Can peope change life direction after 40?

I finished my OU degree aged 44, you are never to old to learn and the confidence and sense of achievement your degree will give you will make it all worth it. Yes there are many young graduates, but as an older student you have life experience to go with your degree, employers look at this and understand that returning to study is hard, it is something you have done and proved that you are hard working and can achieve goals, returning to study shows motivation and drive and these are all life skills that will stand well beside qualifications.

Don't worry about work, get a degree.

Hi Tily.
I'm in my 75th year and I'm doing a law degree. Why? Some years ago now I had a long series of court battles and I lost everything. The opportunity to learn law with the OU came up and I decided that if i could not beat them I'd join them. Besides I'm and argumentive old git and law is right up my street. Wish I could have done it years ago.
Best of luck to you and keep at it.
Ian.

I am 35 and 8 months pregnant with our 3rd child. I have decided to be a SAHM this time around. My other children are 17 and 14 and I went back to work after having both of them, but have only ever done admin type jobs. I have almost completed the first level courses of a part time degree in ICT, and aim to use the next 5 years to finish that degree and set myself up as self employed working from home, while making the most of this littles ones time at home before she starts school.

So, I will be 40 when I eventually think about earning again, hopefully with a brand new career! The advantage of experience, both in work and in life, cant be beat :)

The only thing I find wrong with the initial post and to be honest the whole thread it the phrase 'later in life'.

Im 42 this year and my husband is 52. we definitely arent old. We should all be hugely proud of what we are achieving but not because of our age but simply because we are going for it and doing it. Makes no difference what age you are or it shouldnt. Its the achievement not the age at which it is achieved that we should be proud of.

I wear two hats, along with juggling a BSc in Information Technology and Computing, working as a swimming instructor and in IT security. When I first started in IT 10 yrs ago I didnt even know what an operating system was. I passed the training course for the job but I didnt think 'Oh wow, Ive changed direction at 32, I can do this' I just thought 'Oh wow, I can do this'.

As a society we must stop seeing age as a barrier. My husband is cycling the Camino de Santiago this summer. 10 years ago he was a smoker who hadnt been on a bike since he was a kid. Im proud to death of him. Not because hes 'over 50' and doing this. But just because hes doing it. Hes achieving. Nice to have the time you may think but at the moment this skilled engineer is out of work and getting turned down for jobs he could do with his hands tied behind his back thanks to a society which for all its yearning towards political correctness is blatantly ageist.

Worrying about what we can do because of our age or even (and I know I will get shouted down for this) making an achievement more than it is because it was achieved 'later in life' (argh!) is feulling the youth culture that prevails.

I am just as proud of my 4yr old pupil who learns to swim as I am of my 64yr old pupil. Ive seen terrified kids force themselves into the pool to learn and happy go luck 'mature' learners and vise versa, its the action not the age that is important and the more people I can convert to believing this the more chance there is of changing society..... I wish.....

41 and rolling. I just started working towards BSc Hons in Criminology and Psychology. Never felt better. I feel 10 years younger and hope to get a job (I am unemployed at the moment) of my dreams - something what I have never had before. Life is cruel, but we can beat it at any time!!!!

Hi, I'm 34 and have worked in accounts for 10 years, then marketing for 7, now making a leap to Environmental Education. I think by demonstrating commitment to study OU Env Science, which only just started in Feb, I put myself in a stronger position to get a trainee role with the Wildlife Trust, where I'm now developing the necessary skills alongside the degree. My wages have nosedived temporarily, but hopefully I'll find a paid job somewhere at the end of it all, and I'm learning so much along the way, it's brilliant!

I can't let myself watch the next 17 working years pass by in unfulfulling jobs, or wait til I retire to do what I'd love to do. We've got so much working life ahead of us, and spend so much of our lives at work, we have to get stuck in even if it makes life challenging for a while. If you find something you're passionate about, don't let anything hold you back, there's a whole world out there! Why should the young graduates have all the fun?!

And finally...my great-uncle 89 was in the paper a couple of years ago graduating at 89 - I thought I'd better crack on now I've decided, not wait quite that long!

A great-grandfather has graduated with an honours degree in sociology, days ahead of his 90th birthday.
After six years of part-time study, widower William Cooper, 89, gained a lower-second-class degree from Wolverhampton University...
 

