request for an "Adult Student" forum

baracuta_jones
Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:17:34 +0000

Well, you catch my drift.

JCampbell stated that there are resources out there for the non-trad students, but I have yet to find them. I have read a few websites that basically just try to offer compassionate advice; basically telling you not to feel like a loser, “It’s okay, many adults go back to school.” Or the few boards that are designed for returning mothers. I am not a mother, nor a loser. Nor do I have a career that I need to work around.

I am the non-traditional non-traditional student; which makes me a traditional student in every sense of the word. I want to attend college during the day. I want to participate in college activities, clubs, and other campus-related events (no, I am not trying relive some by-gone glory days). I don’t want to be in some sort of excelerated learning program for adults. I don’t want to take courses or be forced into a program for adults (even though trad students are adults…sort of ). The only thing that makes me a non-trad student is my age and some stupid rule set forth by who knows for reasons that seem to be unknown and don’t really make any sense.

It is frustrating for someone my age. There is almost no merit-based scholarships available. In fact, there is not much of any sort of scholarships available for someone my age which is kind of funny because I bust my behind and have proved myself ten-fold and I am more dedicated now to college then most 18 year olds (presumably, at least I got all of my party years out of my system and can now actually focus on my school work). But, I apply for scholarships and they just shrug, “Sorry, but you are a decade to old.” And the few that are available for someone my age are reserved for single parents, women who had to drop out of college the first time around to raise a kid, minorities, or veterans.

Seriously, what the heck?

Oh, and by the way; many of you will probably be back on this site ten years from now when you realize that it wasn’t a good idea to drop out (happens all the time) or that you shouldn’t have majored in _________ and now want a career change, but need to return to college to accomplish that (this happens a lot more then you think–how many eighteen year olds really know what they want to do with their lives?).

So yeah, a sub-forum for us oldies would be nice. There is a parents section, why not one for us?