What does my cohort look like? In a nutshell: ages 35-50, 50-50 male/female, married with children, college-educated, tech-savvy professionals. Some are older/younger, some are single, but the vast majority are as I described. On the first day of class I noticed we had one other commonality: unemployed due to lay-off or worried about becoming laid-off. As we went around the room, I tallied about 2/3's of us profoundly know what Clinton meant when he said, "It's the economy, stupid" all those years ago.
How do you pay the freight when you're in school… again? I myself continue to freelance in graphic design by night, and substitute teach by day… and of course, there's the Stafford load… and the home eq. loan… and the kindness of strangers (or family members anyway). Many of my cohortees are still working day jobs.
It is possible to do the day job, the night class, and the family (oh yeah, remember them?), but let's just say this will not be the most restful time in your life. Though each class has different demands, I spend about 20 hours a week either in class or doing homework.
In my next post, I will tell you about becoming a substitute teacher in Bucks County PA and in Mercer County, NJ.
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Hi, I wanted to thank Jennie for creating this site, what a great idea! I am a fellow cohort at DelVal. It is very interesting trying to change careers later in life. I have always been interested in teaching but thought it would be too difficult to accomplist until I found the DelVal TCIP program. (Jennie, great job on the site but you flattered me with the age group!)
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