Yesterday Judy, a friend who is in her 50’s, declared:
I don’t want THIS, my job as a retail store manager, to be my life’s legacy. I’d love to go back to school and become a nurse, but it’s just too late!
No, it’s not too late to go back to school! It can feel too late, but in reality, the only thing stopping you is you. Instead of beating yourself up — free yourself to dream and think about what you’d really like to do.
Do research and make a plan.
How long will it take to finish nursing school? How difficult is it to get in? What scholarships and financial aid are available? How can you change your life to accommodate the added expense and decreased income during schooling?
What are you willing to give up to make it happen? Sleep? Eating out whenever you like? Good wine?
Let’s say Judy does go back to school. It takes her 5 years part-time to finish. At 57 years old she’s a new nurse. Her life and work experience to date will serve her well. She’s a marathon runner and in great physical shape. She can handle the requirements of her new career. She loves it!
Is all that supposed to change when she turns 65? Is she then supposed to look fondly at the La-Z-Boy?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
After my husband died of leukemia, I went back to school (in my late 50s) to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology. Mind you–the average age of students in my class is around 25, and most of the profs are in their late 40s and mid 50s.
My friends thought I was crazy. Yet, I had to try it. What a great decision I made! Not only am I learning skills to help others, but I’m also gaining a totally new perspective of what it means to be a twenty-something-year-old student trying to navigate in a world that is totally different from the one in which I lived when I was that age. I’ve found my fellow students to be totally accepting of me, and I have learned so much from them that I can use in the “real” world–their language is a constant source of entertainment; their opinions are enlightening and spot-on in most cases; their enthusiasm for life is contagious; and their can-do attitude bouys me up when I feel old and tired. In short, they make me feel alive.
Those adults who say that the younger generation is doomed simply have not talked with–or listened to–them. They are simply delightful, and I find a renewed optimism in knowing that this generation will one day be running the country—-and probably the nursing home in which I will be living!
Cherie Renfrow-Starry
Therapist, Mental Health Counselor
Edmonds, WA
»
Wow Cherie! You are a real testament to ‘it’s never too late’! Your enthusiasm is infectious and heart-warming.
Many people would have just given up after experiencing the tragedy with your husband, but you went full force ahead — regardless of what friends said! Sometimes we have to pay attention to that voice inside us and let it guide us.
In reading your comment it’s also apparent reinvention is invigorating. Sounds like you have a new-found zest for life.
Thanks for writing!
Lisa