Adults Returning to College - Essay Example

Full Whom to be submitted Adults Returning to College Throughout in life, new challenges keep toiling with the human mind. However, the challenge gets ever so strenuous when the confrontation is an old one - tracing the person's steps back into the past. A similar issue is generated when an adult considers having a position in college as a student; social, economic, domestic and psychological issues suddenly erupt, making the academic task seem somewhat less significant in front of these primal concerns. 'Adults returning to college', is essentially a transition beyond the ordinary. Foremost, it is a social conversion for the adult; jumping into an era that was, at least theoretically, long gone. It is time travel in a very crude and possibly uncomfortable way. Regardless of the academic value and professional excellence that education may provide, the impact of identifying with the fact that the peers shall no longer be of the same age group, a feeling of being a misfit is created. This generates a social challenge that can only coped with successfully if time and understanding friends stick by. Other than that, one should remember the primary concern for re-entering the college. It may be for educational superiority, for professional excellence, for career searching, or merely to relive a once imagined dream. Whatever the preference, it should, by all means, supersede the social challenge. Another relevant issue is that of changed domestic commitments. Years back, when one would have been single, independent and free of domestic liability, college could have seemed much more feasible. However, with a job, a spouse and a couple of children (who themselves require adequate education), the picture seems in a totally different frame. This one factor alone probably deters many middle-aged individuals from returning to college - the myth of not being able to cope with family and studies together is just too strong to be broken with ease. With the work-at-hand and other personal commitment in modern times, the time spent with the family is already less than desired in many cases. Considering college in such circumstances becomes a real challenge. An associated problem to the one just mentioned, which only those can appreciate to the fullest who have gone through it, is child bearing and rearing. Largely for working single parents and even with professionally occupied couples, adequate care giving for their children is always a thwarted goal - something they feel to be missing out on every day of their life. Add college studies to this, and you can just forget about giving your child any time at all; at least till where they assume! However, for infants and even slightly older children, many community colleges offers daycare centers and customized child care services that actually help the student (whatever the age) to organize their course work and manage their domestic life in a better manner than they were doing before. A feeling of being intellectually rusty is another great demeanor for those who seek to go back to college at a later stage. Somehow, they rate intellect and creativity to youth; quite ironically, youngsters consider elders as more intelligible on the simple premise of maturity. This stark contrast, however, affects the adults more adversely than it does the young ones. For one, the youth feel that they might grow up one day to 'that' particular level of maturity. Whereas the elder person does not have that hope, as he has been through both phases and knows his/her correct standing. According to the Education and Employment Information Center, "Adult learners tend to be highly motivated and tend to approach learning in a mature manner". The psychological issue of being inferior, an under-achiever and out of sorts is also a hidden yet potent factor. Even if a person has the ability to learn and excel, the factor of being 'left behind' one's own friends, and to be amongst those of a different era gives rise to a series of timid ideas and mediocre feelings about one-self. Furthermore, adjustment issues, and anti-social ideation are also issues that can disturb an adult wishing to turn back to college life. Again, prioritizing one's life becomes imperative in this case. Whether such emotional feelings carry more weight, or the substantive values of the degree at the end of the coursework This is a question that is very easily answered if dwelled upon pragmatically. By far, one of the most concrete and real-time problem is that of economic standing. For many people, the primary reason why they couldn't go to college in their normal time is because they could not financially afford it. It is not merely an issue of being able to get a scholarship, loan or loan; financial liabilities of the families for certain individuals refrain them from enduring an academically idealistic path. Here, one must open his eyes and appreciate the benefits the contemporary world has to offer. Innumerable classification of financial assistance is available these days, something that was unheard of in earlier times. If there is talent, urge and eagerness to learn, there is no economic reason why a personal is left without a college degree in modern times. For most adults wanting to return back to college, the ambiguity and lack of proper information about the issue creates a good enough faade for them to never venture into this arena. What course to take, how many semesters to study, work/study combinations and ability to take up courses at conveniences are some of the primal questions that remain unanswered for them. Many of them correlate college study as a compulsion of having to go to an institute for 2-4 years compulsorily (pretty much on the lines of high schools). The multitude of academic options that today's contemporary education system offers, is a dimension that they have never truly explored. There is a generalized feeling that they would probably be the only adult on campus, giving them a very alienated feeling. Quite on the contrary, "Nearly six million adults attend college in the United States," claims the Education and Employment Information Center. That by no means is a figure to shy away from when contemplating a college degree for anybody who has the fears of being a 'loner'. One is likely to be surprised by the high number of adults that are these days in their respective quests for learning at colleges. This alone, should be encouraging, to say the least. Those still advocating the cause 'against' college education for adults merely have to think 'out-of-the-box. If education is taken in its true spirit, then age can never be a barrier. It is merely the quest for learning that surpasses any other worldly hurdle in the path of a person. Agreed, reverting back to professional education for a person of higher years is not as simple as a conversion from high school would have been - however, the end product and the reason for indulging in education again clarifies all myths. Overall, a multitude of reason may be hovering in the mind of an adult desirous of returning to college. Fortunately, though, all these factors are not only answerable, they are rectifiable as well. Whatever dimension of challenge might be there, the urge for acquiring knowledge in itself is the biggest reward that one starts to feel when one embarks upon the pursuit for learning. In current times, educational institutions have customized their services in order to facilitate education for all. In all, appropriate information, correct frame of mind and the eagerness to learn are the necessary ingredients that ensure a smooth transition of an adult back into college life. Work Cited "Education and Employment Information Center." Returning To College: Answers for Adults. 22 Nov 2005. . Read More