Did you complete / will complete a 2yr degree at a community college?
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Did you ever need to take a break from school for 1+ yrs, before or during college, due to the illness?
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What was or is more important to you?
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On this one, it was definitely social life first time around. And not even exciting social life, just crashing at friendsā houses and sleeping in and sitting around talking like a college student but not acting like one.
Right now, Iām too introverted for much of a social life, I really just want to study and do well. So thatās a positive to take from getting sick, I suppose.
School comes first first first
Iāve said it before and Iāll say it again
and my sobriety too 
but that kind of goes along with doing well in school
Iām not entirely sure how a community college transfers to my countryās system, but from Wikipedia I gathered it gets you a degree that is sort of preliminary to a bachelors?
As for what is more important, probably school for me. But I do sometimes skip or postpone things for that in favour of socializing. Since I am also a bit of an introvert, socializing is something I actively need to work on sometimes, it is not a matter of course that I do so. Besides enjoying their company, I also see maintaining my friendships as part of my recovery and relapse prevention. In practice, when I have to choose between the two, I look at how social I have been lately and make the decision on the basis of that, if I met with people just the other day, study can come first. If I havenāt met people in a week or so, I work on that.
Iām entering college for the first time in my 40ās AND with SZ. I can definitely say that school comes first. I donāt have a huge interest in trying to buddy up with the 19 year olds:) I actually have a 20 year old son entering his junior year at a University carrying a 3.9. Iām very proud of him. Anyway, Iām hoping to hang in there. Should be good.
WOW! That is excellent! Congrats on both your son and your own academic trek!! I was a returning, adult student who transferred to the university at age 27. I graduated with my Bachelorās degree at 28. I got my Masterās degree at age 32. Donāt let anyone tell you that your age will do anything BUT benefit you! I was lucky to have no distractions like frat parties, sororities, gossip, romance, and the usual party personality that comes with college youth.
I even heard a story about a woman in her 60ās her went back to school at that age. My evolutionary anthropology professor told the class a story one day about how everyone didnāt take her seriouslyābut she took herself seriously and she got her degree, went to Oxford for her PhD and went on to teach at Oxford in her late 60ās!
Also, while I trained as a teacherās assistant, I met a man from Mexico in his 60ās. I graded his papers and was very impressed with his level of academic English proficiency and the massive amount of writing he would do for any given assignment in his intermediate English learning class. At the end of the semester, he hugged me and thanked me. He said heād never been to school, even when he was in Mexico. LITERALLY never went to school, not even first grade.He lived in a rural part of the state and he was never given the opportunity to study as a child/teenager. I honestly couldnāt tell heād had no education. Either heād taught himself to read or he couldnāt read in Spanish. I donāt know, but by the time I met him, he was reading English.
The only clue was that, when I asked the students to read a quote, explain the quote, and give their opinion, he didnāt understand why I would want to know his thoughts on the quote. It was a foreign concept to himācritical analysis of academic writing. He did it anyways and I was very proud!
Just goes to show that you canāt judge a book by how old it is!
Thanks @HQuinn:) I did very well in High School and I did go through Medical Assistant training about 25 years ago and got a 4.0 but it wasnāt as challenging as I know college will be, especially math! I havenāt taken a math class in 100 years. My kids have been helping me brush up on Math. I also have a 17 year old daughter who has been in āHighly Capableā and challenge classes her whole school career. She took many AP classes in her junior year and will take all college level classes in her Senior year. Ya, Iām proud:) I will be entering Math territory I have never seen before and depending on my major, I may need to get pretty far in math. Incidentally my Son intends to apply to Medical School in 2 years and pursue Psychiatry. We need good shrinks in the world! I have considered Psychology (PsyD). Thatās a LONG road esp in your 40ās but I am STARTING OVER (post SZ, hitting bottom and losing everything) so I am approaching exactly like that. Fresh road ahead. Thanks for the inspiring stories. Iād be lying if I said I wasnāt intimidated.
I was talking to my roommate about all the school discussion lately, and about your case in particular.
She says, you know, youāre going to be 57 in a decade, do you want to be 57 with a degree or 57 without one? She doesnāt believe in ātoo lateā or ātoo oldā. Sheās really impressed by your story.
@Rhubot Thanks so much for the inspiration. Really. Youāre exactly right, too. I can get to 57 with a Doctorate or I can get there without one. Iām lucky I CAN go in the first place. My Dad took me when sh*t hit the fan and I hit bottom and told me to not worry about room and board and just go to school. Nowās my chance. F**K it! Bring it! Letās do this:) Pssst: I is still a lilā scared but Iām goinā anyway.
You can do it! When do you start?
I just started classes on campus this week, both terrified and thrilled.
I start classes Sep 19th:) Where are you in your school career? Freshman?
Im currently at community college taking 12 credits (easy classes). I was doing really well for a while my first semester everything was easy for me for 2 semesters then I abruptly got sz and my executive functioning got terrible and I couldnāt finish assignments. I took 1 class that next semester and got a B. Now Im taking on 4 classes this semester and hoping I can keep up. Im 20 if that means anythingā¦ Im not sure when I will earn my associate in arts but im in a program which transfers credits to our state university for a bachelors degree. The simplest things seem daunting to me at this point.
Youāre the same age as my son who will be going into his Jr. year. Iām taking 13 credits. ez except Math which I donāt know if that will be ez or not. Other 2 classes are Intro to Psychology and Career and Life Development. That class is supposed to help you pick a major. Weāll see. If I donāt have an episode, I should be OK. Good Luck!
Good luck to you too!
I completed my degree at a university. I didnāt need to take a break from school because my schizophrenia can later toward the end. I literally had my psychotic break after I finished my classes and defended my thesis. School was more important to me. Except in the last year when I was trying to get a girlfriend because I had finished everything else. Also donāt know if you would have this problem but my university didnāt let me get a degree that was a bachelorās the same time I was getting my masters. The guy in control of it was a little bit of a douche too. I should have a bachelorās in applied mathematics now with my masters in physics.
You got your Masters without a Bachelorās? Thatās interesting. I āplanā to get my Bachelors and then go into a Ph.D or PsyD program and they allow you to get your Masters on the way. At east if I go to the Univ. I want to go to. How CAN you get a Masters without a Bachelors? Do you have a Bachelorās in Physics? And you had a dual major?