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Am I too late for an education?

J

Jayman

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Messages
134
Location
Louisiana
I am a 26 yr old who has obtained his GED a few years ago ,with almost perfect scores in some areas, and I have been dreaming of getting a secondary education. I have been working on and off in a few different areas since my release from incarceration in 2008. I have skills as a machinist,tacker/welder, and various other jobs with machinist being the one I have excelled the most in.

I have always been passionate about sciences and chemistry. Before I dove into the world of addictive drugs I was trying to teach myself physics and chemistry and also biology, but starting with my abuse of MDMA and eventually opioids in my sophomore years at highschool I began to turn more towards the chemicals than my studies. I want to learn so much and before my addictions to certain substances learning was my addiction. I have come to learn in the recent years the amount of pain and misery associated with abusing foreign substances and I wish to go back what allowed me to be happy and content. I am sure that if I focus in studies I could achieve my dreams of obtaining a degree in my chosen area of study.

I no longer use anything but the occasional suboxone and that is sporadic. If I start at school I will give up everything altogether. I have a will to make this work but I have a few concerns.

The only thing that is holding me from pursuing this is the fact that I have a criminal background, not involving violence or drugs, and my age. I feel like I would be too old to start off where people at 18ish are. I have a fiance and 1 1/2 year old son that are backing me completely. I will of course have to finance my education and my family's needs. The real question I have is, is it still viable for me to go and purse this and upon completion get employment with a degree as a professional chemist? I will also be looking into taking minors in something accompanying like maybe psychology or pharmacology, but I am not sure. I will ,if able, try for my bachelors and eventually masters and maybe just maybe doctorate. I know its not that easy or fast and It will be costly, but It really is a dream that I will be driven to accomplish, to show my son that his dad is not a loser and to instill in him he can do anything.

Educating myself was something I did for personal development, I found it to be enlightening to study the workings of the world and universe. It allowed me to see how connected everything really is and can be. When I imagine myself living in a nice home with my loving family and a job that constantly teaches me and shows me things I never thought possible, well it makes me feel a genuine happiness that drugs can never bring to me.

As of right this moment I am unemployed and looking to a new plan. Find a job such as a night machinist where I can work at night and go to school 3-4 days a week in the day. I think I can make this work, although very rough and sleep depriving.

I am open to many choices but the one stated is by far the highest on my list. What do you bluelighters think?

I can provide more information if needed and as always all replys are appreciated and thank you sincerely for your time.

Jayman.
 
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Absolutely not too late for education, ever. But I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest that you only go to college if you already have a plan for how to pay for it or a concrete idea of what career and income your degree will lead you to. Student loans are a massive millstone around your neck and the old conventional wisdom of a college degree automatically being worthwhile is just not true anymore. Consider community college to keep costs low and as a way to 'test the waters' and find out if college is for you and hopefully find a major that will fit you.

Basically just make sure you have a plan and a goal, don't just go to school because you think you're supposed to or because you don't know what else to do, or you could end up digging yourself into a deep hole with no tools to help you get out of it!
 
I'll be honest.

Age isn't really a factor so long as you still have mental flexibility. People who love learning never cease doing it. It's only ever a challenge later on when people's minds get more rigid and are less able to handle the influx of info necessary for a degree. I don't think age 26 is a problem.

Aside from being passionate about the kind of field you want to study, don't follow any ideology about school. Don't go because it will look good, or because you think it's going to fill some void in yourself. I also would avoid going merely out of interest because that would be one expensive hobby. Make sure all practical areas are covered including the end job market for the degree you're doing. If it were 15 years ago I'd say don't worry too much about that, but with the way the economy is you need to look out for yourself. If you have loans but can't get work when you're done, you are going to feel defeated.

You're in the U.S. so you have more grant and scholarship opportunities, and your age bracket will give you access to some that younger applicants can't go for.

So I agree with a previous poster, make sure practicality is first and foremost. It's true that it's never too late, but as you know, getting older means you are bogged down with more responsibility so it can be harder to juggle everything. If you have long-term support, an understanding family, drive, and resource to take this to its very conclusion, then I wouldn't worry.
 
I am actually 26 too! and in a very similar situation except responsibilities.

It looks to me like one should make sure your interest is genuine and you know what the related jobs entail. This means exploring various areas of science or arts and finding some peculiar feeling that really makes it worth your time. You can do this over the internet, just start reading wikipedia, pick up books from Collins Booksellers etc., read scientific journals related to the topic. Then try to talk to / meet people in that line of work and see if you're going to get that feeling, that satisfaction, from doing what they do.

Don't do this ego thing when you get into something, and everything will naturally be really interesting. Then you've got many places to explore.

Also remember state of mind is everything so get in a good frame of mind somehow before you start. One state of mind will make things seem really rational and boring in a scientific paper while another state of mind will make it like you're on the frontiers of understanding. etc.
 
Not at all! I went to uni in my early thirties, was one of the best things I ever did with my life. I'd go so far as to say you're much better off following your passion once you are older because you know what your passion is. You'll in all likelihood do far better now than you would have when you were 18 or 19 because you give much more of a shit about whatever it is.
 
