1. For inspiration, check out a wonderful book, The Girls with the Grandmother Faces. The author entered a college program in her sixties after she lost her husband and completed an alcohol rehab program. Best line: After her children warn her against too many extracurricular distractions, she promises not to run for prom queen.
2. Don't expect every professor to be an advisor or mentor. Your boss might have twenty direct reports but your professor might see two or three hundred students a term. Build relationships by doing the assigned work before you attempt more personal interaction.
3. Need money? If you have a solid employment history, consider applying for a full-time job at the college. Often you receive tuition waivers and time to take class during the workday.
4. Frustrated with life on campus? Remind the powers-that-be that you will soon be an alum, and colleges like to ask alumni for money. When they do, you can vent your feelings about parking, crowded classes, and inadequate housing.
5. Being a student is not an idyllic interlude. If you're taking courses for credit, expect to be busy and pressured. Courses don't have sick days and parental leave. If you have a lot of personal and job responsibilities, cut back on your course load or take an online course.
6. Need a deadline extension because of special circumstances? Your request may be perfectly reasonable but your professor has to think about what is fair to everyone -- and the appearance of fairness as well as the reality. She also hears a lot of hard luck stories.
7. If you really want to alienate your professor, say, "I had to miss class yesterday. Did you do anything?" If you have to miss a class, get notes from classmates. Form a study group for your most challenging classes.
8. If your professor invites questions or comments, offer yours. When you ask for recommendations, you won't be a stranger. But don't monopolize the floor. But, forcing the professor to say, "Let's hear from someone else now," does not earn points.
9. Build your support system. One student chose living space as support: "I may be a student but I have a grown-up apartment." Another kept in touch with friends from the "real world" who supported her. Sometimes you want to be with people who share your age and life experiences.
10. While you're in a pressure cooker, your judgments may be biased. These days your professors will be affected by your course evaluations. Resist the temptation to blast the professor who gave you a B instead of an A.
If someone touches your life while you are studying, don't send a card, letter or gift to the professor. Write glowing comments and circle high numbers on your course evaluations. Write a nice letter to the dean or even the president of the university.
And if, after graduation, you realize that a course was more valuable than you anticipated, take a moment to thank the professor and the university. You'll make someone's day and help hundreds of students who will work with that professor in years to come.
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Cathy Goodwin, MBA, Ph.D. served a lot of time in classrooms
as student and professor. She is now an author, speaker and
career consultant, specializing in creative career change
for mid-career professionals. Visit her website
http://www.movinglady.com and subscribe to her Career Freedom Ezine http://www.movinglady.com/subscribe.html
