Am I crazy for wanting to go back to school?

[dece]

I decided to go back to school for optometry about a year and a half ago but am seriously reconsidering the decision. First of all i'm 30 and graduated with a liberal arts degree several years ago and was working in insurance for a few years. I recently broke up with my long term bf (8+ years) and i'm kinda freaking out about when I'll be able to have kids much less find a guy i want to marry. I'm just really questioning if it makes sense to go through 5 years of not having a life if it means I may sacrafice not getting married and having kids by the time im done and am 35/36 years old. I have another year of prereqs to go before I can even apply.

These doubts are having a big effect on my motivation in taking the prereqs and im really questioning if im just completely crazy for thinking of doing this at my age. Maybe I should just be resigned to the fact that i made the wrong choice in undergrad and cut my losses and just get whatever job I can find at this point. The thing is if I was 20 or even 25, I would be all in. But at 30?

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[COMBAT MEDIC172]

Your age does not matter, every year people start medical/optometry school in their thirties. If you want it go for it.

 

[Octagonecology]

There is a lot more to life than husband and kids. Anyone can do that. Reach your goals and personal potential or you will always regret it.

People go into various medical proffesions in their 40s and 50s...no big deal.

 

[bydotte]

also, you are pretty likely to meet people at school who share your values and interests.

 

[Krisss17]

There is a lot more to life than husband and kids. Anyone can do that. Reach your goals and personal potential or you will always regret it.

People go into various medical proffesions in their 40s and 50s...no big deal.

totally, agree and I'll be 45 when I apply (and I don't feel a year over 25 at times)...

I would rather give it all I can and not get in, than give up and regret it for my remaining days, and considering that I have family that have lived into their 90s, that is a LONG time.

You never know who you are going to meet down the line, and if you are realizing your potential (no matter what it is), you'll definitely live with less regret.

 

[murfettie]

do you love to be an optometrist?
or it's just.. hmm.. something to do?

 

[dece]

I definately want to be an optometrist more than any other career. To put it this way...if I could magically redo my undergrad there is no doubt I would tailor my bachelors degree for optometry school. I want to be an O.D. because I like science and I'm interested in health and want to do something I can feel good about. But I also want a family and given that I have a medical condition (polycystic ovary syndrome for all you pre-meds) that kind of makes it so I have to have kids sooner rather than later. I don't know if i'm just being neurotic but sometimes it just seems unrealistic for my situation at least. I want to be an optometrist but I'm sometimes I get scared that my window of opportunity is gone and I should just look for something else that doesn't take as long.

 

[COMBAT MEDIC172]

Follow your heart!

 

[Octagonecology]

I definately want to be an optometrist more than any other career. To put it this way...if I could magically redo my undergrad there is no doubt I would tailor my bachelors degree for optometry school. I want to be an O.D. because I like science and I'm interested in health and want to do something I can feel good about. But I also want a family and given that I have a medical condition (polycystic ovary syndrome for all you pre-meds) that kind of makes it so I have to have kids sooner rather than later. I don't know if i'm just being neurotic but sometimes it just seems unrealistic for my situation at least. I want to be an optometrist but I'm sometimes I get scared that my window of opportunity is gone and I should just look for something else that doesn't take as long.

You will find that there are a lot of people in OD school that are over the age of 30 and well beyond.

I would go for it now. I gaurantee you that there are plenty of women out there middle aged that regret never having pursued their career dreams in lieu of being a stay at home mom.

I doubt however there are many female docs that regret becoming the most of their potential and missed out at being a domestic goddess.

 

[d0c12]

I understand you, OP. I'm 28 and I feel the same way at times especially when I see my friends settling down and having families. But if you don't do what you really want to do, you will only have misery and regret. I started out pre-med, grades were less than competitive, so now I'm in nursing school for a second bachelor's thinking I'd become an NP instead. But I still want to pursue med school because that's always been my dream and NP just doesn't seem as appealing to me like it once did. I'm working on finishing the BSN program now since I've started it and I'm so close to finishing, but everyday I think "I should have worked harder in undergrad and applied to med school. I'd be a resident right NOW." 35 is considered "advanced maternal age" but women have babies at that age all the time. And what if you don't go to optometry school and you don't find Mr. Right and have a family? You could still end up starting your family a little later in life! That's how I'm looking at it anyway.

 

[Narnian]

It sounds like O.D. is what you really want to do in your heart. I would say go for it. Like others have posted you may just find your Mr. Right while your in school. Also bear in mind that if you want to have children while your in med school it is not impossible. The mind tends to limit things to what we cannot see or imagine. I know an Internal Med Doc who had her third child while she was in school. I mean think about it ... if your a 2nd or 3rd year med student and you get pregnant they do not say "Oh well ... so much for that med student" They have options. Just research it if you really do not want to wait as soon as you find Mr. Right.