Thinking About Going Back to School As an Adult? These Tips Can Help

If you're thinking about going back to school as an adult, you may have concerns about whether this is the right decision for you (or the right time to make this sort of life change). You might doubt your abilities after being out of school for so long, for instance, or fear that you'll struggle to manage work, home, and school. Concerns like these can prevent you from enrolling in career training, which can also stop you from pursuing a career path that may exist in your heart.

At Ultimate Medical Academy (UMA), we like to see people pursue and achieve their career goals. There's something exciting about the glimmer of hope in their eyes as they work toward pursuing a healthcare future. We'd love to see that glimmer in your eyes as well, so here are a few tips that may help you take the next step toward pursuing the professional life you desire.

Look at Your Past

When faced with anxiety or uncertainty about what tomorrow looks like if you go back to school as an adult, it can be tempting to play through endless what-if scenarios. What if you don't do well in your courses? What if you struggle to keep up with all your obligations? What if, what if, what if?

Psychologists refer to fear felt during life transitions as anticipatory anxiety, and indicate that remembering past situations when you felt this way and were still successful or resilient can help you break the cycle on "what-if" thoughts.¹

Action task: Think back to previous times in your life when you felt anxious or fearful but pushed through and ended up okay or even achieved new things. Use these experiences to remind you that you're stronger than you feel sometimes.

Get All Your Senses Involved

You may have heard that visualizing yourself reaching your goals can help you achieve them. Adults going back to school may benefit from taking this one step further, according to one expert, by not just seeing yourself at your goal, but feeling it.

Multisensory imagery is a practice that involves using all your senses when imagining yourself at your goal. In a Psychology Today post, Jonathan Rhodes, Ph.D., says that this approach can be more effective than visualization because it uses more areas of the brain while also helping to better prepare you to work through challenges you may face along the way.²

Action task: To practice multisensory imagery, use all your senses — sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell — to imagine what life could be like once you achieve your goals. Practice problem-solving during your imagery, suggests Rhodes, as this can help you navigate the challenges you may face during your journey.³

Choose a Program (And School) That Fits Your Life

Some of your hesitations about going back to school might come from not being sure how to fit schooling into your life. You might already be busy with family and work commitments, so the idea of adding schoolwork to the mix may make your head spin.

Finding a program with scheduling can enable you to pursue your career of choice while still managing your other obligations. You may find that on-campus programs would be difficult to fit into your days, for instance, but online programs could offer the flexibility you need to "get it all done."

Action task: Look at your schedule and determine when you can fit studies into your days. Keep this in mind when searching for education or career training programs. Consider choosing a school that offers courses that align with your life.

Expect Challenges

Work deadlines, sick children, and overtime shifts can all derail the best of plans when going back to school as an adult. Expect to face some obstacles when pursuing your career goals so they don't surprise you when they creep up. Recognizing that these types of events might happen also allows you to plan for them in advance.

Ways to plan for unexpected situations can include:

• Think about the challenges you are likely to face and create a plan for how you will deal with them if they occur.
• Leave wiggle room in your schedule so you can handle unexpected events without getting too far behind.
• Remind yourself that these situations don't have to break you; consider them opportunities to show your resilience.

Action task: Make a list of your reasons to go back to school and refer to them during challenging times to help motivate you to keep moving forward.

Be Short-Sighted

The idea of creating a new path in life or changing careers at 40 can be exciting. At the same time, if you become so focused on the end goal that you don't reward your accomplishments along the way, it can be hard to stay motivated.

In addition to keeping your eyes on your long-term goals, focus your sights on ones you can achieve in the short term, then celebrate when you reach them. Celebrating small wins can help boost your mood, improve your confidence, hone your skills, prevent burnout, and may even inspire others to do the same.⁴

Action task: Create a list of milestones you will celebrate, such as completing the first week of school, passing an exam, finishing a course, or reaching the halfway point in your program, then decide how you'll celebrate each one.

Acquire Your Supplies

If you have kids, you know that before the new school year begins, it's important to get all the supplies they need for their classes. This same principle applies for adults going back to school. Before your courses even begin, get everything you need to help set yourself up for success.

School supplies for adult learners can include pens, highlighters, and notebooks, in addition to any technology or software you may use in your program. If you don't have a place to study at home, you may also want to consider purchasing a desk and chair, so you have a dedicated place to do your coursework.

Action task: Check with your school to see if they provide any of the items you need, or if you can purchase directly from them.

Be Realistic With Your Schedule

One of the easiest ways to feel overwhelmed when returning to school is to pack your schedule so tight that you don't have room to breathe. While you may want to use every available minute to work toward your goals, you could risk burning yourself out. It can also make it harder to stay positive during your academic journey.

When deciding how you'll divide your time between work, home, and school, be realistic. Give yourself adequate time to handle all your responsibilities without filling every minute of every day. Include fun time or relaxing time in your schedule, too. This can give you something to look forward to.

Action task: Review your typical week and identify where your schoolwork can realistically fit in. Schedule time blocks before work, after work, or during lunch time. When studying on weekends, consider blocking time when others in your household won't need your attention, such as before they get up or after they go to bed.

Make Small Changes, Consistently

Going back to school can be a big change, especially if you've not been in a classroom for years. You might feel as if you must completely overhaul your life to make it happen. But you don't.

Instead of trying to be perfect from day one, focus on making small changes that you're able to maintain over time. Consistent progress can still get you where you want to go, and it can be a more attainable goal than perfection.

Action task: Decide on one small change you can make today to help with your return to school. Once it becomes habit, decide on the next small change and continue this process.

Surround Yourself With Support

When pursuing a new career path, it's up to you to do the assignments, take the tests, and complete the projects. However, that doesn't mean that you have to do it alone. Talk with your spouse, partner, children, coworkers, and friends and tell them the type of support you need. Ask them to be there for you as you pursue your academic and career goals.

If you don't have a large network of people around you or they're not particularly helpful and uplifting, you may find some support in other people's experiences. Read back-to-school success stories and use them as motivation to help you move toward the life you want.

Action task: Make a list of people who motivate you, make you feel better, or help you through tough times. Reach out to them when you're struggling or need a mental boost.

Understand the Resources Available to You

Support can also come from your school or other outside sources. There may be programs available that can help you with the challenges you face. You may have access to teams of professionals who are there to offer academic or career guidance, giving you the information and support you need to make the right decisions for you.

Adults going back to school may find resources in the form of:

• Student services
• Career services
• Financial aid guidance (to help you understand your options)

Action task: Research your school online or contact them directly to learn about the resources they can provide. Learn what's available to you should you have questions or run into issues.

UMA Understands the Challenges of Going Back to School

At UMA, we understand that going back to school as an adult can present some challenges, and the obstacles faced can be different for each of the learners in our allied health programs. If you are enrolled at UMA or considering enrollment, know that we offer a variety of student and career services. Our team members are committed to providing guidance and school support in these areas so you can focus on pursuing your professional goals.

Contact us to discuss your challenges, or to learn more about how we can help you pursue a career in the healthcare field.

Frequently Asked Questions About Going Back to School as an Adult