College Education after 40, the Challenges and Rewards

After going through a nasty divorce, an emotional breakdown, and suicidal ideations; I went to college to get my psychology degree. I wanted to find out why I always found myself in abusive environments. I had thought something was wrong with me. My past and what I learned in class is a whole other blog or two though.

I was 42 years old when I started college. It had been a year since my divorce was finalized but we were still going through very nasty custody hearings. I was also working full time. My first semester I took on 4 classes along with all the above going on. There were nights that I did not sleep because I went to work, then class, then homework, and then back to work. All the other semesters, I took on the maximum number of credits which came out to 4-5 classes per semester. We had a minimum of 6 custody hearings each year that I was in school. Besides dealing with continued verbal and emotional abuse from my ex, he had bribed my kiddos into treating me the same way.

Even with all the distractions and the personal turmoil I went through, I still made the Dean’s List most of the semesters. I have 5 Dean’s List Certificates, each for a different semester. I graduated with a 3.54 GPA. I also was invited to be a member of the Phi Theta Kappa and have a Certificate of Honors from the National Honors Society.

Staying busy and determined to prove others wrong, helped to keep me from drowning in the hell going on in my life. I hope that someone finds the will to better themselves from reading this. Everyone can do this with the right mindset. You are never too old or too busy to go to college.