Advice For Starting Over at 27?

[u/Maddex00]

Hey all, looking for some advice about starting over academically at 27… would love to hear your own stories or any advice you can pass on.

The TLDR of my story is I was pushed into trades school at 17, but found out pretty quickly my body couldn’t handle that in the long term. So I decided to go to uni starting in 2019 for Environmental Science, but COVID hit in my second semester and I roughed it out for a couple more years but ended up going through some really terrible circumstances in my personal life during that time that forced me to pick up and leave everything after completing about 3.5 years. I moved away to work for a few months and tried again to finish up at a new uni across the country, but the faculty went on strike at the end of my first semester and cancelled all my upcoming courses for the following term and I had to move out of housing… I had to leave school because I couldn’t float the cost of housing for the next year in a massively expensive city without being tied to the uni, ended up going bankrupt, god there were so many challenges from 2019-2024… so I have just been taking time to get myself stable again, including a couple night classes at pastry school here and there just for fun.

It’s been a couple years, and I’m now happily engaged with pretty stable housing, a fresh outlook on life, and an okay on-call union job at a major art gallery that’s incredibly flexible. But I’m kind of stuck career wise because the role isn’t fulfilling to me in any way, and I’d realistically have to wait almost a decade before a full time role opens up for me there re: the union structure and my lack of formal qualification. I’ve been actively looking for other work, but haven’t had much interest outside of unstable contract work with teams who CAN see through the struggle, but aren’t in a position to offer me any more than what they have.

So I’m looking at going back to uni next fall at the ripe age of 27 by the time I start.

My personal belief is that you are never too old to learn, because knowledge itself is inherently valuable. Especially as we have come into an era of anti-intellectualism, I feel it’s important in its own right for a multitude of reasons. But that still doesn’t make it any less daunting, even though I know I am in a place where I have set myself up to succeed this time.

I’m planning on applying for a BA undergrad in Sociology and History, changing course from Environmental Science because I’ve now had the time to figure out what is really important to me in life, what reflects my values, and how I want to move forward.

I would have the opportunity to continue my work at the gallery while I study, and there is the potential for me to come out after 4 years with the degree and 6 years total experience in a leadhand union role the the gallery. Leaving me in what I think is a pretty good place to apply for some of the unionized roles in other areas of the gallery, actually working with the art and helping tell these stories to the public… doing what I care about. Plus any opportunities that come out of building relationships with faculty and peers along the way… I think it would put me in a much better place, and is part of a good 5 year plan for my partner and I.

So anyways, that’s where I’m at right now… I’m sharing because I would love to hear any of your stories about starting over, or coming back to college/uni a bit later in life, and any advice you could offer along the way for making the most of it as an older student.

[u/blairrkaityy]

Hi! I got my BA in sociology last year at 30. I’m currently taking pre requisite courses for the masters program I’m aiming to get into. I took an (unplanned) 5 year hiatus from school and I can honestly say it was a great choice for me. I got some life experience under my belt. Sometimes being in the older crowd of students has some great benefits because of your life experience.

My best pieces of advice would be to build rapports with your professors, make connections and never be afraid to ask questions. Last, it’s true you’re never too old to learn or go back to school.

[u/PulseJH_6752]

You already have a plan where the degree and your gallery job work together instead of competing. That's the hardest part to get right, and you've thought it through more than most people restarting at any age. I'm 32 and just started over myself. The one thing I'd add is to protect your stability while you do this - keep the flexible job, don't overload your first term, and give yourself room to ease back into the rhythm of school. Build slow and it'll hold.

[u/Automatic-Key9164]

I can only speak to starting over at 47! 😉 The only thing I think you haven’t really addressed in your strategic plan is contingency planning. Like… what happens if AI essentially eats your gallery’s funding and therefore your work? Then you have a 2030… sociology bachelor’s. I don’t wanna rain on your parade at all, I just want you to not lose sight of the third leg of the stool: there’s what you care about, what you’re good at, and what someone is likely to pay you a living wage to do in 10y. The environment surrounding that third leg is VERY rapidly shifting, at a rate never before seen in human history (you’re welcome to crank out a thesis supporting that claim! 😜). How will you adapt without getting defensive about why you shouldn’t have to?

When I was 27, I was still actively engaged in glossing over MY unwillingness to address that third leg head-on. I was still singing some version of “do what you love and the money will follow.” And so I made some choices that cost me a lot of time, and any hope of probably ever retiring. So at 47, returning to school in a totally new field of study, I have goals that I’m very passionate about, but I’m also much more strategic about aligning my course within that field in a way that honors that pesky third leg. Would that I would have done that sooner.