Returning to University to study Chemistry

[roady05]

Hey Guys,

I am 26 years old and I have spent the last couple of years really wishing I could go back to University to finish my Chemistry degree which I completed the first year of and changed courses to study music then went into teaching. As much as I have enjoyed working in education and teaching music, I live with this annoying regret that I never really learned to apply my mind to studying until my post-graduate year in teacher training where I excelled myself and really tackled my work with the effort I was capable of.

I don't see myself as a music teacher in the long run, I feel as though I am no longer pushing myself cognitively. I have a comfortable, rewarding job in a secondary school that will keep me in a decent financial position for the rest of my life but every day I have walked past the University for the past year with the gut feeling that I have unfinished business there. I want to challenge my brain to something new, I know that I have the capacity and the attitude necessary to delve in to science now. I have always been interested in organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, drugs and the chemistry of the brain... I am a very different person now to when I was 19 years old and wanted to pursue teaching music. It's hard to know what your long term goal will be at the age people typically choose their subject specialism and I guess my heart is telling me to move on to something new.

I would really like to go into research and maybe complete a PhD in something chemistry related. I can't really explain why lol... This is just how I see myself making a difference. I don't want to die leaving "what-ifs?"... I have savings for tuition fees and my application is all finished, I am going to proof read and pull the trigger tomorrow.

If you guys have any recommended reading for someone who has been out of chemistry for a while and could do with brushing up on the fundamentals that would be excellent- I have been watching lecture after lecture on youtube lol, anything to help me prepare for next year would be great.

Hope everyone is well xx

 

[ageingpartyfiend]

Can't recommend any reading but definitely recommend following your impulse and going back into Education....sounds like a great move

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

It's never too late. I did a BSc in environmental science at the age of 33 and although my graduating may not have had a major effect upon my life, it has certainly been beneficial to myself as a person.

Just do it mate...

 

[TripSitterNZ]

I also majored in chemistry it took me longer than the normal amount of years due to taking a break and doing it part time while i was trying to get mental health in order. find a pdf online of
Organic chemistry 2nd edition by j clayden this book is hands down amazing and will cover a entire undergrad organic chemistry. Chemistry can be quite easy to pick up again once you have the basics down and it just builds on and by having strong fundmentals organic chemistry should flow well.

If your classes have tutors or after hours professor help to go over worksheets etc attend these. I wish i tried harder at chemistry instead of slacking a bit and been strung out on drugs but i still got through somehow.

Brush up on math skills aswell algebra and calculus will be needed for a undergrad degree to get through physical chemistry. Practice makes perfect in chemistry always do as much practice problems and worksheets as you can.

I love chemistry but chemistry is also something that if you don't aim to go to PHD level you will be stuck doing the lab tech slave jobs which can be kind of boring and is low pay but there are also with masters + getting some very nice salarys working in the industry. I never went past undergrad which i regret but i also didn't have the focus or drive to really work and study hard. During my undergrad we had a few mature students over the age of 30 if you work hard on the class material every day and do alot of practice you will achieve high marks in chemistry.

 

[Xorkoth]

It sounds like your intuition is trying to tell you to pursue what you really love. When I get those strong convictions that happen before I think about it, and especially if they stay after I've thought about it, I do my best to follow them, understanding it's my subconscious mind telling me what I really need, free of the clusterfuck of conscious thoughts, rationalizations, second guessing, "being realistic", that kind of thing. Doing so has led me into an amazing scenario I'm in now where I work from home doing the thing I though might my passion (computer science), that makes me a good salary, and also play music in a successful band which IS my passion. And I can work on the road and keep my job. It's so perfect and I'm very fulfilled. But it took listening to my intuition and going with it and deciding against some choices that logic told me would be bad to pass up. As I've gotten older I've gotten better at determining when it's actually my intuition and when it's my mind fucking with me.

Life is short, you have to do what makes you happy. You'd be better off barely surviving financially, but doing something that makes you love your life and what you're spending time on, than you would be having all the money you could need but hating or being bored by what you do. Happiness and fulfillment are something money can't buy. And they're about as important as anything in life can ever be.

 

[Lucy20]

I went back and finished my engineering degree at 30, it's never to late. There should be plenty books online on the basics of chemistry, start at the basics no matter how trivial they seem because you might miss something covered later.
Good luck