Reaching Lifelong Goals as a Nontraditional Student

Being a Non Traditional student is a different experience at college… When I was put out to pasture by my previous employer due to the economy, I quickly saw that the job market in Oregon was pretty poor. Especially if you are a 53 year old Shipping Clerk without a college degree. What better time to go to school and finish that long desired degree. I was a student at a community college in Salem, Oregon from 1978-1981, majoring in Business Administration. Thought back then that it would be my ticket to success…

Well, LIFE GETS IN THE WAY SOMETIMES! Going to school and working full time soon became problematic, something had to give… Well long story-short, I became a working stiff in jobs that were neither fulfilling nor challenging for the next 30 years!

So, in March of 2009, I made the decision to go back to school as an “older returning student”. I just plugged in my Business Administration credits and thought that would be fine… My wife is a CPA and asked me one day – “do you really want to take Business Law, do you really want to study Business Statistics?” I had to take a long hard look at what would be available to a 58 year old MBA going up against some “kid” just beginning his career. A prospective employer would look at him and say “I can pay this kid less money, and get more years out of them”

My wife asked me, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”

My first love has always been History. Particularly World War One Aviation. If I was to invest the next few years in college, why shouldn’t I study what I love? Since I have made this change in course, I feel a new freedom and drive toward my goal of a degree. What do I want to be when I grow up? AN HISTORIAN!!

When people ask me what I do, my goal is to be able to tell them that I’m a noted WWI Historian and be able to back that up with the sheepskin to prove it.

This is my favorite camera, just one of my many hobbies…Nikon D90 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)