Never Too Late

Most people worth their salt who never had the opportunity, would probably go to college to get a degree. There is something so poignant about higher learning, that if you are interested in working on yourself intellectually, it’s difficult not to be drawn to it. But as we know, not everyone has the same benefits afforded to them and making the decision to go back to school as an adult has an entirely different set of consequences than if you were a high school student. Making the decision to go back to school as an adult is both courageous and commendable, and while some people have this archaic idea that post-secondary education is only something attained by young adults, they obviously haven’t spent any time on a college campus. Before we jump into the array of benefits that a post secondary education can afford someone in their future endeavors, let’s take a look at some numbers first.

According to a 2009 survey that was conducted by the American Census Bureau, parents between the ages of 22 to 50, only 19% of the males and 21% of the females had a bachelor degrees. And even though it has been said that an individual with a bachelor’s degree earns on average $25,000 more a year on average, parents still have to find the resources to be able to pay for their education. And let’s not forget, not only are they having to overcome financial difficulties because they’re raising a family, moving from child-rearing into a place of academics learning is a bit of a shift in skill, and if they only have a high school education, university can seem incredibly intimidating on all fronts. In 2008, during the recession, 4.5 million students were said to have been taking at least one online course, which was an 18.5% increase from the previous year. This isn’t exactly a fair indicator since 2008 is not a fair and accurate representation of the average economic climate that Americans have been faced with, however, we’re in the year 2012, and the job situation hasn’t gotten much better so education for many, does seem to be the only way out.

Parents are dealing with a whole host of obstacles that regular college students never have to face. They’re dealing with children which means that have to divvy up their time between a 45 hours work week (the national average), and all of the responsibilities that come along with shuttling children back and forth whether it’s to daycare facilities or their myriad of activities. Parents are also responsible for maintaining a household which means that their children need to be properly clothed, fed and supported. If a parent has a choice to take on a massive tuition bill or to food into the bellies of their little ones, they’re going to choose option B every time. But when they walk out there into a world that tells them that they are practically worthless in a professional sense because they don’t have a college education, it’s the wrong message. Preaching to them isn’t going to solve the problem, financial aid will however.

Several websites have popped up over the years that are designed to help parents meet their financial needs and have money left over for a post-secondary education. Sites like eLearners.com tackle not only the financial constraints parents are experiencing, but it also addresses the low self confidence that many parents feel when their mulling over the decision to go back to school or not. Improper education is actually an epidemic in America today, which is rather ironic when you think about America’s current political positioning on the world stage. Every developing nation in the world seems to want what Americans take for granted, life, liberty and the freedom to choose an education. Parents are not the ones who take these pillars for granted, they simply don’t have the resources to accomplish their goals, and if America wants to be stronger politically, economically and socially, they have to invest in the individuals that are raising the future generations.

In Canada alone, we are scrambling to fill a gaping hole in the employment market. Though we do have an issue with unemployment, every year we bring in hundreds of thousands of skilled workers to fill up jobs that Canadians, well, just aren’t willing to do. Many of those jobs include highly skilled professions like Plumbers, Electricians, Carpenters and a number of other trades people. There seems to be this misconception that these sorts of careers fall very low on the societal totem pole. Since when is there anything wrong with being blue collar? Apparently, everything. It seems there is this leftover idea from our past that those who work in office buildings are much higher on the hierarchical pole, when in fact, those same people, slaving away at their cubicles are making less now than they were almost a decade ago when you take into consideration that their wages have not increased at the same rate that inflation or the cost of living has. It’s time to slough off that idea, and move on into the future.

As a child growing up, my parents were both blue and white collar. My mother was an academic, my father an infantryman, and my step-father was a plumber; Guess who made the most money? It certainly wasn’t my mother with her two university degrees and her intelligence career, which though afforded her the highest security clearance available, she still didn’t make half what my step-father raked in. Not only did he earn a significantly higher income than both of my parents put together, he worked less hours, and had the ability to own his own company much sooner. Now what is it about the trades that offends society so greatly? Is it the amount of money these tradesmen earn? Is it that so few lack the skills that are required to be a tradesman, that we are often forced to rely on them for services? Those are both completely absurd reasons, yet are regularly presented reasons not to like the trades.

