They Grow up so Fast
Discussion
Back to school day at Chateau Rusty. Not the boy this time but the wife. Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, she's going off to university and is the same age as me. It is rather sweet though she is packing and re-packing her bag, sharpening pencils and nervous as hell. Will the big kids be nice to her? What will the teachers be like? Should she sit at the back and be cool or swotty and sit at the front? Bless her little cottons.
So any advice from the PH massive for 'mature' students returning to full time education that I can pass on?
So any advice from the PH massive for 'mature' students returning to full time education that I can pass on?
rustybin said:
Back to school day at Chateau Rusty. Not the boy this time but the wife. Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, she's going off to university and is the same age as me. It is rather sweet though she is packing and re-packing her bag, sharpening pencils and nervous as hell. Will the big kids be nice to her? What will the teachers be like? Should she sit at the back and be cool or swotty and sit at the front? Bless her little cottons.
So any advice from the PH massive for 'mature' students returning to full time education that I can pass on?
Unless she is very, very cool she doesn't get to choose whether to be swotty or not. She will be a matureo and end up hanging with the swotty kids who run the more intellectual societies. Most of the matureos in my year were shunned a bit, in part because they didn't live in halls and like getting drunk all the time. Obviously they had more common sense.
Still, good on her. What is she going to study.
Nevin said:
What is she going to study.
Psychology, bit of a favourite amongst back to uni mums these days. I think a few years of staring at your kid and thinking 'Why is it doing that?' tends to get the interest going though she has actually been interested in the subject for some time before the littlun arrived.
Child Psychology is the biggest bunch of hokum i ever had the misfortune to study in my degree. All the lecturers for it were middle age lentilists of the highest order. Much more fun was cognitive neuropsychology, where you get to put electrodes on peoples heads.
As for the whole mature bit, so long as she makes a point of mixing with the younguns she will be fine. When i studied there were matures that thought they knew everything, and looked down their nose at the younguns, and the were matures that were pretty decent, and would have a laugh with you. As for where to sit i would suggest the middle/front, best combination of cool but studious
Oh and tell her that ANOVA really isn't that hard. Is it a BSc or BA course?
As for the whole mature bit, so long as she makes a point of mixing with the younguns she will be fine. When i studied there were matures that thought they knew everything, and looked down their nose at the younguns, and the were matures that were pretty decent, and would have a laugh with you. As for where to sit i would suggest the middle/front, best combination of cool but studious
Oh and tell her that ANOVA really isn't that hard. Is it a BSc or BA course?
rustybin said:
What is she going to study.
Psychology, bit of a favourite amongst back to uni mums these days. I think a few years of staring at your kid and thinking 'Why is it doing that?' tends to get the interest going though she has actually been interested in the subject for some time before the littlun arrived.
Ah...ditto!
It sounds like you're giving her all the support she needs so don't worry, she'll be fine.
Watch out though, she might start psycho-analysing you of course, given time!
Nevin said:
Back to school day at Chateau Rusty. Not the boy this time but the wife. Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, she's going off to university and is the same age as me. It is rather sweet though she is packing and re-packing her bag, sharpening pencils and nervous as hell. Will the big kids be nice to her? What will the teachers be like? Should she sit at the back and be cool or swotty and sit at the front? Bless her little cottons.
So any advice from the PH massive for 'mature' students returning to full time education that I can pass on?
Unless she is very, very cool she doesn't get to choose whether to be swotty or not. She will be a matureo and end up hanging with the swotty kids who run the more intellectual societies. Most of the matureos in my year were shunned a bit, in part because they didn't live in halls and like getting drunk all the time. Obviously they had more common sense.
Still, good on her. What is she going to study.
cotty said:
rustybin said:
Back to school day at Chateau Rusty. Not the boy this time but the wife. Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, she's going off to university and is the same age as me. It is rather sweet though she is packing and re-packing her bag, sharpening pencils and nervous as hell. Will the big kids be nice to her? What will the teachers be like? Should she sit at the back and be cool or swotty and sit at the front? Bless her little cottons.
So any advice from the PH massive for 'mature' students returning to full time education that I can pass on?
Unless she is very, very cool she doesn't get to choose whether to be swotty or not. She will be a matureo and end up hanging with the swotty kids who run the more intellectual societies. Most of the matureos in my year were shunned a bit, in part because they didn't live in halls and like getting drunk all the time. Obviously they had more common sense.
Still, good on her. What is she going to study.
