by Katheryn Markle

Created on: March 27, 2009

High School Drop Out 1972
Read about the adventures of a woman who went to college after having been a drop out who hated school. [Non Traditional Experiences.]

Here I was, forty-five years old, ready to enter school again after having been away from education twenty-eight years. Also, the college was almost one and one half hours away, out in the beautiful, secluded country. Was I ready to make this major change, to live all alone and commit myself to books and memorization?

Also, what would my husband of over 30 years say or do? Do I really want to do this? Can I afford this? Will I be accepted for entry? Will I be accepted by younger college students? These are the insecurities that cluttered my mind in the contemplation of attending college for a four year degree. I decided that forty-five was not old enough to give up hope on having a better career to make higher wages than I had in the past. I was ready to explore my thirst for learning and create positive change for myself. I love changes, risks, and boldly jumping right into new, exciting endeavors, so I was thrilled for this new opportunity.

First off, I lived about one and one half miles from my daughter and her husband while I went to college all week. They were both undergrads then, and they encouraged me to go to school, so I gave it some thought and I really loved the idea! Then something told me yes, so I did all the footwork and everything fell into place for me to be there at that time and place. I packed up and moved in on campus so I could be within reach of my daughter's world as well as studying to get my degree in psychology.

Secondly, my son enrolled in the same college and he moved on campus the same day that I did. His dorm was parallel to the one that I was in, across the main campus area. I lived on the basement floor in an apartment in the sorority dorm and he lived in the men's dorm in a dorm room. We visited each other and that was really weird. He left college and went back home after a month or so and he made the decision that college was not what he needed to reach his goals.

Thirdly, I simply loved going to college. I finally felt like I had a second chance at learning because I never had the chance to go any higher than high school. And get this, I hated school and dropped out after 11th grade to get married due to love, not pregnancy. So yes, here I was entering school again and wow, I had never dreamed once that I would ever have the wonderful opportunity to get a college degree.

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