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<\/a>Todd says that mature students are eager to get to their program and that they have come to their program specifically, as opposed to just flowing in from high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey want something. They\u2019re very keen, very efficient; they keep to deadlines and ask for help when they need it,\u201d she says about mature students. \u201cGenerally speaking, they\u2019re excellent students, because they really want to be there. I do find that too, though, that the ones coming straight into college from high school are also very keen\u2014they want to come to college, and they have a goal in mind. It is really quite a pleasure to work with them, because they are gung-ho to get where they are going, wherever that may be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Camosun English instructor Maureen Niwa has a similar outlook on what a mature student will bring to the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe mature students are a bit more focused,\u201d says Niwa. \u201cThey seem to know exactly why they are coming, what they love to do, and have a clear edge on their passion. A lot of them have already worked, and so lots of times they are looking to increase the skills they are already using day to day. Mature students, they love to build a community within the classroom. I sometimes get the sense that they are very socially orientated. They are good at connecting with the younger generation, their own generation too\u2014they like to create relationships. And they are not afraid to reach out, share their interests. They\u2019re more confident with sharing themselves in the classroom.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I resonate with this. As an older student, I throw myself into my work and my class in a way I never would have dreamt I would be capable of. Camosun English instructor Julian Gunn reaffirms the idea that mature students have a lot of dedication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are a lot of differences,\u201d Gunn says. \u201cYou probably have heard of this one\u2014the mature student is very focused, they have a goal in mind, they are more likely to approach the course as a task to be completed. Which is, I think, a very productive way to do it, because you don\u2019t really get bogged down and attach a lot of personal worth to marks, whereas I think that a student fresh out of school has less experience of the world, and still might assign a lot of emotional attachment to those marks, and might treat it more of a personal pass or fail rather than a step towards a much larger goal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gunn says that mature students also, generally speaking, excel in areas of planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA mature student will come in and say, \u2018I am going to have to do a certain amount of work on this; it isn\u2019t going to magically all come together at the end.\u2019 Where someone who has had less experience of life planning\u2014and I remember this phase of my life well\u2014might think, \u2018Well, it\u2019s not happening right now, but something will happen at the exam, and everything will turn out alright,\u2019 when that is really never how it works. So, a little less magical thinking with the mature students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I myself happen to miss that magical thinking. Sometimes the practicality that comes with age seems dull compared to how it used to be in the mad dash of youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The students who come to college shortly after graduation have plenty to say about their own experiences with college and high school and what got them there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second-year Criminal Justice student Jacob McDonald, 19, says the transition from high school to college was positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI care about a lot more, because in high school you don\u2019t get to pick as much what you are doing. In college I am actually interested when I study, and I don\u2019t study that often, actually,\u201d McDonald chuckles. \u201c[But when I do,] I feel motivated to, because I am reading about stuff that I like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kaitlin McKelvey, who recently graduated from the Mental Health and Addiction program, also came to college directly from high school. McKelvey, 19, really noticed the faster pace of college life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe biggest change I noticed was the flexibility and the style in which the profs worked,\u201d says McKelvey. \u201cIn high school there was a lot more one-on-one support. In college, although they were there for support\u2026 they definitely didn\u2019t have as much time to spare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second-year Philosophy student Samantha Kobiersky, 39, says that college is a friendly and fast-paced environment. Kobiersky returned to school after several years\u2019 experience in the work force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOverall, college is more accepting,\u201d says Kobiersky. \u201cI see people being more open to all different walks of life, of different backgrounds. I find it a very open community, more or less. I found that, coming from a background of dropping out of school and hating school before, that now I actually love school in the areas that I\u2019m passionate about. That passion now is my security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second-year Community, Family and Child Studies student Jason Tate, 25, came back to school after spending some years in the workforce. Tate found the answers to what he wanted to do back when he was in high school, which makes me wonder: are life\u2019s answers available to us sooner than we think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDuring my time in high school I remember taking both peer counselling and psychology,\u201d Tate says. \u201cDuring that time, I became interested in how sorting out problems through counselling [works] and how psychology explains how the human mind works. After spending some time working after high school I decided to invest in a career of mental health and promoting wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First-year Health Care Assistant student Chloe Oulette, 27, says that there is a lot of anxiety involved with coming back to school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know, it\u2019s funny\u2014I actually didn\u2019t complete high school; I left at around Grade 11. It\u2019s actually been fairly challenging getting into the swing of things again,\u201d she says. \u201cI find that not just with myself but with a lot of the other students here. I feel, though, with my age now, that I have matured a lot, and I am more interested in the studies, as opposed to when I was in high school, where I was a little bit rebellious. I was not as engaged as I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mental Health and Addictions instructor Michelle Bass reaffirms that there can be anxiety accompanying a student\u2019s return to school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cObviously, life experience is the big difference between the two groups,\u201d she says. \u201cSometimes people that are re-entering the college can be a bit more anxious; they have been out of school for a long time, so they may be a bit insecure about their abilities. But we find that when they get over that initial hump of readjustment, those students do just as well as anyone coming to the school immediately from high school. Perhaps they might be a bit clearer about their commitment to the study, but, to be honest, I don\u2019t really like to generalize, because I can see that too with younger students who can also be very committed. But mature students may have had some more life experience, and some job experience, which can make a difference in the way that they apply themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McKelvey\u2019s