Not having gone to college

[SteveNomad]

I didn't truly " go to college "/University
, and it's a very large sad thing for me.
To be absolutely precise, I went to comunnuty college for a while when Inwasn19)29, under bad circumstances and flunked out, with a HORRIBLE! aftermath!...and attempts I made to go back to school during my 20s and 30s blew up in my face (There's a small footnote to this that I'll eventually get to.), heavily due to my high school records/" proof of existence " being sort of messed upand my trying unprepared - This is an introductory post to this subject, I will likely go on and on at great length about it.
I don't have the BAs my parents had. Briefly, even now, I would like to - IF IT COULD BE POSSIBLE - go back to college/uni, at least for a while...and furthermore, I very much want some of " the college experience " along with the education...meaning going to a " regular/traditional " four-year university as a residential student!!! I want that. (Note: I acknowledge that to do so, I'd likely have to " out-of-town tryout/D-League/Triple-A " in a community college/whatever first, so you don't need to tell me that.) I do.

 

[Wolfnox]

Thats what happens when your smarter then the professors.

 

[Kalinychta]

I didn't truly " go to college "/University
, and it's a very large sad thing for me.
To be absolutely precise, I went to comunnuty college for a while when Inwasn19)29, under bad circumstances and flunked out, with a HORRIBLE! aftermath!...and attempts I made to go back to school during my 20s and 30s blew up in my face (There's a small footnote to this that I'll eventually get to.), heavily due to my high school records/" proof of existence " being sort of messed upand my trying unprepared - This is an introductory post to this subject, I will likely go on and on at great length about it.
I don't have the BAs my parents had. Briefly, even now, I would like to - IF IT COULD BE PISSIBLE - go back to college/uni, at least for a while...and furthermore, I very much want some of " the college experience " along with the education...meaning going to a " regular/traditional " four-year university as a residential student!!! I want that. (Note: I acknowledge that to do so, I'd likely have to " out-of-town tryout/D-League/Triple-A " in a community college/whatever first, so you don't need to tell me that.) I do.

I can definitely relate. Lots of autistic people enter and drop out of school, quite often several times. I did. I’d do really well for a while but then the stress of fighting against my autistic “instincts” would eventually lead to burnout, and I’d be “out of the game” for at least two years before being able to pull myself together and try again. I gave up after the third burnout. Is this what happened to you?

University degrees, though... You jump through hoops, memorize a bunch of stuff, regurgitate it on tests, promptly forget it, spend tons of money, and at the end you get a piece of paper that says, “Congratulations, you are now educated.” The truth is that education has nothing to do with college. I wouldn’t describe the vast majority of the college-“educated” people I encounter as being truly educated or intelligent. But they have a piece of paper they can hand to employers that says, “This person has successfully run through the obstacle course of so-called higher education.” Seems like it’s more to do with obedience and endurance than being smart or capable. Kind of like how people who speak and BS really well will be hired over much more capable people who don’t speak as well.

 

[Bolletje]

I can relate partially. I had to drop out of university a few times due to mental health issues. The longest hiatus was three years. I had to jump through a few hoops to be admitted back in. Prior to returning to my studies I spent half a year cramming, studying my text books and old tests daily to get back to the knowledge level I had before. I think largely due to my preparation I succeeded this time around. I graduated med school at 32, while most people around here finish it at 24. But I'm still happy I made it. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Of course I don't know your exact circumstances, but I think that if you analyze the reasons you dropped out earlier and work out how to anticipate similar circumstances, and if you prepare properly, it shouldn't be impossible to return. That being said, everyone is different and for some people even preparation isn't enough. You're the best judge of that.

 

[Judge]

I can relate partially. I had to drop out of university a few times due to mental health issues. The longest hiatus was three years. I had to jump through a few hoops to be admitted back in. Prior to returning to my studies I spent half a year cramming, studying my text books and old tests daily to get back to the knowledge level I had before. I think largely due to my preparation I succeeded this time around. I graduated med school at 32, while most people around here finish it at 24. But I'm still happy I made it. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Of course I don't know your exact circumstances, but I think that if you analyze the reasons you dropped out earlier and work out how to anticipate similar circumstances, and if you prepare properly, it shouldn't be impossible to return. That being said, everyone is different and for some people even preparation isn't enough. You're the best judge of that.

Well done.

I have to admire the gumption it took you to achieve such a difficult goal despite all of those "obstacles" we can encounter in life.

In my own case in attempting to achieve a goal, I simply "got lost" along the way. I guess some of those "obstacles" got the best of me.

 

[Frostee]

You're not missing out. I graduated with a degree and am finding that it means little to employers. You are better to get on the ladder now and work your way up.

 

[SteveNomad]

...I suppose you are more than half my age. I'm 59. I don't think there's anything I can grab on" the ladder of success " other than what the knowledge and contacts andz, yes, " the piece of paper " that even some decent college could get me.
People make the argument that " you don't need college " by talking about Bill Gates dropping out of college. Yes - out of Harvard. He was already rich and smart and lucky and I guess had some really great idea whatever it was (and presumably could have returned to college if it'd fizzled). And I have just wanted it, to achieve going, so much. I never had it. I just ask for a slice/ portion of it now.

 

[Mary Terry]

Steve - there are college degrees that can be earned online. Check them out. You might be able to work on college classes from home, on your computer.

 

[SteveNomad]

....I don't have a decent home computert this time, and, quite frankly, doing the " student/on campus " thing is a major part of it for me.;As I said, I would be willing to ' pay my dues " through something short of that - as a prelude/working up points to get onto a regular college residential campus after that!

 

[SteveNomad]

...However, I would have to gigantically improve my computer abilities to go to even community college/comparable (for which I'll put " cc "'), let alone " regular "/residential ( for which I'll write " uni ")...And have more equipment, as well, not to mention, of course, loads more money in general...I'll return to that portion later.
When I went to cc at 19/20 - I can still here my mother, when I raised the concept of going to college somewhere else, saying to me " Oh, no! First you have to prove you DESERVE to go away to college! " like it was yesterday, not 1978 (the heyday of Andy Gibb and Player).
So I went to cc -;and would come home to my mother drunkenly screaming at me. Great college life .My attempts to go back in my 20s and 30s ended with the College-Industrial Complex spitting in my face. I wasn't even all that ambitiosz as in I applied/looked for information from my state's university or comparable I believe, an exception being when I applied to a a touch more " name brand " university (but a local one in my part of the country) being the furthest I got - but they don't in my face in the end too.

 

[SteveNomad]

...I just fantasize that now, at the end of my life (?), I could do a little of the " college experience " at the end of my life and at least be treated to that (SOB) - the ice cream sundae. Maybe just a semester or two, not four full years.
It could have made such a difference, my life could have been expanded, I could have made new connection, I could have been educated more (dob).
I don't even imagine going at the " normal " age, 18-22, I mean like when I tried when I was 25 or so.
I just want to cry over the lrck of this - and over bad things that happened to me too - but I don't have privacy now. Sob.