Follow Your Dreams
By Liz Lindberg
A college student is typically thought of as being a traditional young student who comes to college right out of high school, but that is not always the case. I am a new student at Lake Superior College (LSC), and I am 43 years old! I’d like to share some insight and useful resources that LSC has to offer for new students who may be much like me. I hope this article is helpful to new students that may be coming back to school after deciding to change career paths, or perhaps the non-traditional students who may be a bit older and have decided to give college a try for the very first time.
I have been working full time as a Certified Medical Assistant for the past 16 years; however, I decided to make a career change to finally go after my long-time dream of becoming an RN. I have two children and I am a single mom, so raising them and working a full and part-time job has always been my main priority. Now that my children are a bit older, I finally decided that the time was right for me to make school a priority and to follow my dream of becoming an RN.
Signing up and being accepted to LSC was very exciting, but it was also a little overwhelming in knowing that it was official! I worried about some silly things like the idea of being the oldest person in class, or the intimidating thoughts of time management and adding schoolwork and studying into my already busy schedule of working not only one, but two jobs. I also still had to maintain a household and take care of my kids. I had signed up for two online classes and one evening (in person) class that is four hours long twice a week. I was stressed beyond belief thinking of how I could possibly balance everything.
The first week of school went rather smoothly. I was navigating my online courses well and enjoying my time being in a classroom again. I even found out that I was not the oldest one there! However, as the weeks went on, the coursework increased. My College Composition class had assigned a two-page essay, and I had a big test to study for in my Human Anatomy & Physiology class. I found that I was struggling in not only finding the time to accomplish everything, but also with understanding some of the material. I knew that I needed to figure out a better schedule for myself and that I could also use some guidance in how I could study better. I started looking into some of the resources offered at LSC and came across The Tutoring and Learning Center (TLC).
TLC offers free tutoring help to all LSC students either online or in person. They are in the S building in room S265. There are computers to use, and some private study rooms are also available to allow for a quiet space to focus. Study groups are another option if you learn better by bouncing ideas off others. I found it very helpful for my Human Anatomy and Physiology class that they have skeletons and bones available that students can use to study with as well. Math and science tutors do not require you to make an appointment, you can just stop on in! The tutors can also help by teaching valuable skills that are helpful to know to be able to study better as well, which was very helpful to me.
College is certainly a challenge for students of all ages, however I found it to be even more of a struggle being away from school for so many years. I was a bit rusty with things such as writing essays, knowing how to properly take notes, studying for tests again, or just finding the time to accomplish everything I needed to get done each week. Ultimately, keeping in mind that there are great resources available like TLC and that the teachers are also very willing to help and discuss any issues that one may have, is a huge relief! I am very happy that I did return to school and am proud to be a part of LSC! I am beyond excited for the future and my new career. It’s never too late to go back to school.
