I’m doing what?

I am 52 years old and have returned to college, that’s what. Eight months ago I was working full time and doing my photography and bird watching in my spare time. And if you had told me that in eight months I would be a full time college student starting in January and studying a totally different job industry I would not have believed you. But here I am back in school.
To give you a little background on how I went from there to here. I was downsized from my job due to budget cuts last August. After some thinking and talking to family I decided the best option for me was to go back to school and get a bachelor’s degree. I knew this would be a challenge. The last time I was in college there was no internet. People didn’t have home computers. The first Nintendo machine had recently come out. You could choose between beta and VHS tapes for renting movies. Now I am sitting here writing this on my laptop and watching a movie on DVD.
Deciding to even go back to college took some thought and a few deep breaths and some internal pep talks. At 52 years old did I still have what it takes to succeed in college? I am now half way through my first semester and have found that YES I still have what it takes. But switching my brain from full time worker to full time student took abit of work. I had this image of acouple of gears connected by a long handle and I have ahold of the handle and the gears are making a screeching sound as I forcefully shift the gears from work mode into student mode.
I have learned that life really is a road. There are hills, valleys, twists and turns. You have some flat open straightaways as well as hidden curves. And of course there are the intersections where you can change direction and head down a totally different road. When you take a road trip it is not the flat straight sections of road you remember but the twists, turns, hidden surprises and the unexpected roads you take. And that is what I have done.