LexieCat

I truly feel for the people trying to pay for tuition these days. I went to law school in the early 80s, decent public university legal education, for which I paid about 3500 A YEAR. Today, that same school charges TEN TIMES that much.

If you feel you have good reasons for pursuing the education, go for it. There are some programs that provide loan forgiveness after a certain length of time (provided you've made payments in the meantime). You've chosen a good school, not a diploma mill. The reputation of the school will enhance your marketability.

Start preparing for the job hunt from day one, find a good internship if you can--those connections can lead to a job with the organization you're interning for, or a good recommendation for a job elsewhere.

FWIW, I hated 90 percent of the time I spent in law school, but I had an awesome career that I wouldn't have traded for anything. It's all in what you get out of it.

Kallistia

Specifically I'm returning to school for a BA in Anthropology which I eventually want to further into a PhD either Historical archaeology or nautical archaeology - ultimately I want to be a professor but I already have $24,000 worth of student loans from my paralegal degree so just the BA in anthropology would put me at about $40,000 or so in student loans.

Kallistia

But first thing is first and that's pursuing the BA in anthropology, due to the credit I received for the core classes I've already taken for the paralegal degree in looking at roughly two years to complete the anthropology degree and determining whether or not it will actual be worthwhile.

Job satisfaction is extremely high and the median income is roughly $60,000 a year topping out between $90,000 and $120,000 with the lower end of the spectrum earning about $45,000, but I'm not looking to be incredibly wealthy...I'd rather be happy than wealthy...I'm perfectly okay with being happy and having my bills paid with a little left over at the end of the month. Wealth to me is around $80,000 and up, I say this because "wealth" is a pretty general term and everyone has their own different perception of what is and is not wealthy.

Kallistia

Tbh - even though I have always wanted to be a professor and history and anthropology have always been my favorite subjects - I worry that I'm being too ambitious. It's a path that is pretty much PhD or bust - all or nothing - and I don't want to end up failing with an incredible amount of debt and a bachelors degree that I can do nothing with...but on that note I rationalize I do already have two degrees with career experience that I can fall back on should I end up failing.

I'm rambling...I've been worrying myself sick over it.

Berrybean

Where are you in your recovery Kallistia. Are you secure enough in it that you are confident that, if you DO spend all that money out right now, you are in a place to make the most of the opportunity.

It does sound like a good idea, and the money is an investment in yourself. But it's not necessarily something to rush into when you're in the early stages of recovery. If you apply and succeed and get all the finances agreed in principle, would you be able to defer your entry so you have it ahead of you as motivation to stay sober and get well for that first year?

Kallistia

Recovery wise I'm somewhere close to two months - and that was something I had considered, that it is early recovery - but I am already in school attending classes so I would be doing the same thing I'm currently doing but studying a different area.

I never even considered the university an option - where I live is pretty much on a state line, I can leave work, walk across a bridge, and be in a different city and state - where the university is located - but I never even thought of trying to apply.

When I say it's a really good school, it is good to me it's not IV League or private, but it is competitive and offers a better opportunity than the two not for-profit colleges here (we have probably a half dozen for-profits). I'm pretty confident with the undergrad portion...my biggest fear is afterwards - I would have to relocate (the grad school I'm interested in is a good eight to ten hours from my family) and being able to support myself and my son while pursuing graduate work.

I'd really like to be a pirate though...o told my son I was thinking about going to school to be a pirate and he thinks it's the funniest thing.

Which is another thing - I can't expect my son to have high achievements in this life on simply the desire for him to do so - I have a responsibility to show him what he's capable of by showing him what I'm capable of if that makes sense - lead by example.

Even though it's still early in my sobriety I'm pretty confident. I'm just done drinking, I decided that it's no longer part of my life. It's not an option for me anymore even if it seems like it would be easier to sit down and drink instead of worrying about not drinking.

I've been through "one won't hurt" before - and realized quite definitively at this point that yes, yes it will - one drink may as well be a a lifetime of drinks

Kallistia

And the other times I always in my heart didn't want to stop - I did want to stop, but not really truly be finished with it forever and I always found a way to allow myself the excuse to drink.

Now...well now I know there are no excuses, there is no wanting to stop but maybe not forever, or trying to moderate, or thinking one every now and then is okay because it's not and I don't have the luxury of being one of those people that can moderate and have one here or there or occasionally go out for drinks with friends - it's just not for me and it never will be and that's that. It actually turns my stomach when I think about drinking - went to a friend's birthday party earlier and she got sloshed - hugged her goodbye and the entire ride home I could smell alcohol - from her - on my clothes - it made me feel ill.

I really just don't even want to drink. It completely disgusts me now the utter ridiculous fool I was drinking, the mistakes that could have been avoided, the situations...the years of complete stupidity because I was convincing myself it was okay and everyone does it.

Sorry, I'm writing books lol - just kind of lonely I guess - I sit by myself in my office alone all day with no one to talk to unless my boss is in there flipping the **** out over something trivial...like how it took the mail four days to get to a client and it's somehow my fault smh

LexieCat

It's an ambitious path, and it sounds like very interesting and rewarding work.

It also sounds like an awful lot of debt you could wind up with in the end, though, by the time you get your PhD. $80,000 a year may sound like a lot of money now, but have you researched how much your loan payments might be by the time you're done? What about other sources of student aid? And I assume you'll want to put away some money for your own son's education, too--not necessarily to pick up the tab for the whole thing, but to at least help out.

I guess what concerns me is that it sounds like you're basically going to have to plow through to the PhD before you're going to be able to make a living in your chosen field. It's easier if you can break it into chunks--work for a bit in between those advanced degrees, or while you're getting them.

Not suggesting it's impossible, just sounds like a difficult and expensive undertaking. Have you talked with any career counselors at schools you're considering attending?

thomas11

I think you pretty much nailed it with this post. If that's the field you want to pursue, its PhD or nothing. So if you commit, you gotta go for it and become a professor. If and when that is achieved, the income possibilities are pretty darn high. You probably know all this, but above and beyond your salary you can earn money writing peer reviewed papers, articles for publications, probably grant money for projects. Some professors make a TON of money doing work outside their university paycheck.