"Mature" students

[phantom]

Any of you guys/girls in the more elevated age range had any experience of being a university student when any previous schooling is but a distant memory :beer:

[yungatart]

I did uni papers some 30 + years after I had left school.
Getting in to the habit of study, especally when I had never had it, was not easy. It took heaps of planning and committment and was not easy...but I survived and achieved what I had set out to do.
If I can do it, anyone can!

[phantom]

My last go at university was in 1973:crybaby:

[<G>]

here I am taking a break from studying Linguistics (and going on KB as one does when procrastinating) and I see a thread about "mature'' students

as Yungatart says...committment, planning (avoid procrastinating) and keep the goal in mind...that helps when you're asking "why am I doing this ?!, work was easy in comparison"

and being older we know all about delayed gratification - TUI!

It's my first semester of 4 years full-time study but it will be worth it :2thumbsup even though the adjustment from work to study was more difficult than I anticipated.

[James Deuce]

Piece of wees. Much easier to do it as an adult than a man-child. Less distractions, like skrits and beer.

[FilthyLuka]

Less distractions, like skrits and beer.

what?! beer and short skrits?! where???

:o

[martybabe]

The bride and her sister both started a three year uni course at 43 years of young and they weren't the oldest by any means. Both failed miserably but that's not the point.:gob:

No seriously, very little formal education and they both passed with distinction.:2thumbsup Well worth the effort if your so inclined.

[Nordy]

I did some extramural papers last year, as long as you set aside study time you will be fine.

[imdying]

Piece of wees. Much easier to do it as an adult than a man-child. Less distractions, like skrits and beer.Ditto. I was eating up 6-7 courses a semester instead of the 4 expected of a full time student... was so much easier when you've seen the beauty of the 'real world' and all the gheyness that comes with it.

[kerfufflez]

My last go at university was in 1973:crybaby:


Well you'll probably be head and shoulders above the current crop in terms of being able to write your ideas clearly while also using acceptable spelling and grammar.

Go for it. Preparation is the key. Read absolutely everything there is about the courses you're interested in, and make the most of the Uni's facilities and staff. Phone/email/visit the staff of the department, once you're a bit further down the track, just to make sure you know exactly what to expect in terms of work/study hours, and the nature of assignments etc.
Good luck.

[Swoop]

You will be fine, especially with some real-world experience behind you. The main drawback will be all of the "treaty of waitangi" bullshit that has festered into the courses.

[gijoe1313]

.. and another kbism is made.. skrits!! :drool: where all dem short skrits at? :devil2: :chase: :rofl:

As for being a mature student, as a teacher, I'm always learning new things from those strange life-form units in my learning space ... 'tis a weird and wonderful yet vexing thing it be!

Now ...for those short skrits ... :banana:

[geoffm]

Any of you guys/girls in the more elevated age range had any experience of being a university student when any previous schooling is but a distant memory :beer:

I finished my Masters in Fire Engineering (MEFE) in 2006 at the age of 38 (read the thesis http://digital-library.canterbury.ac.nz/data/collection3/etd/adt-NZCU20060816.222125/
I also did a part time MBA in 1997.

With a massive student loan, savings, cheap living and a lot of help from my family, I took 2 years off to relive my student days. It was bloody good.

Adult students generally do very well as they are extremely motivated and don't usually piss all their time away... i treated it as a 7 day/week job. A freind did a Bbus part time after a long time out of school. It takes a bit to get into the routine. Doing study part time is very hard, and a lot of people can't keep it up, or the family and time stress is to much - hence my full time decision, having done part time study in the past.
Don't under estimate the cost, both in time and money. Choose something worthwhile - I looked into it very carefully before the decision.
Geoff

[phantom]

what?! beer and short skrits?! where???

:o

Yeah it was beer and short skrits that stuffed me up the first time. Spent many a happy hour at the Bush Inn ( aka Kiddy Corner ) when I should have been studying

[Usarka]

Memory might not be as flash as it was....

See if you can look into some study tools like mindmapping (google "mind map") etc, or a short lesson on how to reference stuff properly.

