Much to my surprise, 18-year old traditional and 54-year old non-traditional students have something in common: abject terror!

Oh, sure, we (Baby Boomers) are older, wiser, more mature, have fewer distractions, more life experience, extensive work experience. Born in the middle of it, I’m a classic Boomer. Navigating school applications, financial aid, registration, scholarships, rapidly changing technology (I’ve been learning it on the fly) and a learning disability can be intimidating and scary when you don’t know what you’re doing.

There was also one other giant obstacle blocking my path to a college degree: math (and the only-slightly lesser obstacle of a science with a lab)! I’d managed to avoid algebra and its dastardly successors through and after high school like the plague! I convinced myself I didn’t need it. I was a writer and worked as a legal assistant. When would I ever use algebra? The same could be said for science. I got by with General Biology in high school, but physics or chemistry? (Insert shiver here!)

Three adult ed math courses later, I managed to pass the Accuplacer and get in to a college math class. It wasn’t easy. I struggled through much of it, and it didn’t help that I was in a car accident (which totaled my car and caused a fracture in my foot) just as we were getting into geometry, which I’d never had, near the end of the semester. I missed some classes and flunked my final. I ended with a B plus. Normally, that would be fantastic for me in a college math class, but it also ruined a perfect GPA!

I bailed out of Technical Physics after a week. There was so much math, it felt like two courses at once. I just could not put myself through that and received permission (due to curriculum requirements) to take chemistry instead. I surprised myself with an A in that course!

I was thrilled to earn my Associate’s Degree from Southern Maine Community College last spring with a 3.93 GPA. I had a college degree at last, but I wasn’t done. It became very clear to me an Associate’s Degree would not be sufficient for what I want to do for work (public relations, publicity, copy editing, or something on the order of that). I was seeing ads for those jobs, and they all wanted a Bachelor’s degree.

I had no designs on going beyond on Associate’s at first, but I became curious about USM’s Communications program. I liked their Media Studies curriculum a lot! The desire grew and grew over the next two years. Meetings with USM’s transfer recruiter were very encouraging, as it was clear every single one of my credits would move over. I also found I could transfer the maximum 12 credits allowed from major to major.

I like to get things done as early as possible. Since USM is considerably bigger than SMCC, I feared nothing would go smoothly – that red tape would entangle me. I thought I would get “lost” in a sea of students. I was beyond wrong. I met with a Media Studies advisor soon after my graduation to register for fall – smooth as silk! I met with the head of Services for Students with Disabilities shortly after that. I was impressed! I was with him for an hour and a half and could not believe how much USM bends over backwards for students like me. This was looking better by the minute.

As I planned out what I would do for the thematic cluster (required in lieu of a minor) requirement of the Core Curriculum, my advisor noticed my penchant for history. He suggested I minor in it rather than do the thematic cluster. I still had two general electives to choose from. The history minor required 18 credits, but I forgot I had taken a history course at SMCC that was transferring over. I only needed 15 credits for the minor.

The nine required for the thematic cluster and the six from the general electives could all be used for the minor, which would carry more weight on my transcript. No brainer. I wasn’t considering the minor this time, but it fell right into my lap.

All of this transpired in June, and I couldn’t wait for school to start. So far, USM was blowing me away at every turn. Still, I had some trepidation. Would I like it? Would I feel comfortable here? How hard would it be as a conservative to move about and interact with a very liberal campus?

The day I stepped on campus for classes, I immediately felt at home. There was a sense of community I had not felt at SMCC. I liked every single one of my professors as well as nearly every class my first semester. I’ve made loads of friends (and found three classmates and an instructor who are conservative Christians themselves). I have been having a blast. I’m thoroughly in love with USM!

I was considering pursuing a Master’s in English after finishing my Bachelor’s, but that is getting complicated by the lack of such a program at USM (or anywhere in Southern Maine). With an 85-year old widowed mother 80 miles away, I really cannot leave Maine, so I’m looking into pursuing two B.A.’s and finishing the English degree I began 24 years ago. It would be fun to finish what I started and get my degree in English, too.

Now I’ve received an invitation to join Golden Key International Honor Society, so my involvement at USM is about to grow. Who would have thought this would happen in a Baby Boomer’s late 50s? I certainly didn’t!