by Rex Coker

Created on: February 03, 2009   Last Updated: February 18, 2009

Older adult college students in a much younger college student environment is a very challenging goal to set for one's self. Having established myself in a fast paced work environment at the end of my associates degree, I asked myself if I was ready for this challenge. Balancing the priorities of work and family along with trying to further mt education had become a daunting task. Scheduling and making arrangements at work and home so I could attend classes was not as simple as I thought it would be and finding the time to study and do research work for my courses would make these last two years of attaining my Bachelors degree even more distant in my thoughts.

Most companies like the one I worked for praised their workers for continuing their education and would reimburse the employee for their tuition if they made a passing grade. Still they bent over backwards to assist me in scheduling other employees to work in my spot when need be. Most colleges and industry will work with employees so that they can finish their education. Having a good counselor or advisor on campus can make or break you when choosing which classes are best to take to get your major. I found myself worried about many things I should not have been. I was worried about loosing hours at work to support my family while I followed my dream. I was worried about the time I lost with my kids as I studied and researched my own home work. I worried about my wife having to take on extra house hold work as I woke up every day and started things all over again. It was a sacrifice that my family made for me.

Time balancing when you work and have family can be distracting to an older adult student such as I was at the time. There was very little time and very little sleep. Activities were a blessing and a good distraction when things became to stressful. My wife would sometimes meet me at the University and we would take in a football game or a basketball game. It gave us some alone time from the kids and we would have a great time and have good adult conversation. Meeting in the middle was the most important thing for my family and they struggled just like me to make time for one another. It was hard to balance out but in the long run it paid off for us all. More money and better job advancement opportunities for me and a better quality of life.

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