Never too old..

In regards to criminal record, you might be able to get an expungement. (depending on the state, crime, time it was committed)

gl
 
I am older than you and just now getting close to the end of my studies (started when I was 17 however, and haven't really stopped for long since). I will never stop learning or studying (it is actually a requirement of my profession). Depending on your situation university may or may not be for you. In the US without a scholarship university (maybe check out if you can get something for being a parent?) is a rip off. Have you checked out vocational/technical areas (welding, electrical, plumbing, heating/AC, medical tech, lab tech?) Maybe read into what what is available to you in your situation, and what is affordable (cost of education to potential earnings, chance of employment in your area).

I will tell you that throwing away that money to a university at your age without a stable income doesn't sound like a great idea to me (unless you are very passionate, and in general successful). Since you are a bit late you will have to apply yourself more, and most likely have to make sacrifices with friends and family if you do choose to be competitive in that field. It all depends on you though, if you are a natural at something you may not have to work at it too much, and you may be able to prove yourself worthy of a scholarship somehow.

Oh yea, if you really like chemistry try going around to labs or companies in the area, and tell them you are very interested and would like to participate in a few month long non-paid internship. This could open up the door for you if you do it right.
 
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Shimmer.Fade said:
I am older than you and just now getting close to the end of my studies (started when I was 17 however, and haven't really stopped for long since). I will never stop learning or studying (it is actually a requirement of my profession). Depending on your situation university may or may not be for you. In the US without a scholarship university (maybe check out if you can get something for being a parent?) is a rip off. Have you checked out vocational/technical areas (welding, electrical, plumbing, heating/AC, medical tech, lab tech?) Maybe read into what what is available to you in your situation, and what is affordable (cost of education to potential earnings, chance of employment in your area).
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100%, university (in N. America) is the biggest scam in existence. At my local uni, three employees were just arrested for defrauding the students with bullshit expenses over a course of seven f'n years. Think about that, they collected over a million dollars over seven years before anyone even noticed they were billing people for nothing. Oh, and this is the second time this has happened since 2010. It's easy to hide shit like that when none of the expenses actually make sense because everyone has stopped thinking in terms of getting value and are only at school to get the paper, regardless of how they get it.

I don't want to talk you out of it but it's expensive as shit and there's a good chance you won't get what you expect to get after it's all said n done (and your bank account is deep in the red). You better make damn sure you know exactly what you're getting into and have a backup plan to support your family in case it doesn't work out. I don't think your son will ever think you're a loser for being a welder but he just might think you are if he's wondering day in and day out why he never sees his sleep-deprived dad and why there's hardly any food on the table.
 
I'm in college right now, at 32. I got all the partying out of the way in my twenties, and now I'm a bit more motivated and focused. This allows me to do the best I can.
 
Br1ngTh3Ra1n said:
You're never too late, just need to have the will!
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And dedication.
And discipline.

The short period of time I studied English, I had a Norwegian woman aged 80 in my class.
She moved to the Netherlands and studied English at university level, because she felt the need to.
That's dedication!

So good luck! (Assuming you'll go for it!)
 
go for it! it's never too late, and you're honestly a lot younger than i was expecting from the title.

life experience multiplies the benefits of education. you know how important it is, and what you want to do with it. that means you'll probably do a lot better than you would have at 18, and get a lot more out of it. good luck!
 
I came in here expecting a post by a 60 year old, not a 26 year old! It's never too late. As someone said before, you just have to have a good plan and make sure you choose the right major that will wind up paying for itself in the end. Some people do better in college/university later in life because they don't have all of the distractions they would have had as an 18 year old going crazy :)
 
Yeah man, you're still very young. I've been jailed several times for posession, and dropped out of school when I was 15. I had the same thoughts of you a few months ago. But I got a job, and saved $50 from it every week. Eventually I had enough to get my charges expunged as they were non felony. Then I got my GED. Now I'm going to community college, and will hopefully transfer to a 4 year uni soon. I still use dope, and I believe I will never not use opiates, however my focus has changed from using opiates and playing video games, to using opiates and bettering myself.
 
26 is definitely not too old.

When I was in college, about half the people in my program were older 35. They were doing this "second career" thing. Basically, their first career hadn't worked out for whatever reason, so they were back in school (partly funded by the government) to get more education. It was a small course (probably less than 100 people in it, in total, and then it split off into three slightly different programs). But there were maybe ten people just from high school and everyone else had different stories. Many people had taken a few years off or something like that.

It's never too late!!!
 
I started going to school at the age of 27, and I just graduated with a Bachelor's in Accounting. I just turned 32, and I actually dropped out of high school in the 9th grade. Its never too late to get an education if you're motivated. Luckily for me, I got to serve in the military. The GI Bill paid for my education. I'm a big time advocate of furthering education. If I could do it all over again in high school, I'd be a total nerd. I just had girls & partying on my mind back then :D
 
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