Anyone else studying?

Start my MBA next week (part time, on top of work and parenting). First time at school for 20 years, since I finished my A levels.

Finally got my course material through, which had been stuck in the post for 2 weeks, and been able to log on to my student forum and start to get my head around the whole thing.

A bit scary, but quite exciting as well!

did open university last year and found it really really hard. now have a 6th of a degree.

this year i am doing british sign language at college at night. its great. going to attempt open university again next year. hoping to work up to a full degree at some point.

good luck CG

good on you both and good luck with it! its never too late to learn

Yup - I also have taken a 'gap year' of two decades!

Three weeks into my Equine Management Degree course - though I have been lucky enough to be able to take the plunge and do a full time course.

It is scarily cool - a bit like a car crash really - frightening at points but you still get sucked in.

I've got to do work experience after Xmas break - for three weeks. I last did that when I was 16!

The main piece of advice that I found useful was find somewhere at home to study, and if you can, try to have as little 'pollution' from the rest of your life there as possible.
Easy to say, strangely hard to do - espescially if you got kids etc. It's sooo tempting to sit and re-work lecture notes whilst half watching the TV.

Oh, and I was told to try to set a routine and get others to help you stick to it. My first half hour when I get in is dedicated to a cuppa, my day's notes and my laptop. I type everything up, print it and file it. It's strange how much seems to have sunk in just from re-working notes. The door is closed and everyone (mostly the phone) gets ignored until I'm done.

You may also surprise yourself with how much comes sneaking back in from days of old. Ask me what I did in school biology lessons and I'm stumped, but during a lecture stuff that I thought would be difficult is often actually making sense.

After all that, what are you studying?

I think its brilliant that you,ve all returned to education, despite your advancing years , actually my wife did a degree in buisness studies some years back, two night,s a week in either Manchester or Salford typically plus a 70 mile commute to Cannock for work every day plus two kids and me to look after as well. Took her 4 yrs of hard graft to get her 2.1 but I was so proud of her when she went up to collect her scroll, had lump in me throat and a tear in me eye. So basically good luck with it all to all of you.

Originally Posted by CoolGirl

Start my MBA next week (part time, on top of work and parenting). First time at school for 20 years, since I finished my A levels.

Finally got my course material through, which had been stuck in the post for 2 weeks, and been able to log on to my student forum and start to get my head around the whole thing.

A bit scary, but quite exciting as well!

CG - are you studying with Open University? Ive just finished Creative Writing and am now doing Humanties - aiming for an Open Uni BA Open Degree (Im choosing all the courses without exams )

I love it - keeps the old grey matter working

Best of luck coolgirl, I am just coming to the end of studying for an MSc part time (only have my thesis viva left to do). Hard work (even without kids), but well worth it. If I could go back in time and give myself one tip when I was starting, it'd be this: Get up early and do your coursework before work; in the morning (4am worked well for me).

I found doing it in the evening/weekends takes twice as long (IE for every 2 hours sat there, you only do 1 hours actual work) as you're more likely to be worn out/distracted.

Originally Posted by CoolGirl

Start my MBA next week (part time, on top of work and parenting). First time at school for 20 years, since I finished my A levels.

School boy error, now we know how old you are.

Originally Posted by ASM-Forever

School boy error, now we know how old you are.

Suggest you retake biology.......

Just finished two years of a part time MSc in logistics - just the dissertation to do. Parent to a set of 4 year old twins, both of us work and we have an 8 month old daughter.

It;s hard work, but I'm hoping it's worth it in the end!