The ability to build a house, to actually construct a building from the ground up is something quite impressive. The amount of skill that is required to take-up such a task is something that I have longed envied, and perhaps that is another reason that so many look down upon the trades. Is it because they don’t spend years on end with their noses buried in silly books, learning about lofty theories or ancient scholars. Is it because they’re not in the habit of engaging in on-campus political debates or maybe it’s because they don’t run around quoting Shakespeare. Shakespeare, how boring. Perhaps we should all come down from our ivory towers and spend the day alongside a plumber who has to sump out a client’s basement. If you’re bitter about having to call a plumber in the middle of the night and shell out $100 an hour plus change for them to unclog your sink or toilet so you don’t have to worry about flooding those brand new slate tiles you just had installed, perhaps it’s time to complain about more important things, and just appreciate the fact that someone who works hard is able to earn what they should.

Gone are the days when an Art’s degree was a guaranteed job placement. That is more than ancient history, it’s pre history. It’s time to face the fact that the key to a long and prosperous career may not be found in books, but instead may be found with your hands. The trades are a perfectly honest industry, and a fruitful one at that, so let’s sump out the past, and construct a new, more employable future.

Hi again! Last post I was telling you all about what it felt like to be a mature student in a sea of fresh, young faces. And I told you a little bit about my first experience with college when I was straight out of high school. Because of the close proximity of the college to my high school, I felt little or no difference when I was admitted to college. And having to walk the halls and face all of the same people I had so desperately wanted to get away from after high school graduation was enough to turn me off of post-secondary school for some time, nearly a decade in fact. But here I am, all these years later. I’m thirty years old, I’m nearly half way thorough my first degree, and in two days from now, I’ll be registering for the fall semester.

I’ve actually been out of school for the last seven months. I had maxed out on my credits for one school, and I had to play the waiting game to get into another institution, so I’ve had all this time to reflect on what it’s like to be an adult student. I’ve had some fairly interesting conversations with friends and family over the little while about whether or not they thought that I was making the right decision to go back at my age. You would think that with the North American mentality these days being so pro-education that I would never have to worry about having to justify going back to school. But my decision, surprisingly, was met with some resistance,  from some of my girlfriends. They were concerned that because of my age, my window for child rearing was closing, and they saw that as being far more important. Let me remind you that these are all women who have university educations, they’ve just chosen not to utilize them, and instead, have chosen to become stay at home mothers.

Naturally, it was really difficult not to go on the defensive, but I was trying to be diplomatic and wanted to understand how they could be so hypocritical. I couldn’t understand why all of a sudden, raising children was more important than bettering ones self.  Their argument to me was that I most likely didn’t need an education because I had spent so much time in the workforce, and had acquired so many skills that an eduction would render me overqualified? Overqualified? Sure, if I was going to flip burgers at McDonalds! But I’m trying to get an education so I can work in a field that I love, so that I can eventually provide for my family, and isn’t that the sort of thing that would make me a better mother? The answer, of course, is yes!

The truth of the matter is, you never have to justify to anyone why you’ve chosen to go back to school, especially if it’s to better your situation in life. But it doesn’t even have to be for that purpose. Maybe you’re doing a job that you love, in an exciting field, but you’d like to back to study something you never had the chance to. Just because you decide to have children, doesn’t mean that you should ever stop learning. My mother didn’t go back to school until she was in her thirties, when both my brother and I were high school and elementary school. This notion that women have to choose is so outdated, so archaic, and the fact that it is still being perpetuated, and by women, is so appalling! As much as I love my friends, they need to step out of the dark ages, and into light!

About twelve years ago, I was young, scattered, lost high school graduate. It had been a harrowing five years with a set of overly-strict, overbearing parents who never let me step sideways for even a moment, and I was feeling stifled. I had done as I was told. I never took a single drug, I never took a sip of anything I was supposed to, I had decent grades and I was always home well before curfew which was absurdly early anyway. As my principal placed the diploma in my hand, I felt like I had done my part, and it was no time for my parents to do their’s; Let go.

Like most parents, they had been grooming me for university from a very young age, and I have to admit, the idea had grown on me. I wanted to be the next Diane Sawyer, and do that, I would need to go to a good school. Unfortunately, my family wasn’t made of money, and all of the good schools were well out of reach, so until I had the grades that were need to see me through the doors of an ivy league school, I had to attend a community college. So I conceded what I felt was defeat, and marched off to college. I remember sitting in class on the first day, listening to my English professor drone on and on about the importance of Mark Twain to the literary world, and as I looked around the classroom, I realized that I recognized nearly one third of the students from my high school. I immediately felt depressed. This is not what college was supposed to be about. It was supposed to be different, exciting, eye-opening. Instead, it just felt like I was back in high school again, with the popularity contests, and the adolescent drama.

