How Old Are My Fellow A2K Members?

Uh, death doesn't always choose by advanced numbers. But then you know that, being..

I'm surprised at some of the ages being given. For example, I had Nimh pegged as a university student and Craven as much older. Go figure.

I thought you were 20. :-)

Ahh, yes, I didn't notice the misspelling there ILZ. Even if I had, it's hard to tell on the internet whether or not it's deliberate.

Heh. Am I that much of a givaway...

I'll be 33 all year long... Funny, I was thinking I was 34 for a second there. Anybody ever have a mental lapse and forget your age for a second

Wait until you get older, it happens more often.

Happened to me all year. I've been so stressed that I'm turning 24 this year with no real shot at education in sight (as in, "I will be 24 and no closer to my education") that I'd been thinking I was 24 all year (I only turn 24 in June).

I can't wait for that...

Ah, you still have plenty of time. You still have your whole life ahead of you. You're not supposed to worry about stuff like that till your 30's.

Nah, I came from happiness to America to further my education. And the prospects look bad (e.g. military and wait for 4 years, making me graduate in my thirties to find that I'm too old for all the positions I seek).

I think my worry is legit, time has been going by and I'm not getting much closer but I am still sure I will reach my goal.

Good news is that this month I started moving fast toward a preliminary goal to the education (car).

After that I need to secure a secure job, after that a bed/home (been sleeping on a couch for so long I dream of beds) and after that I can tackle edumacation.

Seeing progress toward the car is really uplifting, my company is faltering and they'd put me on a work schedule so low that I could collect partial unemployment last year.

So I wasn't able to save more than a few dollars a year, even under ridiculously rigorous budgets.

Now, things are a bit better and once I get my car I can target my next goals (better job/home).

Slowly but surely, as they say.

What do you hope to study? Why not make use of student loans?

I want to study everything! ;-) But my first pick will be computer science (not what I really want, I'd rather journalism or psychology).

I do plan to use student loans, there's simply no other way I could afford it without spending 4 years in the military.

But right now all my efforts need to go toward securing domicile and transportation.

One reason my increasing age weighs on me is because I figure getting educational aid will only get harder.

I understand where you are coming from. At age 20, I have just begun an education in journalism, and it already weighs on me that I'll be your age when I graduate.

Well it's never too late to further your education. I've had a few doors slammed in my face because I don't have a degree. Even so, I still have no plans to get one. I can't see being thousands of dollars in debt when experience should be good enough. But that's just my opinion. I'm finding that employers don't share that opinion. I had to relocate to Boise just to get a job after the company that I worked for in Portland (kewill.com) closed it's west coast operation. I quickly found that there were so many people in the tech sector that were out of work that employers weren't even bothering with people who had no degree.

I ended up being a subcontractor for my dad building steel buildings in the desert for a year. Life really sucked, I was scarry close to homelessness. I managed to get my foot back in the door of the technology field but I would probably be making a lot more money and doing a lot better if I had a degree. I'm comfortable though. I've never been the type to go for the money. It would be nice to be a millionaire but I can take it or leave it. I just want a comfortable living and to do what makes me happy. Going for the gold will only make me die young of a heart attack.

Psst, tell your employer to make the site work without the www subdomain. ;-)

Hmmm - I was 26 when I finally graduated....

Oh, those idiots have no clue. They fired me didn't they

Ahh, in that case let 'em lose the traffic. ;-)

Not a concern at all. The main thing is to establish enough of a credit history to secure enough private loans to cover your entire financial need. Supposing, of course, that you're sure the education you get will be worth the investment. No late payments, and keep the balances of your cards below 75% of the limit at the time you are applying. But the fact that you are financially independent can only help your pursuit of financial aid (loans, especially).

And California universities really like the older students; I'd play that card to the hilt in the applications process. (Also, remember, there's very little stigmatization of transfers from 2-year colleges in the CSU and UC systems.)

The real question is how much your future goals really depend on the education. I've screwed up on this front before, and if I was more concerned with doing things normally I'd really be kicking myself right now. Luckily most of my relatives have turned out to be failures in one way or another, so I don't hold myself to really stringent standards (in lifestyle terms, anyhow).