Crippling self doubt! (aka starting college at 40!)

[Mil0]

Just an update and a word of advice to anyone else.

Don't take a break if you don't truly need to take one. I am finding it nearly impossible to get motivated. I still can't believe that I completed 66 credits in ~2 months. I could have been done by now (aside from the final credits I need from TESU). I know that it would have been a nightmare if I had kept taking classes but I should have just done the minimum 2 per month at SDC during that time.

Now it feels like I'm starting from the beginning where I didn't know where to start! I had paused my SDC membership in April and went to extend the length that it was paused again and found that it's already maxed out. I believe you can only pause it for 90 days at a time. It will start again in July, otherwise I'll have to cancel it.

I'm going to start back with the TEEX Death Investigation course, hopefully today, and then be back in the swing of things come July.

I wanted to say thank you, again, to everyone here for their words of wisdom and encouragement. I couldn't have gotten this far without you all.

[CarpeDiem8]

I had paused my SDC membership in April and went to extend it again recently and found that it's already maxed out. I believe you can only pause it for 90 days at a time. It will start again in July, otherwise I'll have to cancel it.

I thought you could unpause it sooner, prematurely?

[allvia]

I had paused my SDC membership in April and went to extend it again recently and found that it's already maxed out. I believe you can only pause it for 90 days at a time. It will start again in July, otherwise I'll have to cancel it.

I thought you could unpause it sooner, prematurely?

I think Mil0 was trying to pause it longer than 90 days.  However I will say that I once canceled my Study.com for nearly 6 months and when I came back I did not lose any of my already completed coursework - so you can cancel it and move onto anther provider/platform and return when you're ready to get back to them.

[CarpeDiem8]

I think Mil0 was trying to pause it longer than 90 days.  However I will say that I once canceled my Study.com for nearly 6 months and when I came back I did not lose any of my already completed coursework - so you can cancel it and move onto anther provider/platform and return when you're ready to get back to them.

Ah, gotcha!

[dfrecore]

Just an update and a word of advice to anyone else.

Don't take a break if you don't have truly need to take one. I am finding it nearly impossible to get motivated. I still can't believe that I completed 66 credits in ~2 months. I could have been done by now (aside from the final credits I need from TESU). I know that it would have been a nightmare if I had kept taking classes but I should have just done the minimum 2 per month at SDC during that time.

Now it feels like I'm starting from the beginning where I didn't know where to start! I had paused my SDC membership in April and went to extend it again recently and found that it's already maxed out. I believe you can only pause it for 90 days at a time. It will start again in July, otherwise I'll have to cancel it.

I'm going to start back with the TEEX Death Investigation course, hopefully today, and then be back in the swing of things come July.

I wanted to say thank you, again, to everyone here for their words of wisdom and encouragement. I couldn't have gotten this far without you all.

I don't think this is good advice for everyone.  I took breaks because I just didn't have the money to continue.  I also took breaks when life got in the way, and I couldn't concentrate on schoolwork.  I took breaks when my kids had summer vacation, because I wanted to spend more time with them.  There are lots of good reasons to take breaks.  I sometimes found that after a nice break, I was recharged and refreshed and ready to start again with renewed enthusiasm.  That's the nice thing about doing college this way - you get to fit it into your life instead of the other way around (and being chained to a particular school's academic calendar).

[Mil0]

I don't think this is good advice for everyone.  I took breaks because I just didn't have the money to continue.  I also took breaks when life got in the way, and I couldn't concentrate on schoolwork.  I took breaks when my kids had summer vacation, because I wanted to spend more time with them.  There are lots of good reasons to take breaks.  I sometimes found that after a nice break, I was recharged and refreshed and ready to start again with renewed enthusiasm.  That's the nice thing about doing college this way - you get to fit it into your life instead of the other way around (and being chained to a particular school's academic calendar).

That's why I said if you "don't really need to take one". All of the things you listed are perfectly acceptable reasons to take a break. There is a reason that "regular" schools have breaks (winter, spring, summer, etc) but as we're adults and set our own schedules, we don't necessarily get those scheduled breaks and scheduled times to resume again.  

I'm just saying that for me, it has been hard to get back into it. I feel the whole "where do I even start?" thing all over again. 

That being said, I just took 2 hours and completed one of the newer TEEX courses and all I needed was some online accountability and now I'm at 69 credits.

[bjcheung77]

I'm just saying that for me, it has been hard to get back into it. I feel the whole "where do I even start?" thing all over again. 

That being said, I just took 2 hours and completed one of the newer TEEX courses and all I needed was some online accountability and now I'm at 69 credits.

Woo Hoo! You go girl! That's 69 credits right there, it'll get the ball rolling nicely again...
BTW, I assume that was the Death Investigation course? Awesome, keep up the good work.

[Life Long Learning]

I don't think this is good advice for everyone.  I took breaks because I just didn't have the money to continue.  I also took breaks when life got in the way, and I couldn't concentrate on schoolwork.  I took breaks when my kids had summer vacation, because I wanted to spend more time with them.  There are lots of good reasons to take breaks.  I sometimes found that after a nice break, I was recharged and refreshed and ready to start again with renewed enthusiasm.  That's the nice thing about doing college this way - you get to fit it into your life instead of the other way around (and being chained to a particular school's academic calendar).

That's why I said if you "don't really need to take one". All of the things you listed are perfectly acceptable reasons to take a break. There is a reason that "regular" schools have breaks (winter, spring, summer, etc) but as we're adults and set our own schedules, we don't necessarily get those scheduled breaks and scheduled times to resume again.  

I'm just saying that for me, it has been hard to get back into it. I feel the whole "where do I even start?" thing all over again. 

That being said, I just took 2 hours and completed one of the newer TEEX courses and all I needed was some online accountability and now I'm at 69 credits.

MilO,

Keep us informed of your HSEM progress.  It sounds neat.

Reference: TESU - BS in Homeland Security & Emergency Management (BS.HSEM) (In Progress).