As the semester drew on, I started having doubts about my career. I asked myself, what can I do with a liberal arts degree if I don’t get accepted to grad school? Am I going to be like my cousins who all have university degrees, but they’re working as bank tellers, instead of in fancy business towers like they had dreamed? Could I handle listening to all of the nonsense from my colleagues about who was wearing what, or who was sleeping with who? No I couldn’t, so I dropped out. I dropped out of college in the first semester. I felt like a complete failure. I had already left home, and it wasn’t like my parents were paying for it, so the only one responsible for my academic demise was myself. So I threw myself into the workforce, picked up two jobs, and for the next ten years, I lived like an adult. I bought a house, I paid my bills and most importantly, I travelled the world as if I was going to expire the next day. And at the end of that whirlwind decade, after all my high school colleagues had long graduated and started their careers, married and started families, I made the decision at twenty-eight that it was time for me to go back to school.

As the ‘ol adage goes, age is but a number. It’s very true. Sure, it might have been nice to be walking around with a degree at twenty-three, finishing grad school at twenty-five and working for one of the world’s top publications, but than I would’ve missed out on the richness that was my twenties. Plus, I wouldn’t have found a career that I really love. So take it from me, whether you’re twenty-eight, or sixty-eight, it’s just never too late.

5 Minute Breakfast: Baked Grapefruit

Hey there foodies! We’re changing up the direction of this blog a little bit (read: completely) and will only be talking about food for now, and forever. I’m sure you might be a little bit confused. I mean, for a blog to go from career and education information to a food blog, well, that’s a complete 180.

So, why the change? Because I had a long think about what was really important to me in life. And I thought about how education and careers, while they’re both extremely important and valid topics for a blog, are just not my thing. I’m more of a life person. And, for me, life is a combination of a few things, namely: yoga, travel, love, connection, energy and food. I believe that you should really only invest your time in things that you love. I’m a huge believer in that idea actually. It’s what has guided my life for the past eight months. As a result, I’ve lived more in the past eight months than I have in the past twenty-five years.

I love taking pictures of food. I love sharing recipes. I love organic, raw, gluten-free, vegan, soy-free, GMO-free, non-processed and local foods. I call foods that fall under those categories Freedom Foods. All of the foods you’ll see on this blog fall under one or all of those categories and they’ll be incredibly quick and easy. Why do I want to focus on making the fastest home made foods? Because another thing I happen to love is spreading myself thin. There’s so much change going on in this world and I would absolutely love to be part of it all.

Sometimes my new schedule only grants me enough time in the morning to make a green superfood smoothie. All I have time for at lunch is a five minute prep time. And dinner is usually my social time, so I like to spend less time cooking and more time connecting with whoever I’m with.

So, I’m here to share these solutions with all of you. I want to let you know how you can fit eating ethically and quickly for optimal health.

Are you ready? 

When I was doing research for this week’s blog post I came across an interesting article by Health.com; 10 Careers with High Rates of Depression. I thought that was an interesting title so I perused the article further and was surprised by some of the choices. Nursing home and child care workers topped the list. I can understand this. It is hard to see people sick and unable to help themselves. My late husband worked in a nursing home for a while as a CNA and he would get attached to the residents. When one of them passed away it really bothered him. Child care workers may experience depression because young children don’t know how to express gratitude for their care and child care workers may feel under appreciated.

Food service staff came in second with 10% of the women polled reporting a major bout of depression. People who serve food have very hard and many times thankless jobs. Customers can be rude, supervisors demanding, and the work itself is very physical with long hours. Social workers can find themselves dealing with abused children, families on the brink of collapse and many other stressful and heartbreaking situations. When you are studying to how to become a social worker, it is important to remember not to let your job make you depressed.

Health care workers such as doctors, nurses, aids, therapists and anyone else that works with sick people may find they become depressed from time to time. It is only natural especially if you have a patient who is not responding to treatment or has passed away. Another profession that is known for depression is anyone in an artistic job. Writers, artists, and other creative individuals have a higher incidence of depression and undiagnosed mental illnesses than most other professions. Part of this may be attributed to the irregular hours and sporadic paychecks, but speaking from a writer’s point of view I know how it is to have a great paycheck one week and a tiny one the next.

These are the top careers the article sited for having the most potential to be depressing. Does that mean you shouldn’t pursue these careers, well no. My advice would be to learn how to deal with stress and try to keep a positive attitude. It is natural to be depressed once in a while. The key is not to let yourself get into a pit of depression. Talk about your feelings to a good friend or loved one. If you find you are chronically depressed, seek out professional help. A therapist or counselor can help teach you ways to deal with depression and keep it from taking over your life.

