this was a heartwarming story and reminded me of the best part of my former career.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/i-started-university-for-the-first-time-at-55-with-gen-z-classmates-1.7458348
folks in your 40s, 50s, 60s going back to school for the first time in decades:
every semester, there were at least two dozen 17-22 year old shitheads that came to me arguing about their grades and trying to magically manipulate a B- into an A+. i loathed dealing with them at office hours.
but there was always one 50 year old who decided to go to university and was stressed out as hell. they had kids they never saw at home, a mortgage payment they could barely make, many were divorced, and were constantly late submitting assignments. some missed midterm and final exams.
they hated asking for help, but by the last month of the semester they'd break down and ask for an extension. and sometimes two or three extensions.
my mom started university when she was in her forties and i was 13, and i never forgot it.
so when i was teaching in my 20s and 30s, i thought back to all the nights that my mom stayed up until 3am writing papers, and then dragging her ass out of bed at 6am to make breakfast for us before heading to class.
whenever a "mature student" showed up to my office burned out and asking for help, you're damned right they got all the help they could ask for.
if you're an older student and the workload is killing you - talk to your prof. yeah, some are heartless assholes - but the vast majority of us were rooting for you the whole time.
#education #teaching #university
