What It's Like to be a 31-Year Old College Student.

It's tiring.
At my ripe 31 years, I need 8 - 9 hours to thrive. But, these days? I'm doing 5 - 7 hours to survive. And boy, am I tired.

Sure, 21 year-old me could pull all-nighters any day of the week. But, 31 year-old me? Aw hell to the nah.

As such, going to school and working full-time means constantly guzzling caffeine and sneaking in naps whenever I can. There's no such thing as beauty sleep anymore - I am the Walking Dead.

It's tough.
I don't care if you've been coding since you were a fetus - computer science is hard. Want to know why I'm losing sleep? Because I only have one week at a time to learn key concepts from two sets of classes.

Right now, Discrete Mathematics is kicking my ass. And I used to be good at math! Between sequences, set theory, and proofs/disproofs, it's taking all of my brain power to stay afloat.

It's nerve-wracking.
Listen, $30K is a lot of money. And, as someone who already went into debt for Degree 1.0, I can't help but wonder, What if I don't get a job?

Sure, software engineering is hot right now. But, will it last forever? And if software engineering is such a hot job market, why are so many people unable to land their first gig?

And, as a black woman, can I convince a tech company to give me a chance?

But, on the other hand...

Being a college student is inspiring.
Thanks to the program, I've joined a community of students that span a ton of different backgrounds and ages. We're all career switchers, so it's really cool when someone announces a new job or internship.

Right now, I'm in love with the #rejections thread in our community slack. The idea behind it is this: you're going to face a ton of rejections before you land your perfect gig. So, instead of mourning the process, why not celebrate it?

And that's what we do!

When someone posts a rejection, we give them a virtual high-five. The spirit of #rejections has inspired me to be more bold in my aspirations.

Each rejection means I'm one step closer to an awesome opportunity.