Finally, Grandma goes back to school...

One thing I found amusing about my experience....my major prof in grad school was a few years younger than I. We got along very well, but we had some different views about things, especially politics. And we had some knock-down drag-outs at times. All good-natured, of course. And in matters scientific where I knew he was way ahead of me, I was deferrent.  But even in this realm, I wasn't afraid to question, if I saw what appeared to me a contradiction or ambiguity. This is healthy, especially in science, no? And the major prof liked it (although he called me a commie sometimes).]

The other grad students, who were fresh from undergrad, looked upon this with a mixture of horror and fascination. Like an accident scene. They were afraid to ask questions, let alone offer that the man might actually be wrong. And yet, when it was just us, they were quick to offer frustration that they didn't understand something. When I suggested they needed to speak up more, they usually just nodded and averted their eyes.

All of this leads me to think that not everyone should go right into college after high school. And many grad students would benefit from getting some "real world" experience before they embark on grad school. I learned a lot about life during my traditional college years. But it was at the cost of wasted time and money, and an awful transcript that never goes away. And I had nowhere near the appreciation for the academic experience that I had when I was a "nontraditional" student years later. I needed to grow up some more first. So why not first spend some time learning about the value of things like work, knowledge, time, thrift, respect, etc? I really believe delaying college would have been a smart move for me. Something for parents to think about....