Back to school at 42

copyright Leader Publications 2001

I speak from experience.  Going back to school at the age of 42 is a whole lot different from returning to school at 32.  And attending a four-year university is a bit more challenging than going to the local community college.

At 32, I began attending Jefferson College.  In eight years of part-time attendance, I earned two associate's degrees.  Returning to school at that age, for the first time since high school, actually proved more difficult for my family than for me.  My husband, naturally, had his share of laundry mishaps.

I'll never forget the day I rushed to my daughter's school to see her take part in a play.  On the way there, it occurred to me for the first time that Dad had gotten the kids off to school.  Would Courtney be dressed appropriately for the play?

As the children paraded past the group of proud parents, I noticed in horror that Courtney was wearing her brother's clothes.

"Court," I whispered as she passed me by, "you're wearing J.T.'s clothes!"

"I know," she whispered back.  "It's what Dad gave me to wear."

Turns out my husband thought that just because the pants had an elastic waist, the outfit was for a girl.  Fortunately, Courtney's part was played in the dark.  She was a bat.

Now that everybody is 10 years older, my return to school at 42 is proving to be much more difficult for me than my family.

After working for more than a year in the computer field, I decided the excessive overtime required wasn't for me, took my life back and enrolled at the University of Missouri, St. Louis (UMSL).

UMSL is 42 miles northwest from my home in Cedar Hill.  If anyone thinks a distance of 40 miles doesn't have much effect on the temperature, think again.  The winter weather at that campus is a bitter, bone-chilling cold.  Of course, it didn't help matters that I started in January.

It took me two weeks to figure out how to dress to keep warm while walking from class to class.  I finally settled on a sweatshirt, sweat jacket with hood, my winter coat buttoned up to the neck with hood tied tight, gloves and winter boots.  Had I owned any long johns, they would have become a part of my ensemble as well.

Speaking of walking from class to class, that campus is so large I developed shin splints on my first day of school.  If the school's buildings had their names printed on the outside, as Jefferson College does, it might have helped.  But I had to walk long and hard to find my classrooms, carrying a heavy book bag over my shoulder.  For some reason, the UMSL administration chooses to display the names of buildings on the interior.  Once insde, you will find the name of a building printed above room numbers, on signs in the halls, just about everywhere.  That isn't a lot of help to the hapless student on the street, trying to figure out which building in a long line of similar-looking edifices is the one she wants.

During my first week, in addition to the shin splints, I came down with the flu.  It was obvious that I should have stayed home, but I didn't want to be absent so soon.  I became so sick in one of my classes that I had to go out in the hall in search of a place fot lie down.  For a time I wondered if an ambulance would be needed.  My attendance was sporadic for a few weeeks after that while recovering.

Then there was the time I got lost in the university library, a horrible experience.  I literally could not find my way out.  It happened on a day when my last class had been canceled.  It seemed a good tiem to explore the library.  In no time, however, I realized I was lost.  Actually, I had entered one library and eventually ended up in another one.  Apparently several libraries are connected together because, following UMSL's naming practice, the library names were displayed all over on the inside.  Therefore, it wasn't difficult to tell when I was in a different one. 

In my desperate attempt to find my way out, I decided to use the stairs instead of the elevator, thinking it would help me keep bettere track of my course.  This meant, of course, that I would have to carry my book bag up the stairs.

After that first awful day, I had switched to a book bag on wheels.  In no time, I was beginning to sweat under my winter ensemble and I still wasn't feeling well from the flu.  I was beginning to get clammy and shaky.  Finally, after climbing yet another set of stairs and with the certainty that I could not climb further, I came upon a woman in uniform sitting at a desk.  I stumbled up to her and asked, "How do you get out of the place?"

Shen she pointer over her shoulder and said, "Just take these staris...," my face fell, my shoulders dropped and I let out a groan  - all of which she seemed to find funny.

I finally did find my way out of that library.  Needless to say, I have never gone back.

To be honest, my first few months at UMSL were so difficult I don't think I would have stuck it out had my classes themselves not been so interesing.  Attending Jefferson College first was a good choice because the smaller campus and more personal classes gave me a good base for the challenges of a university education.

But best of all, Jefferson College has all of the buildings' names printed on the outside!