Science and engineering jobs are two of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. But recently several states have had to cut these degree programs from the curriculum, or reduce the number of classes, due to budget cuts. One of the reasons these programs have been cut is that these are some of the most expensive skill sets to teach. Qualified instructors, equipment, and safety requirements are cited for the more expensive cost of these types of programs.

According to the New York Times, Nevada, South Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska, Florida, Michigan and Texas are the states hit the hardest by budget cuts. The majority of state universities in these states have had to completely eliminated computer science and engineering programs. In the United States appropriations for colleges fell an average of 7.6% in the 2011-2012 school year. One of the most extreme examples is Arizona which cut its state university funding by 31%. A recent proposal in Florida to cut state university budgets by several million dollars spurred student and citizen protests.

These cuts fly in the face of the shortage of qualified science and engineering graduates to fill job openings. In North Carolina, a state suffering from a severe nurse shortage, there is a waiting list for the waiting list to enroll in one of their community college nursing programs. There is a shortage of nurses all across the country. The medical industry is one of the fastest growing job markets so it makes no sense to cut science programs when states are desperate for qualified personnel. Engineering is also a fast growing job sector, yet technical schools are also under the knife for budget cuts.

Schools are trying to find ways to counteract the budget cuts. One of the most unpopular ways is by raising tuition. Schools are raising tuition, but this is still not enough to cover the budget cutbacks. What results is less slots for students, less money for programs, and ultimately less students graduating with the necessary training to fill job openings. If education is one of the high priorities in the current administration, it would seem foolish to use education as a way to save money. Surely the administration could find better places to cut money than the future of our society in the form of higher education.

If you are thinking of going back to school to learn the skills for a new career, but can’t decide what field you want to enter, consider the medical field. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the medical field is one of the top 10 fastest growing job sectors today. And it is expected to continue to grow at a faster than normal rate through 2018. The BLS reports in 2008 14.3 million people were employed in health care. Another 3.2 million jobs are expected to be created by 2018.

If you think about it, there are always going to be people who need medical care. Baby Boomers are starting to age, and the number of elderly patients will increase through the next decade and beyond. Women’s health has become a concern as well as neonatal care. Allied health positions are needed to perform tests and act as support for the doctors and nurses who provide direct care to patients.

Career Opportunities

A career in the medical field is more than just a nurse or a doctor. Career opportunities are available in all aspects of patient care. Not only is finding qualified people to care for patients necessary, but the administrative side of the coin is equally important. In order to provide the best care available, hospitals, clinics, long term and acute care centers, and other health care facilities need to run smoothly. This is where medical coders and billing specialists, office managers, front end specialists, and insurance advocates enter the picture. Both sides of health care are equally important.

Salary Expectations

You can earn a good salary in the medical field. This chart is from the BLS website and outlines some of the most popular careers and salary expectations. Figures are per hour.

• Registered Nurse Salary – $30.03
• LPN Salary and Vocational Nurse Salary – $18.77
• Medical Secretaries – $14.27
• Medical Assistants – $13.06
• Dental Assistants – $15.57

What you earn will depend on your schooling, the area you live, and the health care facility in which you work. Hospitals tend to pay more than other facilities, and home health care is the lowest rated pay according to the BLS website. Not only will you be paid well, but you will get benefits which in most cases includes reduced health care costs. For adult students, the medical field is an excellent choice to start a new life and a new career.

I know talking about heart disease really isn’t an adult education trend, but it is important that everyone is aware of the risks of heart disease. Did you know heart disease is the number one killer of women in America? Shocking isn’t it? You’d think it was something like breast or ovarian cancer. But no, it is heart disease. Heart disease tends to run in families so if you have someone in your family that has had a heart attack or suffers from any type of heart disease you owe it to yourself and your family to know the facts and help prevent it.

My mother and father both had heart disease. I have high blood pressure and sometimes suffer with arrhythmia. So I know how frustrating it can be to try and be healthy. Heart disease is more than just a heart attack or high blood pressure. According to the American Heart Association it can include the following conditions:

• Atherosclerosis is caused by the buildup of plaque in the arteries and blood vessels. This constricts them, a clot may form, and can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
• A heart attack occurs when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood in your heart. It is important to know that women tend to present symptoms much differently then men. Most feel a pressure in the chest or a back pain that radiates to the front.
• An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks the blood flow to the brain. This is the most common form of a stroke.
• A hemorrhagic stroke is caused by a blood vessel in your brain bursting. The most common cause of this type of stroke is uncontrolled blood pressure.
• Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure, refers to the heart’s inability to beat properly and provide your body with the oxygen and blood supply it needs.
• Arrhythmia refers to an irregular heartbeat. You hear may beat too fast, tachycardia; or bradycardia is too slow, less than 60 beats per minute. Your heart may also skip beats or beat irregularly preventing it from suppling adequate blood and oxygen to your body.
• Heart valve problems occur when the valves of the heart don’t open properly to keep the blood flowing correctly in your heart. 

