant skills and knowledge. Therefore, a lot of older folks are going back to schools and colleges to acquire latest knowledge and skills so that they will remain relevant in the latest job market, particularly in the field of ICT. Although going back to learn new knowledge at an old age might sounds very interesting to many people, actually doing it is not easy, it could be an uphill task for many people because older people are generally weaker physically, they might not have enough energy to complete the whole program. However, as a person who has obtained a master degree and a doctoral degree at a relative older age(I got my master of management degree at 43 and my doctor of business administration degree at the age of 47),I dare to say that we older people can perform just as well as the younger folks. So, let me share with you the tips and secrets for older people to succeed in an academic program normally designed for the younger folks.
To me, the most important ingredient we older folks must have is to be physically and mentally prepared before we join any academic program, be it an undergraduate or a post-graduate program. Keeping fit physically and mentally is very important because it will allow us to have energy to pull through the whole program. I keep myself physically fit by playing tennis almost everyday and that made me nearly as fit as those twenty something people. On the other hand, I keep myself mentally alert by playing chess, reading, designing web site, writing and mix around with young people. So for those of you who are forty something and above and thinking of going back to school or college to study, and you have not been exercising and involving in mental activities for quite sometime, you better do something now. In addition, you must also be psychologically ready to join any academic program. If you are not prepared psychologically, you might face a lot of stress later. So, you need to persuade yourself to think positive and believe that you can succeed in the program.
The next thing you should do is to search for an academic program that you think you are interested in. Doing something you are not interested in could be very dull and boring, and you won't have the motivation to learn. Searching for an interesting program is very easy nowadays with the abundance amount of information available at the World Wide Web. You should also examine the feasibility of the program from your point of view, for instance the location of the school or college should not too far away from your home, and whether it can provides a distance learning option as well as affordability of the program as you might still need money to support your family and your children's education. As for me, I got a government scholarship to do master program and I was getting my full salary during that period, so affordability is not a problem then. Although it caused some inconvenience for my family, I managed to complete my master program with excellent results, scoring distinction in almost all the subjects as I was mentally and physically prepared. After finishing my master program, I spent about one year to search for a suitable doctoral program, I came across an offshore program offered by the University of South Australia (UniSA). Offshore program means that instead for the students go overseas, the university will send its lecturers here to conduct weekend classes every now and then, so it is very convenient for the working adults like us.
In addition, you should be prepared to put in a lot of hard works in your study. You should be 100% committed and you must be willing to learn from anybody and any sources, even from the younger people, don't let your ego becomes your mental block to learning. Asking questions can actually help you to learn a great deal as well as save time and effort. As for me, I learn by asking a lot of questions in the class, which allow me to acquire 80% of the knowledge taught by the lecturer, and I only need to acquire the other 20% by studying at home. In this way, I could find a lot of free time to relax myself, including playing tennis at the campus. Group discussion is also very important. Although your group members might be much younger, you should treat them as your peers so don't feel shy to participate actively in the discussion; you may find that you are much more knowledgeable than many of them. Other than working hard, you should also work smart. Working smart means try to find some ways that can help you to understand certain concepts better. I like to use diagrams to connect the concepts and that help me to grasp abstract ideas much better. On the other hand, if you are doing research and need to prepare a dissertation or thesis, you must work closely with your supervisor and you should be able to accept any comment from him or her without ill feeling, even though you might not feel nice, but patient is an important ingredient for success. On top of that, time management is very important for you as you might need to juggle between work, family and study.
Last but not least, you need a lot of family support in order to finish the program successfully, especially from your spouse. Your family can provide a cushion when you feel that you are down because you could not make any progress in your study, this is the time your family can give you the support. I got 100% support from my wife and my children while I was doing my master and doctoral program, so I am very grateful to them, without them I might have dropped out halfway. I hope that the tips mentioned above can motivate you to work harder if you are already following a program, and for those of you who are still indecisive whether to sign up for an academic program, you would sign up as soon as possible.