To return to education for an adult is no easy path and if you are working or raising children at the time expect to have a dramatically reduced social life and a full-time relationship with your calendar and computer. I swear my partner thinks I am having some type of cyber-fling with the computer.
Upon my return to adult education it was very obvious that there was a total time-management issue to be tackled. That and a firm grasp of computer skills are a necessity.
Not living near a local university and working part-time I was compelled to complete my studies through on-line open education, which linked me to a state university. The convenience of studying at home was fantastic as I was also a mother to two young teenagers however our main issue to overcome was time. We all needed to use the computer so a negotiable schedule was employed. I was relegated to daytime usage whilst school was on and the wee hours of the morning. Actually I probably got more work done in the early morning hours, it was so peacefully uninterrupted. If money had not been such a big factor I would have definitely purchased a small laptop for myself to help ease the chaos. Money as well rears its ugly head when one needs to purchase the recommended study books. Due to lack of funds I increasingly used my local library to order books from other larger libraries to keep costs down. Another good source of study material is the search portals on the Internet. Although sometimes extremely time consuming I often came across relevant issues that would help me with my essays or sometimes just aid me with which track to follow on some issues. The most helpful of all was definitely my lecturers because no matter how trivial my questions seemed to me, they were always attentive and I always felt that they had my best interests were always supported.
Adult education is a huge step but leap from a tall building into to it because you will just “never ever know if you don't have a go”.
