Returning to school after a long break from higher education is not for the faint of heart. You’ll need to balance the usual school challenges—communicating with professors, understanding course demands, meeting deadlines, and getting to know other students—with the many obstacles an already busy adult life presents. You may have less time with your kids or spouse, spend more time at the computer or away from home, or get less sleep. You’ll likely have less free time.
Nearly three-quarters of adults in their 30s crave a career change. The motives fueling these desires are as diverse as the humans themselves. Some people find that the career they thought they’d love is wholly unfulfilling. Others want to make more money, have more flexibility, or spend more time with their kids. Some industries are shriveling up and becoming less lucrative. And in other industries, possibilities may have opened that didn’t exist before. You only get one life. You spend about 90,000 hours of your life at work. So why not make the most of that time and do something you love that offers a decent paycheck and a chance to grow?
Sixty percent of adults have considered returning to school, with 70 percent agreeing that higher education prepares adults for successful careers. While younger students often have the freedom to focus solely on school or to study while spending just a few hours a week at a part-time job, most older learners have other responsibilities. Balancing work and school can be difficult, whether your job is full-time parenting, challenging managerial work, or something completely unrelated to the degree you pursue.
As the days get shorter, leaves change, and the temperature cools, the time for “fall back” gets closer. Now with phones and computers set to automatically update, we don’t think about the time change as much, but perhaps we should spend more time preparing for the time change.
Sometimes the pressures of life, school, work, and family obligations can leave you feeling like it is all too much. When we start experiencing those overwhelmed emotions, it begins easy to consider giving up or letting go of goals that are important to us, simply to get some relief. Your quest for higher education is no different. There may be times during the course of your program when you feel like throwing in the towel. Instead of making a decision may come to regret, use these tips for building resilience to stay strong and keep going.
Going back to school as an adult opens doors and can even change your life. It shows your kids that it’s never too late to follow your dreams, and it gives you the chance to finally become the person you were always meant to be. If following your dreams were easy, though, everyone would do it. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re deep in the trenches of balancing work, school, and family life. Whether you’re transitioning back to school for the first time or trying to rein in the chaos after semesters of hard work, these strategies can help you find balance—and maybe even some rest.
The K-12 teaching profession is essential on many levels, and It’s also one of the most rewarding and challenging callings. Despite shrinking budgets and crowded classrooms, teachers are required to ensure that each student learns to give students the opportunity to progress in their studies and to prepare them for success in life, which will impact regional and national economic health.
Fall always brings a little bit of magic with it. Don’t let your busy schedule and studies keep you from fully experiencing it! Switching up your study spot a bit can help you enjoy the season as well as stay productive!
Whether it's been five, ten or fifteen years since you've been in school, you can still start your classes off strong. Laying a good foundation will be vital to reducing stress throughout the program. These seven steps will help create good habits that will follow you throughout your program and give you the space and time to figure out what works best for you.
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