Someone should write a book about this

Since starting school — and especially since launching this blog — we’ve been asked a ton of questions by current and potential students regarding why we decided to return after so long, what our ultimate goals are, how we pay for school, and how someone considering this option should move forward. We intend to answer all of the questions on this blog, and we can begin with a bit of background.

When we met in 1989, we’d both completed high school in some form [cough] — Dennis barely graduated and Jennifer dropped out, but received her GED — and Dennis had attended a community college for about a year-and-a-half, before briefly moving to New York for a job. Almost immediately after meeting, however, we got pregnant (Jenn’s an old-fashioned girl), and continuing our education was the last thing on our minds.

Fast forward, 19 years and two kids later, to this past summer when we both lost our regular jobs and were left with precious few opportunities due to limited formal schooling. We found out the hard way that having an abundance of life experiences does not automatically make a “qualified applicant,” and living in Michigan, where the only thing currently manufactured is unemployment, narrowed our options further.

To summarize our state of affairs at the time: we had no jobs and limited prospects; we had less money but the same bills; Dennis was starting to put on weight and Jenn’s mom was in town for the summer. Yikes!

You may be thinking, “So you decided to register for school?" Actually, yes. The financial aid we received covered our tuition and books, with enough left over for a refund check. We were quickly able to find suitable part-time work through our school’s job placement office and, after a rough start, we are both getting all As and Bs. Oh, and Jenn’s mom left in August.

But that’s not the point. The point is that in less than 30 days, we made the decision to go back to school, jumped through hoops to pay for it, chose our respective areas of study, stood in long lines throughout the entire testing-counseling-scheduling-registering process (it’s not as fun as it sounds), sat in even longer lines to buy books, turned our household upside down with schedule conflicts…and we’re getting ready for round two.

Actually, even more to the point, we realize that we were the “before picture” on the posters outlining the right and wrong ways to successfully become a student, and are determined to share our experiences and knowledge with the ongoing parade of returning students — including the tips, tricks, and sanity-saving secrets we wish someone would’ve shared with us.

But we’re not bitter.