Other person: “I’m jealous of Tommy getting to go away to school. I’d like to go back to school and start over. Wouldn’t you?”
Me: “No. Been there, done that.”
Other person: “Well, I’m glad you’re happy just being a housewife.”
There are a lot of things that I would like to do. Going back to college isn’t one of them. I have a life that I don’t want walk away from. I learn from my children every day. I would much rather be doing things than memorizing what the professor wants me to believe. I have lived and done enough to know that some college professors are completed detached from the real world. I had three children when I went back to school for a second degree to try and start my life over again. Two different professors teaching ignorance about Autism was enough for me. College professors seem incapable of accepting that their political and social ideas are not the only ideas out there. I did get a lot out of my college experiences. I just don’t want to do it again.
As for being just a housewife, well some statements are too stupid to even acknowledge.
Update: I do not mean to insult college or professors. The first time I went to school, I was a child. I didn’t take school as seriously as I should have, but it did what it should. It lit fires in my mind and inspired me to be active and passionate about the world in which I live. I went back as an adult who had experienced life’s ups and downs. I learned that the feminist professor who inspired me to believe in legalized prostitution because it is a victim-less crime and a woman’s right was really a moron. While I still believe in the concept of legalized prostitution, it is neither victim-less nor sexually empowering. That professor needs to meet the young prostitute who is so psychologically damaged she can’t have a healthy relationship. My second experience in college, I had professors who were entrenched in the real world and I learned a lot from the way they themselves grew and adapted to try and help make the community better. I also had a lot of professors who would say things that I knew were wrong. More than that, I felt like my second experience in college I wanted to be out doing and not sitting in a classroom. I wanted a practicum education, not a lecture hall. I guess I am just too old for school.
I am sorry that you had this experience in college. What you describe may be more widespread than I would like to think, but I can assure you that it is not generalizable to all professors. When I was at UT in the political science dept. and taught American Government. I went out of my way to make sure to frame all presentations and discussions sucht that students never had any idea who I supported or what my ideological preference might be other that they were somewhere within the very broad mainstream of American Politics. And nobody ever could do very well on a test by memorizing anything. My approach may not be typical, but it is not isolated either. Thanks.
I’ve always felt that I wanted to go back to college and repeat the entire course, at least the computer science part of it. I was too busy partying, dating and otherwise socializing the first time around, not to mention working odd jobs that sometimes interfered with my class schedule, and I am afraid I missed a lot. I went to one of the top schools in my home country and some of the professors were amazing, I wish I could sit through their classes again. Then again, they’re all probably retired by now. I never knew what their political and social ideas were, and truth be told I never cared. I’m just thankful they didn’t feel the need to proselytize. So to sum it up, I guess it depends on the school and the classes you’re taking. Of course it may be different here. We’re about to find out in a few years.
UGH! I am sooo happy to have just given up a nearly 20 year career to stay home and be “just a housewife”. There is no way I’d want to go back to school and start over; I’m enjoying my life now more than ever. Staying at home is a pleasure; I love caring for my family and I consider it a great honor.
I’m right there with you … firstly on the “just a housewife” thing (I’m not married to a house!) and also on the college thing, since that is what I am (regrettably) doing now.
I went back to get my CompSci degree so that I could rise above the help desk into jobs with more challenge, responsibility, versatility and not least of all, more money! (Who can live on $11 an hour these days??? Seriously, that is average pay for support phone drones!)
I was told over and over that the better job required either 5 to 7 years of experience, or a degree, preferably both. So off to school I went.
What I have found has been disheartening, to say the least. It is a wonder that new college grads are ready for any sort of entry level work, much less anything that requires a lot of critical thinking. The classes I have had are little more than an introduction to the theories and principles of _______ and these are upper division CompSci classes! (The humanities classes have been better though).
Having had 20+ years of Real Life™ experience, this sort of “learning” is not what I am looking for. Now I am up to my eyeballs in student loan debt, unemployed for almost a year now, and still not “qualified” for anything more than entry level phone drone work … because I don’t have a piece of paper saying that I know what I know.
*sigh*