Hi

I started on the OU road at the age of 40, that was 7 years ago and I am now nearing the end of my degree in health and social care, currently undertaking 2 60 point courses as well as working full time and having 3 children, 2 of whom have mental health challenges. I decided to start work towards a degree to prove to myself that I could do something, I wasn't brilliant at school and hated school, I wasn't allowed to go to college to get the qualifications that I wanted, so several years later I thought yes I can and will do something. On the whole the tutors and forums have been very supportive and I have met some really good people who have become close friends over the years, you can become involved in all sorts of groups, attend meetings, I am helping out at Derby degree ceremony this year, you can do as much or as little as you want, but there are always people ready to help and support you. We all struggle at times, and the course may be hard going like one of my current ones, but talking on the forum there are lots of us in the same boat, and you then feel better knowing you are not alone.

So just do it there are loads of us older students out there with lots of advice and a good sense of humour and a few tips to help your studies. 

Hi Tilly

I studied with the OU in my thirties, then went to University as a full time student. It wasn't easy competing with 21 year olds for jobs, but I was successful.  I changed careers a couple of times and held some really interesting jobs.

I was made redundant 3 times in my fifties and each time, I found a job.  Personality and presentation are more important than age, particularly as you don't have to put your DOB on your CV any more.  You need to emphasise to your potential employers how lucky they are to have someone of your maturity compared to a callow young graduate.  It is harder, but absolutely not impossible, and well worth it.

Try to go on a course for presentation skills and prepare for your interviews.

Very best of luck

Lynne

Hi Tilly,

I got my first degree at 50 - it took me 10 years! When I was about 2/3 of the way through my studies, I got a job as an adult education tutor. It's a wonderful job and my OU studies played a huge part in my getting it. So yes, you can change life direction after 40. Good luck with your studies and with wherever they take you.

Judith

They do say that you should undergo a complete change of profession when you hit middle age, as you will have learned most of what there is to know about the one you chose as a career for the first twenty years or so of working life and will not be motivated or challenged by it any more. if you are getting a little jaded, a change in direction, to something your are interested in and enjoy could be a good thing. I got bored with the software engineering business and its seventy percent project failure rate after spending twenty odd years working in that sphere and decided at the age of 43 to study something that I have always been much more interested in , science, principally molecular science and molecular and cell biology. I now find myself looking for a job and at starting another business, so I have some big midlife challenges to overcome......

I would'nt worry about what anyone else is doing though, it's pretty obvious that there is no economic recovery, that's just a fairy story that the politicos are telling everyone to stop them from rioting, the banks and the economy are being held up with smoke , mirrors and funny money (quantitative easing, printed fiat currency and Bernanke bucks, which are backed by nothing) so those younger grads will struggle just as much to find work as older people. Learning some new skills on your course may be just the thing to get you starting a new business with your new found knowledge, I think many people will do this to revive the economy and earn some money to pay the bills, should be viewed as a positive thing, part of the destruction and growth cycle and not all gloom and doom, these sort of economic cycles happen every sixty years or so......(usually when they don't have the Glass-Steagall regulations in place).....

 Hi Tilly,

Firstly,  it's very reassurning to see I'm not the only one in this situation. It is also interesting to see everyones comments on this subject. I have just been made redundant at 39 & have been an Aircraft Engineer since I was 16, so I thought...what the heck,  I will do a history degree & possibly go into teaching one day!

I see this was a new lease of life.

Happy Days & good luck with the OU,

Mark.   

PS: Anyone got some good tips on home study ? (First time for me) 

hi, i am 40 when i look in the mirror, but feel that if i dont take the time now to improve my life, i will bitterly regret it, this is my time now and i am starting law studies!. i kept thinking, god i will be the oldest one but do you know what, i have got past that because i so want to stretch myself and what better way than a degree in law, bring it on i say, theres alot to be said for us mature students!

 I'm 31 so young in this thread but feel like time has gotten away from me and is it too late to start from scratch?  I'm starting with OU in Jan and for me it's like starting rather than changing course.  I've had a lot of false starts with education and jobs so feel like a failure.  My mental health has been bad, to the point that I can't get out a lot yet have stubbornly refused to give up on Uni uptil now.  OU for me is the most realistic option and I wish I'd decided to do it years ago.  I'm really hoping I can succeed this time so I have something to be proud of by the time I'm 40.

Its never too late to change anything.  I am 49 and have another year of a psychology degree to finish.  If you are prepared to put in a bit of hard work you can do whatever you want....  I left school at 16 thinking I was just a bit thick and thats all there was to it and there was no changing it.  Until I went to live abroad and taught myself the language and then realised that if I could teach myself a new language with a new alphabet there was a good chance I could teach myself a few more things too.  So I've been an amateur delver into all topics I found interesting and for the last few years, that has been science. And now I'm not being amateur about it

Life is short and the mind is as wide as the sky........there are limitless opportunities for people who are prepared to go out and look for the circumstances they want if they dont like the ones they are in.