More and more people are returning to school these days. It might sounds a little hard to believe, but there are significant numbers of adults in their 30’s and 40’s who return to school to pursue more advanced degrees. Many of them already a parent.

If this is something you have been wanting to do for a while now, but for some reason, life got in the way and you reluctantly have to push the thought aside, now it’s your chance.

Of course, you might have doubts, whether returning to school as mature students, an adult, and perhaps also a parent will be the right choice for you, or if all the effort and sacrifices will be worth it someday.

It is normal to feel that way. After all, back to school as a mature student is not exactly a popular choice. Most people normally finish their education first, got themselves a good job then settle down and start a family

But if that is not the path you were taken, don’t be discouraged. We all take different paths in life and there is no “blueprint” whatsoever that we need to follow anyway.

Perhaps something happens along the way which prevents you from pursuing your higher education, or maybe you want different things in life and, to go in that direction, you need to get back to school get the relevant knowledge or degree.

In this post, we will be talking about the benefits you could gain when you decide to return to school as a mature student, when you are already an adult, and most likely also a parent.

Let’s dig in!

Nobody will say continuing your education as an adult and a parent will be easy. Some even think it is something close to “Mission Impossible”. Well, like it or not, we had to admit the word has a ring of truth in it.

 It will not be going to be a walk in the park, that is for sure. It will require a lot of sacrifices from you, your partner, your family, your employer at work, and all parties who will be affected in one way or another by your decision to return to school as an adult and a parent.

But at the end of the day, it will be worth it since you will gain more than you give, and all the hard work will pay off, because, contrary to popular beliefs, returning to school as an adult and or a parent have plenty of advantages for you, on your future career and personal growth.

Here are some of the benefits you could gain by returning to school as a mature student, a mom, or a dad :

1. You Could Explore New Opportunities

As an adult, most likely by now, you have already established a good career path, the one you enjoy so much and proud of doing.

Even so, you could not help but notice there are vast growing technologies and knowledge in your industry that you need to learn if you want to keep up and not fall behind.

By returning to school, you will have a chance to explore this new knowledge that did not exist before, back then when you were still at school.

You could choose a certain subject which interests you the most, or the one more relevant to your career, and get a new and comprehensive insight into it.

After you finish your study, you will be armed with new knowledge that enables you to stay relevant in your field, to keep up, and even to excel with new technology and innovation in your industry.

2. You Will Boost Your career

Learning new skills by choosing to pursue further education, you will automatically set new career goals that ultimately could help you reach someplace higher which you never imagined before.

With all the new knowledge and insights you gained as a mature student, a new door to a new and (most likely) better career option will open.

Some new career or job title which you never considered before, has caught your eyes, now that you have the relevant skills, knowledge, or degree.

If this happens, it means your decision to return to school as an adult has enabled you to go in a completely different direction with your career, towards a better future.

3. You Will Definitely Grow Your Network

When you decide to go back to school, even when you are already an adult and a parent, your network will expand. Your network circle no longer consists of only your colleagues at work and the other parents at your child’s school, but also your classmates and your professors.

Most of the time, the professors giving lectures at the university are a good combination of excellent academics highly respected in their fields, as well as high number of professionals with decades of experience in their industry.

By returning to school as mature students, you will have chances to learn from the best in the field, both in theoretical and practical knowledge, that you could easily apply in your work. Absorbs as much as you can and do not hesitate to ask them questions when you have doubts.

Most of the time, they will be happy to assist you. Be a good student, maintain good grades, connect with them, try to build a good relationship with them, and nurture it without being pushy. Who knows, when they have a new project or need a new hire, they will invite you to join them!

4. You Will Automatically Upgrade Yourself

Competition across all job levels, in many industries, is getting more and more fierce. Employers nowadays are raising their level of education for their new hires.

Candidates need to fulfill higher education requirements to qualify for the job, and higher education will increase an applicant chance of getting hired

Even when a candidate successfully gets hired, a good higher education will help in a few years down the road when the company considered them for a promotion.

By going back to school as mature students, you show them you are worth being considered for promotion, since by getting a higher education, you show determination to keep learning and improving yourself, to keep up the pace with the newly required advanced skills and the evolving techniques and technologies, which at the end will be beneficial for the company and your future career.

5. You Will Have Better Time Management

Time is one of the most important commodities we cannot afford to waste. Once you lose it, it will never be coming back. We need to use it wisely.

Technologies are developed to help us be more efficient so that we could have more time to use to do something else or to spend with our family.

When you pursue higher education as a mature student, especially when you are also already a parent, you will put your time management skill to the test.

Like it or not, you will have to balance your time to have everything done, since most likely, you will have to juggle work, school, and family. Not an easy task, but you will have to find a way to manage everything.

After you managed to finish school while working and/or taking care of your family, juggling one, two, or even three things at once for a certain period will come naturally for you.

6. You Will Gain More Life Experiences

Just be honest, how many people could say they sit in a class with a bunch of 20 something kids for a year or two? Surely many things could happen during that period that will enrich your life.

Especially, with the fast-growing of technologies in the past few decades, many things could change dramatically.

So, even if you are only a couple of years older than your average classmates, most likely you will have a different kind of experiences growing up compared to them, which, unfortunately, some will make you feel like a dinosaur.

Even so, every little interaction you will have with your younger classmates: every debate, laughter, every conversation, even the silly, and absurd ones (yes, you could have that kind of conversation, trust me), all the mishaps, misunderstanding, miscommunication that could happen due to your age gap, can be something memorable that will put a smile on your face whenever it crosses your mind.

7. You Will Reinvent Yourself

It is never too late to pursue your dream, to finally be who you want to be, and to go where you want to go, either in your personal or your professional life.

Going back to school as a mature student, when you are already an adult, even also a parent can be the vehicle you need to finally be where you want to be.

By finishing school, against all the odds, you prove to yourself that you manage to overcome your fear, tackle the difficulties with bravery and strength you never know you had if you never challenge yourself like this.

You managed to conquer one of the biggest challenges you could ever have in your life. More importantly, you have proven that you successfully embrace it and reinventing yourself, by came out of the experience as a better student, better employee, better parent, and a better person.

Over To You

So, If you have been thinking back and forth about wanting to back go to school, don’t hesitate, do it. Whatever the reason for you to do it, do not let the fact that you are older than the average student or your status as a mom or dad stops you, ever.

Perhaps you are interested in continuing your education to PhD level? check this link.

All the sacrifices you will need to do are worth it. You will grow professionally and personally. It will help you unlock your full potential.

Embrace the challenge and changes, and reinvent yourself! What do you think? Are you ready to go back to school to learn new skills and reinvent yourself?

Do you have a friend or family who’s thinking about continuing their education? Or do you think this post will be beneficial for someone? I will be super happy if you take the time to share it on social media and pin it 😊!

Let me know, I would like to hear your story. Hit reply or connect with me!  Till next time..

Related articles:

• 7 Amazing Advantages of Attending Online School as Student-Moms and Mature Students
• 5 Fascinating Reasons Why A Mom Should Go Back To School
• 9 Ways to Improve Yourself to be A Better You in 2021
• 6 Surprising Ways College Will Be Easy for You When You Go Back to College as Student-Moms and Mature Students

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