Enough is enough. Sludge is going to University!

Enough talk about it from me. The Military paid for most of it. The VA and GI Bill are paying for the rest.
And, since the University is three blocks from my house, I'm going to college at the crusty old age of 35!

I have almost all my "Sandbox 101 and Playground 102" classes completed and accredited save for Calculus and Intro to Physics. Thanks to the Navy I have 48 credit hours already, plus I got all the English and Writing out of the way while I was on active duty.

So, first thing tomorrow, I am heading over to enroll for next semester and get a BS in Biology.

Now for the fun part:

I know we have a ton of highly educated folks around here (and said folks are in that very small handful of scholars I trust) that have been through this wringer already.

What am I getting into here? All my university experience is with Fine Arts (no laughing, was going to be a painter), Anti-missile/ anti-aircraft systems (still better at killing from a few miles away than anyone), and a range of technical schools from Prosthetic Make-Up to Fiber Optics.

Is this mostly number-crunching and fact memorization or hands on "looking at frog guts" type stuff?

I have no fears, I just like to do my research before I jump into uncharted waters.

This is what I am shooting for to start with:

Bellevue University | Biology (BS)

Among other things, I hope you can memorize well!!!!

well, yay. No special advice here than to enjoy yourself, go at it with an open mind, and don't sweat he small stuff.
There'll be some classes that seem dry and annoying, and you'll wonder why on earth you put yourself through that. Sometimes the lightbulb goes on much later, when all the pieces of the great science puzzle fall into place and you all of a sudden understand why taking physics was necessary after all. A certain % of anything is BS; one has to simply decide whther it's worth sticking around for the rest.

Then again, there'll be some fun classes with hands-on stuff. Hopefully your U offers some that are field-based or have extensive field work. Sometimes the elective classes that are not required are the best ones. Take those that you need for your degree, but also some that you want because they sound like fun (like, I dunno, mosses, slime-molds-and liverworts 101 or fresh water invertebrate identification or whatever there may be - every U has some of those).

Don't worry about being an olde fart. In my experience as an instructor, those routinely make the best students, because they've had some life, know what they want, can write a coherent English sentence, have done most of their boozing and wenching in the past, and have developed the ability to delay gratification. :wacko:

Good luck!

I agree with Molch. There will be:
:errr::yawn::shocked::angry::talker::happy:
Usually in the same day.

The early biology classes are memorization for lecture, frog guts for lab with minor number crunching, chemistry is memorization and numbers galore! Upper biology is learning and exploring, Organic Chemisty is incredibly difficult I have heard (It's part of the reason I'm Environmental Science BS), Calculus is the most difficult math class I have ever had; it shouldn't even be classified as math it needs its own catergory:rofl:.

It's a lot of work, but it can be alot of fun. Prepare to study you butt off. They say for every hour of class you should be prepared to study 3 hours.

Be sure to utilize your resources, study...a lot, eat breakfast, sleep is a good thing and you will find your breaks from school doing just that, vitamins are good!, some classes are small some classes are big, some classes are fun some classes are not, make a cirriculm for yourself the first year so you know what classes you have taken those you need to take and when, your academic advisor should have a template or atleast should be able to help you (I can show you mine if you would like just email me), also look for research opportunities at school and internships at local companies.

It's a lot of work but it opens many doors. Have fun and enjoy it (the best you can at times). You'll love it! And we're all very proud of you for going to pursue a degree!!

Thanks for the encouragement all!

I figure it like this- my factory days are over. Never wanted to be in industry at all. As I have been on the job hunt the last few weeks, I keep finding two types of jobs- those I want and those I am qualified to do.

My wife summed up the decision pretty well when she replied "<Expletive deleted> , Johnny. I guess this means I cannot argue with you every time you bring home more used lab equipment anymore.

I'm in the perfect position (for the first time in my life) to focus on my studies. I am a bit worried about calculus, but after weapons engineering school in the military things like organic chemistry and physics do not faze me one bit.

I haven't decide on what to specialize in when the time comes, but I figure I have a few years to learn more and make a quantified decision.

I think the hardest part is going to be keeping my school work and my hobbies separate (to keep the fun stuff fun, and the work work). Since this is just a generalized degree at a community college for now, I figure it can't be any harder than what I have already done.

The real fear is after I get that expensive placemat is what to do and where to go to carry it further.

sludge, I think you're a scientist already - just need the degree to top it off

maybe you can get a grad degree in herpetology. If you approach herp professors around the country for a possibility, they should be pretty impressed with your vast experience and knowledge about caudates.

I second that, you are a scientist that hasn´t got the papers yet!
I´m always a bit discouraging when i talk about this stuff, mostly because for me it was a slap in the neck to realize that what i wanted the degree to be and what it actually was were two entirely different things. However, if you are undecided yet, you don´t have unrealistic expectations, and you have genuine interest in most areas, then you´ll probably won´t have that problem all that much. Keep your mind open, you never know which field of biology is going to catch your attention. I was always (from the age of 5 according to my parents) dead set on zoology, and while it remains my main interest, i found myself very inclined towards botany (although possibly because botany oriented courses where the first breath of genuine interest and fun i got).
I have no idea how the universitary system works there, but around here it is mostly memorizing with only the occasional hands on experience (usually not very satisfying and mostly lab oriented). My advice would be, don´t expect them to provide you with the interesting, fun stuff, find your own. They´ll give you what i´d call the intellectual material, but it´s up to you to turn it into something other than random information. Here, at least, it is possible to get the degre just by memorizing everything and not understanding half of it...which is just terribly sad (yes, i know people who have finished the degree and yet can´t tell the difference between a Pleurodeles waltl and a Timon lepida....and they get to be called biologists...).

By the way, congrats! I´m sure you are excited about feeding your inner biologist

Believe it or not, My interest in entomology and botany has always outweighed my interest in herpetology, I have a cousin that is an entomologist for Pennsylvania DNR...it always bothered me that he got into bug collecting from me when we were kids. As I researched how I could apply biology in the area I live in those two are pretty prominent possibilities for application. I know I do not want to get into biotech at all, even though that is where the real money is out here. Food safety is also huge here in the Midwest, but I couldn't think of anything more boring than that, save for going back to being a maintenance man in a box factory.

I am actually looking forward to hitting the books. I actually enjoy text based learning and research. Hands on Lab stuff is always fun, but what good is it if you do not understand why you are cutting up that fetal pig? Well, that and I have enough hands on biology here in the basement to keep myself busy for at least another decade.

I am at home right now digging up some military records I forgot I had, then heading back over for a tour and a meet and greet. For some reason these folks are actually excited to to have an old landlocked sailor joining up. Why I have no clue.