I too am an older (34 year old) and non-traditional student. I was pre-med in undergrad, but wasn't serious enough about my studies then. I ended up graduating with a sub-3.0 gpa. I was completely lost and ended up traveling and doing odd jobs after graduating. For some strange and unknown reason, I decided to go to law school. I ended up practicing law for almost 7 years and was absolutely MISERABLE. There was absolutely nothing I found exciting or enjoyed about the profession to continue enduring all the crap that goes along with practicing law. And contrary to popular belief, most lawyers don't make a ton of money and have to work long hours to make $ that they do make. So to all the people on this forum that complain about having to run your own PT practice or work extra hours doing home health on the side in order to break $100k, most professions also require that extra time/work/stress in order to make that kind of money. I digress.
As time went on, I became more and more unhappy to the point that I had trouble getting out of bed, I was getting gray hair from all the stress, having GI problems, getting intense headaches, and I found myself crying a lot. I would talk to everyone I could to find out what they were doing with their lives. Then after running my first marathon, I was in PT...not the first time. I had been in and out of it since I was in H.S. for sports-related injuries. Something finally clicked. I loved the patient-PT interaction, working with others to achieve a higher purpose, the intellect involved, etc. I did more research and talked to a lot of P.T.'s and did a little shadowing. I had a lot of heart-to-hearts with my parents, husband and close friends. They were all very supportive. Then I decided to go for it!! I couldn't imagine living the rest of my life miserably and living a sub-par existence when I had the opportunity to do something I believed in and cared about that made me happy...not to mention, my life probably would have been much shorter if I continued practicing law. [Comment: To those who fret about the potential income you make as a PT, $ does not necessarily bring you happiness. It can potentially kill you!]
Anyway, I am very excited for my future in PT. Yes, I'm sure there will be some challenges personally and to the profession that I will encounter. But, that doesn't sway me one bit from continuing on this path. Every profession has it's challenges. It's just that my love for PT far outweighs any negatives that may come along with it. The polar opposite from my experience with the law.