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My decision in going back to college in my 30s

smahala1991
My decision in going back to college in my 30s

"Life always offers you a second chance, it's called tomorrow" - Stephen King

When I graduated High School in 2009, I enrolled at East Tennessee State University to major in Elementary Education, which in hindsight was something I thought I could do. However, the further I went into my college career I found out maybe I didn't have the passion for the classwork. I was working in a preschool at the time as part of a work study grant. Honestly I felt like as a 19-20 year old student I was learning more at work than in the classroom. Plus at the time my grandparents (whom were my adopted parents) were both suffering from health issues. I wasn't taking the class work as seriously as I should have.

Over the next few years both of my grandparents passed on and I moved out of state to North Carolina to start a new life with my biological parents to get to know them better. Over this time I started working different jobs either quickly getting burnt out or figuring out that it wasn't right for me. However in 2019, I started working in the restaurant industry (which culinary arts/ restaurants was my first love even as a kindergartener). I have been in the restaurant industry ever since.

I started to wonder what I could do to stay fresh in the industry. I then decided to look into hospitality and tourism. There i found out with a degree in that I can be in charge of caterings, work in any kind of dining setting whether it's cruise ships, hotels, resorts, restaurants etc. I can also do travel agent bookings and tourism related careers as well. So I applied for online school and got accepted and got financial aid. The more I keep looking into this program, the more I keep thinking maybe I'm not too old to discover myself. Maybe it's time for me to start over and burn my old bridges. It may not be where I started, but it can be where I want to be. I have actually questioned lately that maybe it's too late for me to start over. I have actually attempted to reenter school once before for pharmacy tech. My stepmother at the time discouraged me by saying that I pissed my time in college away and I need to be in the workforce rather than furthering my education. But even after that I want to do one thing that my stepmom, Mom, Dad, grandparents,and siblings never did. I want to go to college and finish.

My decision in going back to college in my 30s
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