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When you show up to college for the first time ten years older than the entering freshman with children and a past due mortgage payment to mail, the good people in the admissions office graciously bestow upon you the title of "Non-Traditional Student". It's not like you need an official label like that to brand you as different than the other students because the discrepancy in age and maturity is apparent to everybody. Professors usually love you and force you to give your wizened perspective on issues. Students think you dress funny, call you Mam' or Sir and won't usually invite you to join their inner social ring. Yes, being a continuing education student is a lonely road. The challenges of dealing with real issues on top of juggling reading, writing, and inane classes you feel you already know everything about can lead you to the brink of insanity. It can also be the most rewarding choice you ever made and open doors that you never thought it possible to access.

I was an academic joke in high school. I didn't want to be there and much of the time I didn't show up. I had 53 unexcused absences and yet they allowed me to graduate, probably eager just to be rid of me once and for all. I didn't take the SAT when I was a senior. I had no intention of going to classes of any sort, especially if I had to pay to endure such torture. I had plans to live free and travel the hostels of Europe, all my worldly possessions on my shoulders, living life one day at a time. I wanted nothing to do with any kind of lifestyle that might be considered "traditional". Wouldn't you know it, God has a sense of humor. I actually got married four days after graduation to a United States Marine from the Bible belt where I moved from my home in carefree California and then, would you believe I became a Christian and shortly after that a stay at home mom? Astounding, to say the least. My attitude and lifestyle were radically changed. A few short years down the line I decided to revisit my dislike of formal education. My transcripts were terrible, but I did gain admission to a community college. This made the first transformation I underwent in my life seem tame by comparison. By returning to college after a significant amount of time off from high school I made the remarkable discovery that after all this time and resistance to education, I was actually an intellectual.

Living in the real world for a while can give you an edge over your classmates. Setbacks that might seem devastating to

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