After 40, the years sort of run into each other. I'm slightly older, but not much. But since we're on the subject, did you find it difficult to go back to school? Probably my biggest fear is the risk of giving up a relatively stable job to go back to school.
Love your avatar, by the way.
That picture is of a cub who decided to honk the horn of the squad car up in northern Alaska.
There is a tremendous amount of risk (and thus, stress) associated with what I'm doing, yeah. And it's been noticeable to me: I snap at people more easily than my normal self (even here on SDN). I had a comfortable 6-figure salary (not high 6 figures, but comfy) and I was the only income in our family (3 kids). It was a good job in today's climate: lots of vacation, completely flexible schedule, no dress requirement, pretty good benefits. Now we have no significant income for four years (that may change - my wife is going to back school next fall for a master's degree and will likely start working when I'm in fourth year).
Many of your classmates won't understand that. They'll talk about how hard vet school is and you'll sit there quietly thinking "you have zero responsibility in life other than school......." At least for me, I have to concentrate to not let that get under my skin. Most days I'm able to keep perspective that it IS tough for them just because it's more stress than they're accustomed to. They're good people, they just are in a different place in life. But every once in a while it gets hard.
As far as academic difficulty, I don't think age is a big problem. Yes, the younger folks think quicker and memorize better than me. And I'm doing middle-of-the-road grade wise. But who cares? I'm passing and my degree will be the same as their degree: at my age I wasn't planning on a residency anyway. I could do a lot better academically if I didn't have a family, but so what?
That balance has been the most significant challenge for me, and I haven't really solved it yet. Part of it is that I need to be more disciplined but I am so. damned. tired. at the end of the day..... Really, being tired 100% of the time is the worst part of vet school for me. Chronic fatigue finally has a face. I laugh at my old pre-vet school self that occasionally thought I was 'tired'.
On the flip side stress-wise, we had been having repeated layoffs for the last ... decade as our business declined. I survived quite well, but in my mind it was always a matter of time. So that was its own kind of stress. At least doing things this way I know that I took control of my life and made the decision about when to leave. That's a big emotional plus, as opposed to getting booted.
So near the end of my first semester I'd say this: It's harder than I imagined, but it is in the realm of doable. I would not go back and change my decision: I love that I'm doing what I love.
One of the things I love about life is how sometimes changes that are out of your control really work out the best. We had been home-schooling our oldest. With me back in school, we (reluctantly) decided to put him in a brand-new charter school opening up nearby, to free up my wife to go back to school next fall. Turns out he loves it and is really thriving in that environment; doing better than he did in Basement Elementary, as we called it.
Ironically enough, his second-grade class had a GI system test the very same day I had an ungulate anatomy test that included GI. He was sitting at home going through his material (which was surprisingly detailed: things like "the liver produces bile that's stored in the gall bladder and released into the small intestine to digest fatty acids" - in second grade!!) while I was sitting there going through my material.
Wow did I ever ramble. Apologies. You always know when I have a major exam coming up because I post more on SDN.