Treatments 

This table is taken from the American Heart Association’s webpage What is Cardiovascular Disease? 

The best prevention for heart disease is to not smoke, don’t drink in excess, maintain a healthy body weight, eat a low fat diet, and exercise. Check with your doctor to see what he recommends to help you stay healthy and prevent this disease. Wear red on February 3^rd to show your support for the prevention of heart disease.

Your computer holds all of your files for school, personal and perhaps business. Imagine if your system crashed and you lost all of these files. This has actually happened to me. I lost all of my past blogs, client files, personal writing and everything else on my hard drive. It was not only traumatic, but a real pain in the butt. Gone were my notes for my forensic science class I was taking and I almost had to drop out of the class, but luckily I got the notes from a friend and it was all good. You don’t have to risk losing all of your data with the many choices you have for online data backup. Although you may think your data won’t be secure, it will be. Many services encrypt your data so outside hackers can’t get to it or read it.

How online back up systems generally work is you upload the files from your hard drive and the company stores them on their computer system. You can access your files any time and they are accessible only to you because they are password protected. Another advantage is the ability to access your files from your mobile device. They’re no longer anchored to your PC or Mac. This means you can work from anywhere you have internet access. You could do your own back up on an external hard drive or thumb drive, but online backup systems are synchronized so that as you add new files and data, they automatically back up your data. Here’s an overview of some of your options for online backup.

Carbonite is rated the number one online backup system by Online Backup Top Ten. You can set Carbonite to back up your files hourly, daily, or at other times from their advanced settings. It is compatible with Mac and PC, and offers 24/7 support. You can also access your files from your iPhone or Android.

Sugar Sync online backup is a service that offers cloud computing, file sharing, available for PC or Mac, and stores your files on their server. Sugar Sync constantly backs your files up so your data is protected.

Mozy Online Backup not only backs up your data on their server, but locally on your computer. This gives you twice the protection. Like the other systems, you can access your files remotely and it is compatible with Mac and PC.

Dropbox is very easy to use and is great if you need to share files. The free edition doesn’t sync your data, but the premium edition does. I use this program for a client and it is much better than emailing files.

You can find other online back up reviews at the Computer Repair Blog. If you have files, photos and other data you don’t want to lose from a computer crash, fire, or other computer disaster, consider looking into the many online data backup plans available.

A Masters in Business Administration (MBA) is one of the most popular post-graduate degrees. One of the reasons for this is an MBA increases your earning potential up to 2.5 times as someone who has a high school diploma. Another reason is that most large companies require MBA’s to move up the company ladder. If you have hopes of becoming an officer in a large corporation, you need to have an MBA. Even smaller companies prefer applicants to have an MBA in order to put them on the fast track for advancement.

Skills an MBA Gives You 

Besides understanding the business world and how it works better, an MBA will also give you leadership skills. You’ll learn the best ways to motivate a team and keep the working flowing smoothly. Leadership may be one of the most important skills you will learn. Not everyone has leadership skills, and not everyone can effectively manage people. If you can develop your leadership skills, you will have many more opportunities for advancement and job prospects. An MBA gives you skills you can use in all sectors of business and you can apply the skills you learn to almost any job you choose.

Can I Specialize? 

It is very common for MBA candidates to specialize. You can choose accounting, economics, e-commerce, global management, human resources, marketing, and any other specialty that interests you. For example NYU Stern offers 23 different specializations. These include banking, entrepreneurship and innovation, management of technology operations, and supply chain management and global sourcing.

How Much Will I Make? 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer and information systems managers who have an MBA earn over $100,000 annually. Financial analysts are listed at over $84,000 per year, and security and commodities sales agents who hold an MBA reported making over $74,000 annually. As you can see, an MBA increases your earning potential greatly.

Can I Get My MBA Online?

Yes you can. Many universities and colleges offer MBA programs completely online. Online education is one of the best ways for working adults to further their education. Today an online degree holds just as much cache as one from a campus based program. If you want to increase your earning potential and get on the fast track to advancement, consider going back to school and earning your MBA.