post off: do you wanna go back to school?

It seems all one has to do is blink and the summer months are gone. In just a few weeks the weather will begin to cool off and around the country it will be time to go back to school. For the last few years, having a full time job meant going back to school was a thing of the past. This year, I’m thinking it’s time to pull out my book bag, or maybe I should go with my pots and pans. This year I’m going to culinary school. Do you dream of going back to school? If you could go back, what would you study? –Erica P.


19 Responses to “post off: do you wanna go back to school?”

  1. Rachel Says:

    I do all the time. My degree is in engineering, but it just isn’t nurturing enough for my nature. I so want to go back and get an art/liberal arts degree.

  2. Megan B Says:

    Funny enough, I was supposed to start culinary school this fall too, but sometimes life has other plans. I started my own business instead. I’d still LOVE to go, but I just don’t know when we’ll have the money or time.

    Good luck, Erica!

  3. pookie Says:

    I dream of going to school at all! I went to work at a commercial printer while my sweetie went to college, then grad school, and law school. We got into debt (ya think?) and now we can’t afford for me to go to the Fashion Institute.

    Good luck Erica with culinary school, and Megan B with your business!

  4. patty Says:

    I got my masters in 2002? I enjoyed it, but it was hard. Hubby and I were both in school working and finishing up various degrees. We lived in the city house I bought years before we met. No vacations, had to buy an extra computer, upgrades of various software, it was both rewarding on a personal level and professional level.

    I’d like to go back for other things but the money thing is a killer.

    Pookie look into various scholarships, grants, that might help defray the cost. Also look into women changing careers type scholarship, they are out there.

  5. Tiffany S. Says:

    I went back to school in ‘98, and it was a great experience. The worst part was halfway through some of us realized that when we graduated we’d be qualified for jobs that only paid about half of what we were making before. Big mistake. Should have thought that one through a bit. I now have a totally unrelated job but I did make great friends and learned a lot (MA, History of Decorative Arts).

  6. j Says:

    I went back to get a business BA. That is helpful on a resume, but now I wish I had long ago gotten a landscape architecture degree, or a construction management degree. I wish I’d known those were even options! Business is boring; I want to make something that I can see. Maybe one day when (if) I don’t actually have to work and I have my student loans paid off I’ll go do what I REALLY want.

  7. sciencegeek Says:

    I finished my PhD in 2006. No more school for me until I get to the point where I’m faculty and teaching.

    The only thing I want to learn in a school setting right now is Spanish.

  8. DJ Says:

    Oh sure… I’d study jewelry making, metalsmithing.

  9. lynne Says:

    I don’t really want to go back to school for a degree, but if I did it would be law. I’d rather just take random courses–studio arts, culinary, or language. I love learning, but I know I can’t commit to an entire program!

  10. Michele Says:

    10 years out of HS and 6 years out of Art school and I still have nightmares that I’m back there having to take some test!

    I would like to take some drawing classes or photography to refresh but don’t have enough time :P

  11. amber Says:

    I would stay in school forever if I could afford to live like a student :-)
    Hey, if i did…could I defer my loans until after my demise? hahahah

  12. ellobie Says:

    @ amber: too funny, that sounds like a great plan!

    I am going to take tap class this fall, does that count?

  13. Wroth Says:

    I will be starting my 12 year of higher ed this fall (BA, MA, how almost done with the PhD). I love school, but I’m writing now, which is not the same as being in classes. I can’t wait to finish and get back in the classroom… as a prof.

  14. ellen Says:

    I’m always dreaming of going back to school — mainly because I loved being a student.

    That pic reminds me … anyone seen that new JC Penney commercial, where they sort of re-enact “The Breakfast Club?” It makes me want to run screaming from the room … straight to the DVDs to watch the original, so that everything is right in the world again.

    Does their target audience even get the reference? Here it is, if you dare to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R94woFElb5o

  15. The Lil Bee Says:

    I often dream about going back to school. I would study photography or writing. I just love being a student. Remember when you thought it was stressful to have exams and homework? Far cry from the stresses of the working world! Love this time of year…

  16. shelterrific » Blog Archive » five things we learned last week Says:

    [...] 1. You never stop wanting to learn. The Lil Bee Says: “I often dream about going back to school. I would study photography or writing. I just love being a student. Remember when you thought it was stressful to have exams and homework? Far cry from the stresses of the working world! Love this time of year.” Tell us what you would study here. [...]

  17. shelterrific » Blog Archive » FUNctional art at risd|works Says:

    [...] about going back to school reminded me of a great idea put in place by the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Located [...]

  18. Meesha Says:

    Just a dose of reality from someone who’s been there: going back to school sucks. Suddenly you have homework, and exams, and big fat papers to write, and you spend ridiculous amounts of time trying to decipher turgid academic prose.

    Your classmates are years, if not decades, younger than you, and many of them have done nothing but go to school, so they’re really, really good at it (and unable to talk about anything else). Departmental politics are the same as office politics, except you’re not getting paid anywhere near as much to deal with them.

    So, yeah: the fantasy’s nice, but actually doing it requires some serious drive and passion.

  19. Martha Says:

    I am in my 2nd week back at school for accounting, and I can say that Meesha is right, but it is also exciting and energizing. I am 49, and the younger students are beginning to warm up to me. I am the one who speaks up in class, and as one 30-something friend said, I’m the one who wrecks the curve. I have a good relationship with my professors, because I am more of a peer because of age, and I love it!

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