The Uni might actually provide some tutorials for these sorts of things....if you can't find any info then ask them.

Enjoy - you're doing it because you want to, not because you there's nothing better to do....

[mstriumph]

Well you'll probably be head and shoulders above the current crop in terms of being able to write your ideas clearly while also using acceptable spelling and grammar. .....................
Good luck.

or being able to write at all :rolleyes:

[Usarka]

i went back to uni as an adult.

who would believe either of those......:confused:

[helenoftroy]

First couple of assignments were bloody hard but so worth it in the end.

I left school without University Entrance a long time ago...I graduate this year :devil2:tho if I'd actually worked at school instead of bunking to ride dirtbikes in the river bed(twas Ashvegas there wasnt a lot to do....)Id have been a great Doctor and not a great nurse!!!........:crybaby:

You'll be fine its a lotta fun

[Livvy]

Damn. I thought this might have just been about Uni for those in the general age group of, having to deal with being more sensible than their peers.

I forgot this place is full of old people...

... Don't shoot! :dodge:

I'm currently trying to decide where I should go for Uni myself for next year (and more importantly, what I want to study).

[James Deuce]

I forgot this place is full of old people...



It is pointless to mock that which you will become, given time.

[Delerium]

After doing it part time and extramurally for several years and now getting beyond frustrated at work, im studying commerce at auckland uni full time as of 1 month from now. im 25 so Ill be older than most.

[Disco Dan]

Spent more time chatting up the girlies and perving than listening to lectures... *sigh* will only go back when i'm married I think!

Too many short skirted red headded hotties keen for the bitch pad.... :devil2:

[Beemer]

I left school in 1979 with a B Bursary but had no plans for uni at the time as I didn't know what I wanted to do or be. I decided to go nursing in 1986 through Wellington Polytechnic but loathed it and left during the first year. I didn't do any more study until I returned from the UK in 1994 and realised I wanted something more interesting to do that being a sales rep. I did an introductory journalism course through Whitireia (it's now a full-year course) and then went to Wellington Polytechnic the following year where I did the year-long journalism programme. A year later I did the first of what would have been six papers of an Advanced Diploma in Journalism through the Open Polytechnic. My boss wasn't supportive so I only did the one. Fast forward to 2006 and I was doing some web content management work for Massey in Palmerston North. They had taken over the Open Polytechnic course so I decided I may as well finish it. The course was now called the Graduate Diploma in Journalism Studies and I had to do a further seven papers to complete it. I did three in the second semester of 2006, then two in the first semester of 2007. In May of that year I talked to someone who had done a Diploma in Publishing through Whitireia, so I enrolled for that as well. In the second semester of 2007 I did two papers through Massey and two through Whitireia, as well as working and dealing with my mother's terminal illness and death. It was bloody hard, but I'm glad I didn't give up.

I graduated from Massey in May, and in July I start the final two papers for the Whitireia diploma. I was going to start them in February but needed some time to myself. I'm ready to begin studying again now, and will hopefully complete those two papers by Christmas.

I am 46 now, and I work fulltime from home as a journalist, editor and photographer. Last year I didn't earn much as I spent so much time studying, but this year I am earning bloody good money and getting very big new clients. My lowest hourly charge out rate is nearly four times what I was getting when I worked for a boss, and my highest rate nearly five times.

Without taking on those study programmes, I would never have had the skills or the courage to tackle the work I am doing now, so for me, it's been really worth it. I am far more organised (not that you'd know it from looking at my desk...) now than I was two years ago, and far more confident in my ability.

[rachprice]

My mum started her teaching degree at around 34 now at 44 she is finishing her masters, maybe start on a PhD in a few years. In my (maybe biased) opinion she has done amazingly and is one of the smartest people I know.
On a side note I was at a welcome piss up in my first year of medicine and after doing a degree in pharm I got called a mature student :Oi: Im all of two years older than you buddy!

[imdying]

Spent more time chatting up the girlies and perving than listening to lectures... *sigh* will only go back when i'm married I think!To let people fuck your wife whilst you're out all day?