by Kevin Erdman
I was 24 years old and worked two full-time jobs just to pay my bills when I decided it was time to go back to college. The process of going back was challenging, arduous and confusing. Now that I am three years out of school and working full time (in a career based on my degree), I can look back and recognize several mistakes I made along the way as well as the things I did right that paid off significantly. So if you are returning to school and would like to learn from my experience, here are the eight things you must do.
1. Don’t be Afraid to Participate in Extracurricular Activities.
When I returned to college I felt I owed it to myself to focus solely on my studies and ignore all the bells and whistles of the full college experience. This included participating in intermural sports, joining clubs and organizations, and taking part in study abroad and other off-campus opportunities. There were two primary reasons that I felt the need to hold back here: I simply did not have time, since I was still working full days, and I felt out of place with the traditional age students around me. The time factor presented a real obstacle and the social factor felt real.
One semester though, I had a break between two of my afternoon classes on my Tuesday-Thursday schedule, which just so happened to be the time the Tyler Literary Society met. Joining the TLS at Bucks County Community College proved to be one of my most valuable college experiences. In addition to meeting like minded students, writing and editing for the magazine, learning about publishing software and having a hands-on experience helped me greatly when it came to pursuing writing jobs after college. While the classroom taught the necessary essentials of voice, theme, tone, and literary theory, working for the TLS taught me how to apply classroom theory to real-world situations.
Finding the time (and energy) to participate in activities outside the classroom might sound impossible for non-traditional students. But if you can find an opportunity between classes or on your on-campus days, the benefits really do pay off…as long as you select a program that aligns with your long-term goals.
2. Take Time to Sit Down with a Financial Aid Adviser.
Pell grants, Stanford loans – subsidized and unsubsidized – scholarship applications and the beast that is FAFSA – oh my! Navigating the intricate web of financial aid presented one of the biggest obstacles in returning to college for me. I was fortunate though. In starting at a community college (before eventually completing my BA at a four year university) I was able to pay for my first semester back out-of-pocket. Knowing that I simply couldn’t afford the remainder of community college and would have zero chance at paying for university, I set an appointment up with a financial aid adviser. I did my due diligence in researching all I could find online, and thought I was starting to get a perspective on it. But actually sitting down face to face with a financial aid coordinator made more of a difference than I can express. Not only did I get my financial aid completed in time for the next semester, but I moved through the remainder of my college career with confidence in the process.
3. Make Friends with Career Services.
My initial experience with “career services” amounted to a belief that it was an obligatory department without any real support or direction. It isn’t always wise to go with your first impression. One of my work-study jobs was teaching at the writing center. One day I helped a marketing major named Sarah put together her bibliography for a semester-making (or breaking) research paper. During our conference she told me her work-study job was for career services. After expressing my cynicism she invited me to a one-on-one session with her boss. After about an hour my entire perspective changed. Both my senior internship and my (paying) summer internship were settled after that first hour. Having a friend in the department I continued to make frequent stops there, sometimes bringing donuts or just stopping in to chat. Before I graduated, I had a job lined up. Learning how to network and actually creating a network are two important opportunities you have at college. My suggestion is to start that network at the office of career services.
4. Getting Mileage Out of Your Real-World Experiences.
College students get divided up into traditional and nontraditional students. The traditional students go straight from high school to college, from one sheltered microcosm to another sheltered microcosm. This limited life experience is actually a major roadblock for traditional students. Learning the theory of the classroom falls short because they so often have no applicable experience to put it into a real-world perspective. Nontraditional students often bring a wide range of successes, failures – and lessons learned from both – with them into the classroom. While it may at first appear that this disconnection in experience sets you apart from your traditional peers, the difference is actually your advantage. Not only will you have better critical thinking skills because you were forced to develop them, but nontraditional students also tend to have a greater appreciation for being enrolled in college. While the some traditional students may cynically text their way through
class disengaged with the material, the nontraditional student diligently takes notes and participates. When I went back to school I repeated this to myself all the time: “So few people get a chance to go college at all, let alone a second chance; I owe it to them and myself to make the most of this.”
5. Connect with Professors.
Being more engaged in class and being able to relate course material to real-world experience means that you should be an active class participant. Bringing enthusiasm, energy, positivity and a genuine interest in learning with you into the classroom will make your professors love you. This helps a lot when it comes to needing an extension on a due date or missing class due to work – both common issues nontraditional students deal with as they often work full-time off campus. Not only that, professors do not want to waste time with lazy students, and enjoy helping those that show passion for the material and willingness to do the work. Getting your professors to appreciate you creates advocates supportive of your educational (and professional) goals.
6. Plan Courses Ahead to Save Time and Money.
Building on tip 5 above, contacting the professor of a course at the time of registration shows initiative. It is also a good way to get your syllabus and required books ahead of time. This provides you with time to shop books online and find the best possible deals, which can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a semester. You can also get a jump on reading and be ahead of the class, so that you create a buffer should work or personal life responsibilities interfere with your studies. For example, if you are ahead in course reading and get offered to work a double shift at overtime pay, you won’t have to refuse out of fear of falling behind.
Planning ahead also enables you to pick your courses early and register as soon as registration becomes available. This really helps with completing your program on the time frame created because there is less chance of needing to wait to take a particular course. (More on planning ahead later on.)
7. Establish a Study Routine That Is Realistic with Your Schedule.
I went from working two full-time jobs to both working and attending college full-time. I assumed that with the extra eight hours a day I could easily find the time to attend class and study. That was a bad assumption. I soon found that study time wasn’t something you could just squeeze in here and there during pockets of free time between classes or between work and class. It is vitally important to sit down and make a schedule that includes time for class, work, study, unwinding (very important), eating and sleeping. I suggest scheduling a solid two to three hour block a day for study. You need time to really dig in with focus and determination.
8. Decide Where You Want to Finish and Plan Backwards.
In my experience, the single most important way to achieve success as a returning student is developing a strategy to meet your specific goal. Before investing the time, energy and money into returning to school, ask yourself, “What do I want to accomplish?” Understanding that college graduates on average earn more than non-graduates is a great starting point. But you need real plans to become part of that higher earning group. Deciding on a career will help you select the major you want to pursue. From there you should look at all of the available programs or your school’s current semester offerings. Using the course catalogue as a guide, plan out a rough outline of your entire college career (which course you will need to take each semester until graduation). This will serve as your educational plan.
From there you will need to be on top of registration to make sure you get each class you want each semester. Understanding that you are unlikely to get every class you want each semester you should also develop a backup plan – the classes that you will take in lieu of the courses you want should they not be available. Academic advisers will help you create the educational plan but this typically only goes as far as what courses to take. Planning for the dates and times the courses are offered, and working that into your schedule, is research you need to do.
I recall the months before returning to college being filled with anxiety and doubt. The first few months back didn’t see a great decrease in doubt. But over time I felt more comfortable in the college classroom and soon found that it was where I belonged. I hope that the lessons I learned can help those dealing with similar challenges.
Kevin Erdman is a professional freelance writer, marketer, and higher education training coordinator. He graduated from Arcadia University after returning to school following a four-year absence.
