Driving 2800 Miles is Like Being a Non-Traditional Student
Over the last week, I have driven over 2800 miles from Houston, TX to a small town in northern Alberta, Canada. There were so many stops and starts, so many delays along the way, and so much fear and agitation involved that it couldn't help remind me of one of the toughest journeys I ever took in my life: that of a non-traditional student.
We decided to pull up stakes and move back to be closer to my family last month. Ummmm, no impulsiveness involved at all, right? The day job was getting to be a real grind, and I was getting nothing back in terms of emotional satisfaction or even any real financial gains. Even though it could be suicide financially to quit my job in today's economic climate, I had to do it or lose any self-respect I had for myself. Sometimes you just have to close your eyes, take the plunge and do what's right for yourself for once.
When I was driving on this long, long trip, I frequently encountered road construction. I was even almost wiped off the face of the planet by a moving van in a construction site near Edmonton. When you decide to go back to school, you'll go through your own road construction too. You'll think you finally have all your paperwork in order for financial aid, only to find that your school has their own forms apart from the FAFSA you need filled out. Only they never bothered to tell you this! Or your daycare arrangements will fall through at the last minute. Something will definitely happen to make you shriek in frustration. But just like the road construction I encountered on my trip, it delayed my journey, but it never stopped it completely. Pick yourself up, and keep going.
Just like I had many doubters that thought I was crazy to move back to something not even big enough to call a hick town, you'll have many doubters that think that you'll never actually enroll in classes either. The doubters have probably been stuck in the same rut you have been in for years, and they'll be jealous that you have the guts to do something about your situation. Even though what they have been doing isn't working for them either, they will stay firmly planted in their little assigned box, quaking with fear over trying anything new. When you decide to finally take action and do something to improve yourself and your prospects, it will rock certain people to the core. They will try their utmost to discourage you from enrolling in classes, making you doubt your intellectual abilities, your financial resources to return to school, your daycare arrangements, anything at all to get you to stay in that little confined box with them.
Don't let them. Be your own hero. Get in your figurative car and drive it hard until you get to Diploma Town.
Many non-traditional students think that Pell Grants are not available to them. This is untrue!