Again, I was wondering what to write for the next post of BlogchatterHalfMarathon and this idea suddenly sprung by...:)
I started my Master's degree in Information Security at the age of 36 in the US with two small kids. Many would have raised their eyebrows in India and asked the typical question "Why do you have to study at this age?". But being in the US that time, ensured that I never faced these questions directly. I liked to study(my kids will be happy to hear this today! :)) and I had to do it right away. I had been waiting and waiting to do this for a long time and thought that was a perfect time to do it(face palm! - little did I know the difficulties that were coming along!)
Walsh College, Detroit, MI:
I did my degree from Walsh College in Detroit, Michigan, USA which is a college for working professionals. Classes are typically held from 6 p.m. - 10 p.m. Many classes were online(and incidentally this was a long time ago) The online classes were arguably more harder than the offline ones. I could only do 2 classes per semester and that itself was hectic. My college was 40 kms away one direction! (I liked to drive so that was also not a problem! 
I made sure I did one online class and one offline class each semester. I had to meet in person only one day of the week for the offline classes which worked out very well. My better half did come home early on the days I had to go to college. The days I had to go to college, I could only return by 11 at night(there were no safety issues there...Detroit was my home turf...:))
How was it to study at age 36?
Contrary to popular belief, that, one will not be interested in studying at that age, I did love to study then(I love to study even now :)) This interest and passion continued all through the degree program and never once faded. Plus it opened the doors to an entirely new field of interest for me(Information Security! :))
The US has no age barrier to do anything. I did have a grand mother in my class studying with me too!
The US style of education will focus more on labs and practical work and good writing skills. I developed all my writing skills by writing papers for my Master's program.
All subjects did have group projects and it was stated in the beginning of the semester itself. We did have to do our analysis and make a Powerpoint and give a presentation in class for almost all classes. I did make nice friends and most of them were happy working with me(though exceptions did exist)
I had to have to complete 11 courses in my degree and I did complete the entire degree in almost 3 years time(in spite of the innumerable distractions that came my way)
There were four semesters for each year at Walsh College - Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer. This was the true meaning of hectic for me - college work + managing home was the ultimate test for any person. Each semester was about 11 weeks long and there was a short break between the semesters. Many did skip semesters here and there, to catch a breather. I did skip one semester due to medical issues.
The courses in the US college curriculum keep you tightly busy with their never ending study materials, assignments and projects due every week! My GPA was hovering at 4.0/4.0 for a long time but slipped a little after a while...
As a mother I had to take care of family chores too(no maids and other helps in the US) My daughter was a small child and I never had the heart to put her in a day care. With no babysitters and no cooks, how did I manage my college work and home chores? - my better half was the only person whom I could totally lean on. He did support me with his home support skills the entire way and he is an expert in that too!
I did have serious medical issues in the middle of my degree and had to pull back a semester. To make matters more interesting, we decided to move to India towards the end of my degree too!! (fun!! :)) But in spite of everything, I did graduate with my Master's degree in Information Security with a GPA of 3.6/4.0 after nearly 2 3/4 years of me enrolling in it !! (Yay!! :))
Key take ways for women to study after kids:
- You do need a very, very good support system. In India, I feel the system is slightly better with baby sitters, grand parents, cooks, maids and more.
- In spite of that, it is very hard to do a degree with a lot of distractions
- As a wife and mother, women have to balance a lot of relationships and have to look after themselves too!
- And if you are persistent, you can DO it!! It will be hard, but you can DO it...
All the best to anybody who wants to try it!
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