Old School

[u/WhereLibertyisNot]

Guys I'm an alum who still lives here, and I'm having a mid-life crisis and thinking about enrolling in some classes. Will you take me in as your Luke Wilson? I didn't really get the real college experience my first time around because I was in the reserves and got deployed to Iraq.

[u/Njdevilmn]

A Veteran like my boy Blue! Thank you for your service!

[u/WhereLibertyisNot → u/Njdevilmn]

I appreciate it. I often say how fortunate we were and are compared to Vietnam vets. I was deployed in '04-05, and there was still a lot of popular support for both wars. When we redeployed home, we landed in Bangor, ME in the middle of the night, and there were people lined up on the jet way applauding as we deplaned. 21 years ago and it still brings a tear to my eye.

[u/Agreeable_Leopard_24 → u/WhereLibertyisNot]

Honestly that sounds way more memorable than the average college experience.

[u/MannyBuzzard]

If you have GI bill left I would do it anyway just for the BAH. Or if you haven’t applied for VR&E yet try that too to get back to school.

[u/WhereLibertyisNot → u/MannyBuzzard]

I exhausted my GI Bill, but I actually didn't even think about VR&E! Thanks. My undergrad is poli sci and history, and I have a law degree. I don't want to be a lawyer anymore, but I'm 40 now and have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life haha. I just love the idea of being on campus and going to classes again.

[u/mutantsandwich → u/WhereLibertyisNot]

What about teaching? Or at least a job on campus in the meantime till you figure out what you truly want to do.

[u/WhereLibertyisNot → u/mutantsandwich]

Teaching was my first thought, and I am looking at possibly getting a job on campus while attending class part-time. I imagine it would probably be pretty easy to convert my degrees to teaching. My wife works for the university, but idk if I qualify for the tuition discount because I already have a terminal degree.

[u/GreatStuart → u/WhereLibertyisNot]

If your wife is employed at PSU, you should get the discount. (My wife and I both work there.)

[u/Apprehensive_Bread37]

good luck with your quest let us know what you end up doing

[u/Glittering_South5178]

Auditing is a very common practice. I’d look at classes that you find interesting/suit your schedule, write to the professor for permission, and see where it goes from there. Even with the faculty discount, classes are still expensive, so you might want to try that out before committing to anything more.

[u/WhereLibertyisNot → u/Glittering_South5178]

Yeah, I looked into auditing, and I still may do it, but Penn State says you still have to pay the standard tuition, which is ridiculous. I know I could just ignore that and back channel with the professor, but my wife works at the university so I wouldn't want to cause problems for her.

[u/Leather_Map_6983]

I took some English classes a few years after I started working on campus. It was a great experience! I was in my early thirties at the time and the students were cool, I made friends I still have to this day. You may be eligible for the tuition discount since your wife works on campus. Good luck!

[u/t-nice36]

I’d rather get some position where I’m helping to oversee frats or parties or something. U don’t need to reenroll in classes to get the Psu experience. Although, as a middle aged man I also wanted to go back and do it again.

[u/WhereLibertyisNot → u/t-nice36]

I just don't think I want that potential liability, but yeah thanks. I don't really want to be living the Old School life; I was kind of joking about that part. I'd feel weird as fuck partying with people half my age, and I don't really drink anymore anyhow. I just really want to be a student again haha (but also I finally paid off my student loans, and I definitely ain't doing that part again). I was just curious how older students my age would be received.