Am I too Old for College?!
So, you graduated high school and skipped a year...or 10 before attending college? Isn’t the “American Standard” to graduated high school, go to college and graduate, get married, have kids, retire? Well, I mean for some people that may be ideal. But where does that leave you time to explore yourself, travel, make mistakes, learn from real life experiences? It doesn’t leave you much time at all. Now I am not saying going directly to college is a bad thing by any means. It is great to pursue an education and to be honest, you can’t get very far without a college degree anymore. I can only speak for myself when I say, “Thank the good Lord above I did not go to college right out of high school!”. Personally, I have two reasons. One, I was so immature and careless at 18 that I most likely would have partied my way out of college and two, I am so grateful for all of the experiences I have had in the last 8 years.
I am 26 years old. By no means am I old, but I am no spring chicken. The last few years I have felt a sense of failure and that I was “falling behind” everyone else my age. Now I will admit, social media has significantly contributed to these feelings. When I log on, I see all of the people I graduated from high school with are getting fancy degrees, getting married, having babies, building houses and doing some serious “adulting”. I would not consider myself a failure, but I have not done any of these things and I’m not getting any younger. In my defense, it’s not like I have been sitting on my rear end doing nothing for the last several years, but on paper it may seem that way.
I wanted to write this because I am sure I am not the only 25-30 year old who feels this way. We are not our parent’s or grandparent’s generation. If we choose to marry and have children in our early or mid-twenties, that’s fine. However, I don’t think we should feel the pressure to do so. It sounds cliche, but life is too short to not get exactly what you want out of it. I’d like to explain exactly why I am (finally) content with where I’m at and what I’ve done.
My situation is surely a bit different from the general population of people my age. However, that is a story for another blog. My freshman year of high school was great. I was involved in sports, president of my class (kind of accidentally), I was involved in sports, and had one goal in mind. College. The next year I fell in love for the first time, discovered alcohol, and eventually experienced my first heart break. From then on I continued to go to school but it was in no way a priority. I ended up walking at graduation, however, did not receive a diploma because I was a half credit short. I later received my GED from a local community college. Let’s get back to the drinking. This may be the only regret I have from my late teen years and early twenties. I ran with a rowdy crowd and drinking was what we did best. I believe in guardian angels because there is no way I should be alive right now. Anyways, in high school I belonged to a group of friends who all came from varying levels of jagged backgrounds and less than ideal family situations. We became closer because of that and formed bonds that were unbreakable. For the next decade we would see each other through loss of loved ones, breakups, personal hardships, and life transitions. None of us went to college. However, I wouldn’t say we weren’t learning. We were learning all about life. The stuff that isn’t taught by a professor or read from a book. These were real life experiences.
I made many mistakes during these years, some which took awhile to fix or get out from under. I had little to no supervision and was able to make my own choices. I began working the summer I turned 16 and bought my first car. To me this meant I was an adult and there wasn’t anything anyone could tell me. Boy, was I wrong. It is the typical “hindsight is 20/20″. Though these years were by no means easy, I wouldn’t trade them for any degree or certificate. I learned so many things that I know make me a better person today. I learned about love, hard work, the value and definition of a true friend, and I learned a lot about myself. Had I gone to college, I wouldn’t have had the experiences I did or the friendships I made along the way. Sure I would have made other friends, probably saw new places and would be a lot further in my career than I am today. Regardless of the “what ifs” and “could have beens”, I am so grateful for all that I learned during those years.
Am I too old for college?! As I mentioned, I am now 26 finally pursuing a career. I have worked in so many different industries at so many different jobs, I finally realized that I want to dedicate my life to doing something I am actually passionate about. I have a a year of community college under my belt but nothing in relation to what I am doing now. This fall I started online courses at Berklee College of Music. I am at an age and place in my life where I am able to give school all of the dedication and attention required to be successful. Yeah, most people my age have moved on from school to starting their careers and lives but I realized that life is not a race and if it is, it’s only against yourself. The fact that I waited, gave me time to figure out exactly what it was I wanted to do. For all I know, I could’ve went to college for marine biology just to find out music was my passion. School=time and money. Though I am not 18 or 21 anymore, I am fortunate that I am doing this now. Personally, I don’t think there is a set age for people to go to college. I have went to school with people my grandmother’s age. One’s education is s personal and everyone has their own reasons for pursuing it. I was always discouraged because of my age, but had I done it when I thought I was “too old” at 23, I would have been done by now. If you want to go to school, make it happen.