anxieties lie in the possibility of being that mature student in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel ready for the future,\u201d she says, \u201cbut the only thing I feel might be a possible challenge is when I do decide to go back to school, I feel that it might be harder to learn as quickly and as easily as I did after high school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mental Health and Addictions instructor Kristen Ross believes in the meaning that students find in teaching and learning from each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think that students who come back to college who are worried about coming back need to think about the younger students who would be missing out if they weren\u2019t in that class,\u201d she says. \u201cThey would miss out on all that wisdom and experience that you can contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Niwa says that she loves the energy that younger students bring to the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith ones just arriving, I love that they are so fresh,\u201d she says. \u201cThey have such new eyes, and they are always asking the questions that should be asked, and sometimes they\u2019re very obvious, but they are always getting us to re-think why we\u2019re doing it\u2014why we\u2019re teaching. They bring a lot of energy to the classroom that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gunn says that he would like to tell younger students two things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne is, and I speak from experience, just do the work,\u201d he says. \u201cRead and do the assignment. But the other thing is don\u2019t sweat it. Don\u2019t worry about the small stuff so much, because so often I will find students getting really bogged down by really small things and not really prioritizing. The dirty secret is, as far as taking a class goes, you need to pass it. As an instructor, you want everyone to show up on time and do all the assignments, but, really, you can prioritize. You can let some things go in order to let the big thing happen. Be as practical as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ross believes the important thing to tell students is to not be afraid of trying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is important to take risks,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is often true that we hear from people coming back to school after a few years [thinking] \u2018I am too old,\u2019 or [with] concerns that they won\u2019t fit in. And sometimes students coming out of high school are worried or have some stress about making that transition, too. Post-secondary has many more demands and expectations. I would say, to both groups, be willing to take risks because you are going to learn from each other. Instructors also learn from students all the time. So just know that everyone\u2019s there with their own concerns and anxieties about being in this new setting, and know that everyone is in it together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ross says that it\u2019s a nice addition to classes when there are students who are coming back after they have had some responsibilities in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPerhaps raising a family, or just different life experiences,\u201d she says. \u201cI think they are often bringing a different perspective based on those experiences. What we really like to see is how everyone in our class interacts when they can come from that place of sharing those experiences. So often it creates a very rich learning environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Niwa says the words I wish to God I had heard when I was younger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would tell a young person to be yourself,\u201d she says. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be anybody but yourself, and the gifts that you have are the ones that you want to spend the most time developing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gunn says that as a culture, we are not that good at sitting and paying attention to one thing for a long time, something that he says is a \u201creally deep skill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just good for school, but it is great for everything, for having a deeper, richer relationship to life,\u201d he says. \u201cThe little piece of that we do in English is we sit down and read this long, serious article, and, yes, it takes a long time, and it may be kind of boring, but that kind of deep attention is actually really good for your brain.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, all students\u2014\u201cmature\u201d or \u201cnew\u201d\u2014face stressors and difficulties in college. The question is, how do we deal? Even though I came back to school as a mature student, the financial stressors are still very much a reality. I know, though, that when I was younger, I did not handle stress as well. It took me years to have the maturity to face my problems head-on. Another perk of being older is feeling like you\u2019re on a more even plane with your instructors. It\u2019s huge. I\u2019m always hearing touching stories of how an instructor at Camosun has changed a student\u2019s life. However, sometimes it is the other way around. Niwa recalls a time when a mature student in her class made an unforgettable mark on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMature students are often the second teachers in the room, if not the first,\u201d says Niwa, \u201cThey nurture everyone, the instructor included. For instance, I was a TA at UVic years ago, and in the first section I ever taught I had a First Nations chief. His name was Wilbur\u2014I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m not sure what territory he was from\u2014and I had a student from Sri Lanka; he had just immigrated. I was so blessed to have both of those men. I cannot think of two more diametrically opposed students, with their age, their culture, everything. And the way that Wilbur connected all of us, he brought all of us together, every day. He just made a real lasting impression on me, on how important it is to build community in the classroom, and how everyone\u2014everyone\u2014can be included.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All students, regardless of age, have to find their own path and then foster what they find. Going to school and having the opportunity to learn is a gift. Whenever we decide that it\u2019s time for us to make use of that gift\u2014whether it is shortly after graduating from high school or after a lengthy ride on the merry-go-round of life\u2014then the object is to dive in without abandon and, hopefully, make a positive impression on someone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gunn wraps it up eloquently and makes me realize that we are all valuable, and interesting, at any age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy favourite part of any class is when students are just talking about how they responded to something,\u201d he says. \u201cEvery class, some student, any student, no matter the age, will come up with original ideas that would never have occurred to me. That\u2019s the exciting thing for me, is hearing that new thing that I couldn\u2019t come up with myself because I didn\u2019t have their perspective. That is the fun part for me\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I think about all the various transitions I have made in my life\u2014from a child into a teenager, from a girl into a woman, from sleeping on friends\u2019 couches and asking parents to help out to paying bills, voting, watching the news, and being politically aware\u2014I\u2019m also aware of the transition I never made: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,233],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-july-10-2019"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17871"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17908,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17871\/revisions\/17908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}