I'm 49 and over the past 30 years or so, I've taken about 100 credits at 4 different colleges. I would like to just finish my degree at this point but my wife says that its pointless because I have a good job as a Director (manager really) of a Product Support group for a very large software company. I've spent 30 years in technology and have done some amazing things.
but I don't have a degree.
I've always considered that a failing.
I've always been more focused on work work and that's always taken time away from school.
When I started college out of high school, I went from rural to a city campus and was completely unprepared and could not even remotely afford and that was a bug mistake. I did not do too well but dropped out because I could not afford it. Then I starting working to support myself and that just took over. Eventually I tried to go back to school full time and work full time but that was very difficult with my demanding wife constantly complaining that there was no time left for her.
I dropped to part time school while working full time and then moved back to my wife's home area where I again switched schools and kept trying to take a class here and there and still build what was turning out to be a quite successful career but that itself took A LOT of time and school again fell to the side.
My last class was 12 years ago which coincided with me getting a new job in a new sector of software because of a mentally scarring layoff. That required a huge investment in time to build myself back up so no time for school (but at least I was learning a lot of new technology).
I feel that not having the degree limits my options. I had spent 16 years in the financial software industry and then switched to security software for 13 years and I want to make my move into something I find more interesting - GIS with a focus more on Environmental issues. I believe that's something I can enjoy doing for quite a long time and its a socially useful field to get into. One problem is that with new automated systems, doors are often closed right up front when you can't check the bachelors degree box. Of course, you can rely on your network and contacts but if changing focus, you may not have anyone in your networks that have the right contacts so that means you start building a new network. It takes time but its important - problem is that when you are as busy as me, there is little time for anything but current work and focusing on a new area tends to take time away from current responsibilities.
I guess I got a bit off track with that.
What do people think, is it too late? Should I just listen to my wife and be happy with what I have? I should mention that my current job actually makes me want to kill myself - that's how much I really don't like it - but it has its advantages - I work from home (which is also a disadvantage).
Sometime I think that maybe my current state is good for my wife and that's all she's looking at.
I went to an info session yesterday for a state college specializing in adult education and I really think its time but I'm worried that it will just be another failure and that it will take too much time away from family and that usually ends badly for me with my wife really reacting poorly to that.