"Up! up! my Friend and quit your books
Or surely you'll grow double.
Up! up! my Friend and clear your looks
Why all this toil and trouble?"
During my stint at the alternative high school, I coached/force -marched the English 4 students through their required poetry analysis. The standardized curriculum gave them the option of writing about Wordsworth's "Tables Turned" or Browning's "Porphyria's Lover". Most of them used Wordsworth's poem (thankfully), and I have had the above stanza echoing in my head for the past couple of weeks. This year, the "Tables Turned" and I am the one in the student role, struggling through the end of the semester, spending every spare minute studying the physiology of the nephron and possible locations for subcutaneous and intramuscular injections.
Going back to school at 43 is more of a challenge than I anticipated. Gone are the days when I could stay up until 3:00 am and write a coherent paper, or stagger hungover into the lecture hall for an English lit final. Sigh. I miss those days, but being an older student has its advantages. I know my limits, now, and plan ahead. I don't have to struggle to balance my social life. And, golly, I find that without the consumption of a liter of vodka a week, I actually remember things!
Today, I am thrilled to announce that I am finished with finals, and am free for four full weeks! I can loll about on OS for hours! I can watch movies - read fiction - bake treats! The possibilities are endless, and I am almost giddy this morning as I think about them! I know there are others of you finishing up exams. Let me hear from you! What are you doing to celebrate? Let's party!
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Alysa Salzberg
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Our last exam is next Tues. Sigh, I've been punched out all semester :/ luckily this has been an easy round (Geriatrics, Psych, OB) Next semester has the dreaded second med surg. - that one is going to kick my butt. I'm going to have to go back to my first semester mantra: please, please let me not kill anyone with my stupidity.
Wow, Dustie, we have a lot in common--going to college as an older student (fantastic!) and having taught in alternative HS.
Celebrated my last final/paper by posting my Christmas story for all my OS friends and relations. Will be meeting my sis, O'Kathryn, in San Francisco on my Bday so am really going to have a wonderful time. Hope you have a great break!
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I've been in health care for 25 years and love the hell out of it. NOTHING, short of becoming independantly wealthy is more exciting.
Good luck in your scholastic endeavor, Okie - Woody Guthrie would be proud.
I'm here, making you a promise!
You'll encounter obnoxious physicians (many, many of them), annoying co-workers, repressive employers in their corporate world of healthcare who haven't a clue what it's all about, individuals who prefer to express their rights as patients using the most foul and abusive language (and even attempts at physical abuse on occasion) they can garner.
BUT! The one time you see the thankful gleam in the eyes of a patient or co-worker and feel the warmth of that individual's gratitude, remembering the others will be a minor pursuit of trivia. And that, dbd, is what it's all about.
Unlike most other industries, healthcare is still all about helping others.
I resumed school when I was 43 (14 years ago) and like you, I was scared shitless, had absolutely no confidence in myself and worried that I may make a fool of myself in front of myself.
NO WORRY! The first step is the hardest, but once you dive in, it's all riding a biycle; if you've done it once, you've done it forever. The fear of starting again is just a self-imposed fear of monsters in your closet.
Go for it! When it's all done, you'll wonder why you were concerned.
In school, I used to take dance class (classical ballet) at 8 am after my friends and I would be out until 4 am. We'd have to do barrel turns and these crazy difficult leaps...oh god, just thinking about it makes me nauseous.
Life's accomplishments are good for the soul. My sister joined the ranks of higher education starting at the ripe age of 43 also. She now holds two degrees and is the only one in the family to go to college. Mom couldn't be prouder, as you too should be.