Well, phonetically it is probably mahchoorohs. That's what we called them. What's the problem?
cotty said:
Well, phonetically it is probably mahchoorohs. That's what we called them. What's the problem?
well if they teach words like that in university im glad I didnt go
Blilmey, you must be the first person I have met who never, ever uses a slang or made up word. You are truly a hero
Generally speaking the more mature students have the guts to speak to the other students and get on ok. She shouldn't expect to make any real friends amongst the youngsters, but she also shouldn't expect to be made to be an outcast
You'll probably find that she's latched onto by lots of people wanting an easy ride
edit:: ride as in easy Uni work completed, the other students will suffice the other
>> Edited by docevi1 on Monday 19th September 11:27
You'll probably find that she's latched onto by lots of people wanting an easy ride
edit:: ride as in easy Uni work completed, the other students will suffice the other
>> Edited by docevi1 on Monday 19th September 11:27
I was a mature student and had the same experience of being a bit shunned by the younger ones, even though I was only 3 years older than most of them! I didn't really care because none of them seemed very clued up.
The best advice I can offer is that if she's working in a group with other students to produce a project, she needs to keep hassling them as I found they often didn't put in the work (once drove 25 miles for a meeting to work on a project with a fellow student only to find that she'd gone out instead when I got there and left a message with her housemate that she didn't feel like working on it that night!).
They also have no real understanding of how things are in the workplace, i.e. deadlines, professional finish on work etc, so any work experience she has will come in very handy as her projects will look miles better than a lot of others.
The best advice I can offer is that if she's working in a group with other students to produce a project, she needs to keep hassling them as I found they often didn't put in the work (once drove 25 miles for a meeting to work on a project with a fellow student only to find that she'd gone out instead when I got there and left a message with her housemate that she didn't feel like working on it that night!).
They also have no real understanding of how things are in the workplace, i.e. deadlines, professional finish on work etc, so any work experience she has will come in very handy as her projects will look miles better than a lot of others.
I went back to uni to take a law degree in 1999 aged 30. Whilst I can't say that I enjoyed uni (I don't think you're supposed to....) I made some really good friends who I still see now.
We found that a group of six of us all "mature" girlies ranging from 26 to 49 found each other on the first day and clung together in the beginning like survivors from a ship wreck!! At my uni the intake was around 300 per year and they reckoned on around 10% mature student intake each year.
We found that we didn't have much in common with the normal aged students - we had partners and in some cases children to return home to and didn't relish the thought of missing the gap in the traffic by spending 2 hours in the bar. Having said that I didn't ever feel "shunned" by the "normal" students -whenever we had to work in groups or in seminars where I wasn't with my normal group of friends I found it easy to get on well with everyone. As has been said, she will become one of the swotty kids at the front by default and lets face it she might as well be - she's putting a lot into her course and knows that this is her opportunity to get something out of it - something that most 18 year olds don't appreciate.
Wish her good luck from me and carry on giving her support - she'll need it from you over the next few years.
We found that a group of six of us all "mature" girlies ranging from 26 to 49 found each other on the first day and clung together in the beginning like survivors from a ship wreck!! At my uni the intake was around 300 per year and they reckoned on around 10% mature student intake each year.
We found that we didn't have much in common with the normal aged students - we had partners and in some cases children to return home to and didn't relish the thought of missing the gap in the traffic by spending 2 hours in the bar. Having said that I didn't ever feel "shunned" by the "normal" students -whenever we had to work in groups or in seminars where I wasn't with my normal group of friends I found it easy to get on well with everyone. As has been said, she will become one of the swotty kids at the front by default and lets face it she might as well be - she's putting a lot into her course and knows that this is her opportunity to get something out of it - something that most 18 year olds don't appreciate.
Wish her good luck from me and carry on giving her support - she'll need it from you over the next few years.
Thanks for the support all, I shall pass on your advice and warm fuzzies.
In answer to some of the above questions and observations.
Its the BSc that she is doing.
Hopefully she will have a rich mine of heads to shrink in her family before starting on mine.
'Rule 1: Don't shag the lecturers' is hopefully one she is well aware of otherwise she may find me a good working example for the criminal psychology section!
In answer to some of the above questions and observations.
Its the BSc that she is doing.
Hopefully she will have a rich mine of heads to shrink in her family before starting on mine.
'Rule 1: Don't shag the lecturers' is hopefully one she is well aware of otherwise she may find me a good working example for the criminal psychology section!
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