25 yo. I have been in college for a total of 7 years. I have a Bachelors and Master's degree in and 50K in student loan debt, but I am just now realizing what it is that I want to do with myself. I am willing to go back to school to obtain a 2nd Master's degree--this time with some work experience to back up what I want to do. I am working and going to school part-time, but I feel like such a failure. I will have been in college for almost 10 years by the time I finish. I just feel like its such a waste and that I didn't use my time wisely. I just don't want to spend the rest of my life working in a field that I dont want or have to return to school when I'm older with kids and all. Can anyone offer any support or advice?
2007-12-29 19:15:16 · 8 answers · asked by florita 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Higher Education (University +)
After 2 masters, I can tell you point-blank education is never a waste. Far more important than the particulars you learn are the methods you develop for learning - for the Bachelors, you learned how to think, how to write, and how to solve closed-form (fully constrained) problems. For the masters, you learned how to solve open (unbounded and/or overconstrained) problems. These are techniques you may not have realize you learned, but you have; and they will never leave you. That, alone, makes everything worth it.
As someone who has done what your doing and is a lot older than you, I can offer a few things that I've learned. First, education is never ending. I'm almost 40, and my 50 year old boss just went back to school at UCLA. As long as you want to improve yourself, you will be in school in one form or another. Once you stop thinking about time (forget "almost 10 years"), continuing will not be so difficult.
Second, are you aiming to enter a totally new field? If that's what you want to do, then do it! My doctor has a MS in engineering. He was 25 when he realized his love was medicine. He got his MD by the time he was 34, and has been practicing medicine for 25 years and never regretted his decision. I had a psyche professor during my UCLA MBA - same thing. Bachelors in mechanical engineering before he decided he wanted to become a PhD and professor in Psych. And here he is, decades later, a tenured professor at one of the most prestigeous universities in the world.
Stop thinking in terms of 5 or 8 or 10 years, and think about what you want to do between the ages of 28 and 65+, because that's about 40 years to build a career.
You might as well do what you love.
Best of luck.
2007-12-29 19:39:06 · answer #1 · answered by ZenPenguin 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Right now you really aren't behind at all, so as I read it, you haven't wasted a lot of time. Ten years to get a bachelor's degree and two masters, plus work experience, is pretty normal. Realize that in five years you will be 30, one way or the other. You could either be 30 and still doing something you don't enjoy, or 30 doing something you want to do. Either way, you will be finished with school and have another 35 years left to your career. Which condition sounds like a better one!
2007-12-29 19:28:26 · answer #2 · answered by neniaf 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have been out of HS for 10 years and only went to college for two years. I still don't have a degree. You have ALOT to be proud of! No amount of time in school is a waste. You have learned alot. It's better to have gone to school, using your degree and happy about your choice than having no degree at all!
2007-12-29 19:23:24 · answer #3 · answered by Manda 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i do no longer understand. pondering we are all gonna be lifeless in one hundred years, each and every thing we do is a waste of time. Btw, i'm the respected president of the procrastinator's club. Or i'll be, as quickly as i'm getting around to sending my letter of attractiveness. good success along with your quiz.
2016-11-26 20:00:23 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are not alone. I myself am 25 and I am back in college again due to a change of heart. I have a BS in Psychology and BA in Philosophy and I am now pursuing a BS in Aeronautics..............You are not a failure by any means, you are setting yourself up for success!!!!
One of my professors didn't start college until he was 27 and he has a Phd in Aerospace Engineering, loved it, and is actually retiring after next semester to Hawaii.
Stay Strong and best wishes!
2007-12-31 03:42:00 · answer #5 · answered by Vespertine 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go back to school while you still can! Like you said, you don't want to be stuck doing something you don't want to. Life is too short to be unhappy.
Best of luck :)
2007-12-29 19:18:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
first off nice hair, I am with everyone else on this do what you like...
2007-12-30 00:31:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
education is NEVER a waste........do it while you can! do what makes you happy!!
2007-12-29 19:23:32 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