Proceed with an open mind
Why would anybody want to go back to school? Going through life without an education can be a real struggle. In everyday life, it affects the type of jobs one can get with no education. Let me tell you what I went through in life without an adequate education. First of all, school was just a waste of time for me. Second, I found that without an education I struggled through life in physical jobs rather than being able to get a trade. Finally, I reach the age of retirement; what does one do with his time? I decided to go back to school and get a formal education.
When I came to Prince Rupert BC, back the 1950s, the school I attended was a Catholic school. Within the first two weeks, I was moved back to grade one from grade four. That was the day I decided that school was not very important, so that was the day I decided to leave school once I turned 15 years old. For five years I didn't even try to succeed in school. As a result, I didn't learn any of the 3R's.
When I reached that age, I left school and went to work. Jobs were plentiful at the time; one really did not need an education to get a job back in the 1950s. Today things are different; without an education jobs are very hard to find. I was lucky to find jobs with half decent pay. I went to work for the Coast Guard; I started working as a mess boy and worked my way up to chief cook.
During that period in my life, I did try to teach myself to read. I started to read magazines and get interested in reading about different things. After working there for seven years, I left and went to work on the tugboats for seven years. Even though I was working at a steady job, I knew I needed an education in order to advance.
Once again, I faced a challenge due to a lack of education. Eventually, I got tired of doing heavy physical work. I knew that with an education I could do a lot better, but I had a family to raise and couldn't really take time off to go to school and upgrade.
Fortunately, the government offered funding for upgrading so that manual workers could acquire a trade. I decided to go back to school and take a course in marine mechanics. I had to go back to school and upgrade to grade 10; this course had to be done in 10 months, so that meant that I had to go from grade one to grade in just 10 months.
No one can learn that much in 10 months; consequently, it was quite a struggle trying to cram everything into the short a time. After getting my grade 10, I did manage to learn enough to get into the marine mechanics course. In the classroom I did not do that well with the written exams, but I did very well in the shop working on engines. I worked in the marine trade for about 11 years. It was a struggle making up work orders and filing reports. It was a real struggle going through the working portion of my life with little education.
Well, I finally reached the age of retirement; what does one do with his time? I decided to go back to school and get an education.
I knew when I started all this that it would take some time for me to complete my schooling to grade 12. This is my fourth attempt to get my education and I knew it was going to be a struggle to start all over. People keep asking me "Why are you going back to school now?" I thought it was quite obvious that people go to school to get an education.
My greatest struggles have been related to English. When I first enrolled at Continuing Education, my reading and writing skills were not very good. I had to start at the very beginning of the Literacy program. If I was asked to write a paragraph, it consisted of only two or three lines but just one sentence. I had to learn spelling. I needed to learn how to write proper sentences. I needed to learn how to put the words in their right places so that I could express myself in writing.
It's taken three years, but I've completed the literacy program, English 11 and most of English 12. There were many days when the going got tough and I wondered why I was doing all this so late in life. Once I started thinking about approaching the course work with an open mind, I found it much easier. One is never too old to get an education and that's what I'm doing now.
At this point, regardless of the challenges in life, one must face these challenges with an open mind. Regardless of the challenges I may face in life, I know that if I don't approach these challenges with an open mind there is no sense trying to accomplish anything at all. It has been a real challenge going through life without a good education. Now I have lots of time to get my grade 12 education.
It's never too late to get an education.
For anyone who is trying to make decisions about a career, here is my advice to you, "If you have a trade or career that you want to pursue, don't let the lack of education hold you back from achieving what you want to do in life."
-Richard Devison