Ciao dearies,
Long time no see 🙂 Over the last ‘half year’ or better yet, semester I have been incredibly busy. As some of you might know I have always wanted to continue studying, and that is exactly what I did the last couple of months, I went back to college!
It was not the easiest decision to make but after some job interviews, I noticed that my mind was more directed towards going back to college and my heart was not fully into the jobs. Which was not because of the jobs themselves, as I definitely found some great opportunities. However, the right one for me was going back to college and going after that master’s degree!
Honestly, this decision might have been the best of my life… 🙂
Today I am telling you a bit more about my experience as a 27-year-old going back to college after 4 years of working.
The right timing
It was around may that I decided to go to an information session on the premaster program Communication and Information Sciences at Tilburg University. I had wanted to continue studying for a while already but somehow it never really worked, once I did not pass an entrance exam (which was on the same day as I had to hand in my thesis – yay for good timing -.-), and after that I missed multiple information session or ‘open days’.
So when I finally got the chance to go to an information session I already thought; “this might be the right time for me!”
After the information session, I talked to some teachers and got very excited… I applied to the program, went to a sort of assessment/introduction day, got accepted and so I started with the premaster in September.
My experience going back to college
From the first day on, I got to meet a lot of people! I already knew some girls thanks to WhatsApp and during the introduction day, I talked with so many more people. It was interesting to talk with people from other countries and cultures. Soon I made some friends, some who are now friends that I would never want to miss again! They made me feel more alive and lifted up my spirit. Which is definitely a good thing when you are 27 and started to have the ‘Is this it? What am I doing with my life?! What should I do with my life?!’ moments ;). Making new friends and getting to know new people is definitely one of the most amazing things about going back to college if you’ll ask me.
But the change from working to going back to college was a bit weird, and it wasn’t always easy… The hardest part? Weekly tests for the methodology course! Who thought that would be a good idea? Okay, it was a good way to keep up with the course content, and it made studying easier, but it sort of took a toll on my weekends… Another hard part, but less hard thanks to DUO (which is a sort of Dutch study funding), no salary ;), which was quite an adjustment on some points. The easiest part, however, was getting back into the studying itself after 4 years. I feel like I got the hang of it pretty quickly and now I can say that while I really had to work hard for it, it all went particularly well!
The best thing!
The best thing of all, to me personally, is that I discovered new things about myself. I have figured out that I tend to like statistics (WHAT?!) and I am not bad at it at all. I seem to have even more broad interests than I thought. I can be quite a nerd and I actually liked the cramming for the exams and the research papers I had to write… And I am actually interested in doing research, so much so that I am even doubting a bit whether I should do the research master program instead of the regular master program.
But for now, I can sit back and relax a bit! I just found out a couple of days ago that I finished the premaster. I got all my grades back and passed everything! My next step is getting ready for the second semester, in which I will start with the master itself. I already can’t wait but I first have a nice long break during January 🙂
While it might be a risky move, I know that not everyone can afford to make a decision like this, if you truly want to continue studying, do it! You really are never too old to learn – luckily people do not treat you like a grandma when you are 27 😉 – and it might be the best decision you will ever make.
At least for me, it is!!
Baci,
Saranda