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Show The Daily 1'iah Chronicle, Openings Page Six 1977 Nonf raditional students eager to resume school with the sin ug arrogance of youth. I w as not at all inteiested in the older students as indn iduai: in fat t, I found them some fiat ridiculous. I never imagined I would letomr one of by NANCY ETHERIDCE Chronicle Staff During the lime of my life now it fer mi to as my "first time" in (dirge, ihe only over 2i I rvtr sjxke to were tin prejfesvMs, and occassionally, im riatents. Each semester there were one or two students in my c lasses w ho were older than the rest of us, but I usually ignored them or was annoyed by them. They were the one who would, when the profesvr was trass comment and we making end-o- f were straining towards the dooi, always raise a hand, ask a question wind) invariably required a long answer, and we'd lie stink. Asa typical student of the pi thing eatlv 't0s, I was far more corner tied with tin social life than my academic one. and greatly it st nted anyone who caused rnr to stay in class one second longer than e jx-opl- -- absolute Iv nect ssaty. Being fully possessed t! become adept at handling both. We ate the ones who raee breathlessly into class; our supremely oiganied schedule haveing been thrown off by a who forgot his toilet training inside of three layers of dothes and a snowsuit jut a we walked out th door. We are the ones who, regardless of presence or absence of a supportive spouse, stay up all night before an exam tending a feverish child instead of studying. We must deal not only with the logistic of managing home, family and school, but two-vearo- 'd - a campus after an absence of more engenders innumerable feelings, lew of which contribute to confidence and security. Many obstat les. both real and imaginary, place them selves in the path of the oldei person, particularly a mother, who attempts a return to school, ft is a struggle to shift mental gears from thecieai-- c ut.verv literal woild of groceries adn diaper back into the more abstract woildof thought and study. The struggle is compounded because in most tases we do not extricate ourselves from the fotmer world in older to devote out selves fully to the Litter. We must lo Returning - s to admit it, but even with two active children and a large house to 1 .k alter, I was really bored with my life. My children were involved widr school and other activities, and I was never the tyx- - to enjoy volunteer work or other things that were available to me, such as playing bridge. Blalexk hopes to be admitted to law sc hool after completing her undergraduate wot k. I asked her if she was concerned by the fac t that she would probably he 40 or so before she would ac tually be practicing law, and she replied, "Well, unless something unforeseen occurs. I ll be 30 in six years regardless of how I spend that time, so I might as well do something constructive." Janet Ellington, 32, senior accounting major, went back to school see king another undergraduate degree after deciding to change careers. She formerly taught junior high English and math. Ellington concurs with other women in the same situation in saying that the most difficult jiart of reurtning to college is not academic. The greatest challenge i juggling children, school, a part-timjob, and a house without dropping any of them. , also with the guilt engendered by leaving our children to seek another goal, the achievement of which will probably take us away from them even more. We continue to deal with groceries--, laundry , sibling riv alry and car pools when we decide to tackle the additional tasks of term paixts, exams and studying. In spite of the obvious obstacles, however, mote and more students are going to school. According to the AsstH iated Press, the number of women over 1.' attending college has doubled in the past detade, and more older students of txth sexes are attending college. Some 1.2 million fx isons .1) oroldei wereenrolled in colleges across the I'nittii States last year. The I'nivtisity's Women's Resource (enter re puts that according to figures by the 1 "nivetsiiy Admissions Office, there we re apptoxim.itely students whose- lasts formal education was mote' than five yeais ago, enrolled at the I'niversity last year. Most of these' students non-tradition- What A Mouthful of Fun e Those of us who return to college after having passed the traditional age are neither martyrs nor masexhists, so why do we do it? "There are some xjsitive aspects to studying now which I didn't appreciate as an undergraduate' says June Hill, 35. "I am going to school now because I sincerely want to, not because it's exjxeud of me." "As an older student, I am somewhat removed from worrying alxmt tny social life. I spend my lime in class actually listening to the teacher instead of daydreaming alxmt my Saturday night date," said another student. Jean Keller also mentioned the positive results gained by involving her children in her se hool life. She says that they seem to be proud of the fac t that "Mom gcxs to st luxd, too." The petsonal satisfaction which comes after a particularly difficult job has been successfully completed is likely the factor which keeps most older students plugging along. Often we consider how much easier it would be to stay home and get really involved in The Edge of A'r'gu. .SKinon-ttaditionals- - vveie Ik twe jAl, aHk. Hk. J. e n (he ages of 2S and 10. A for the Women's stmkesjK rson Rcsouiee ("etmi s.is that of the older women attending schools, most have readied the point in the ir lives where their liildte ate in se hool, fteeing the mother to return toe i dirge-- . Many others have tee ently div oi ed .Hid must se e k means of And a Small Price to Pay for So Much Fun! 803 East 400 South Offer Good thru Oct. 31, I977 One Coupon Per Customer e 11 Individual re asons mote women ate ie turning to work outside the home in a eomKtiiive job maiket. they must arm (he tnsc Ive s. of course, but .is vaiv, siipioiiing STYLING FOR MEN A 20 themselves with sjk die ally, a e OFF valid c tedentials, ollege degree. Jean Kelle t, It"), graduated from college bet liist time around with a B.A. in nursing. She is now enrolled in graduate school wotking lowatd a maste i's in nursing with a shc laliation in ge i ontology, the science of aging. Jean says though her work has been very satisfying so far, it has very diliic till nun h harder than under-giaduat- e sehexd chiefly Ixcause of the demands uMn her lime by lxth school and family. She- says that without the supjxm fiom h i husband, she couldn't have managed the increased lesponsibility. Keller .ays that she is optimistic about her new cateet and feels that future benefits will outweigh present difficulties. Jkubata Hlaloek. .11, senior history major, says of her reasons for coming back to se hool, "I guess I should be embarrassed i Or, like the character David in Philip Roth's The Professor of Desire, we begin to feel ihe "boredom, restlessness, impatience fx-e- n With This Coupon (Offer Good thru Oct. 31, 1977) and - 2048 South 7th East Phone: 1WEST ft ft T3 fl PtZSS 486-826- 1 " Where you get a good meal for a Good Dear Just off campus, Arnold's is the place to get that quick meal to feed the body famished by rigorous academic pursuit. All your favorite foods offered at prices you can afford. A special offer 'Get-to-know-yo- u" REE DRME-- fi Medium when things often programs are particularly rough or we are unusually tired, but like Roth's David, "with the end in sight, I titter my praises aloud while showering at the end of the day, thrilling myself w ith the simple statements like T did it' and stuck it out,' as though it is the Matter horn I have had to climb." i hJ 221 South 1300 East ARNOLD'S growing embarrassment that naggingly tells me I am too old to Im? sitting at a desk still being tested on w hat I know." We come near to quitting our chosen DRINK with this coupon when you purchase ANY item on Arnold's menu! One percustomer. Offer valid until October 31, 1977 I , nan R 3 2 5 k I ' i I. I' ;i' t J O (5 (D W (S J3 ft a J U I 1 f r- - A s ; rasiiuifiJii ,1 j; |