I don’t think I’m uncommon for my age. I’m 26, I study, work part-time, depend on parents. I had a rough time in my early 20’s due to mental illnesses, made improvements and started studying again; I changed my major numerous times and I’m still confused. I want to eventually attain a graduate degree badly, but I feel awful about the prospect of being a 30 year old manchild with almost no real world experience.
Sadly, when one has/had chronic mental or physical health problems, they kind of can take over life for awhile. Life is a journey–it’s not a sprint and there’s no special reward for getting your degree earliest/youngest.
My H took 7 years to get his undergrad degree many decades ago because he was working his way thru school. It didn’t prevent him from getting a job he loved, getting married and having two great kids.
Our D also took more than 4 years to get her BA and she may go back to get another one. My niece got her BA and is now back in school getting pre-requisites for medical school at 25–we think she’ll be an awesome doctor.
Try your career counseling office to help get a better idea of fields that match your strengths and interests. Try shadowing and interning to try out fields.
Relax, there’s many people in your situation. There’s absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. Just keep moving forward and study something you’re really interested in.
Lol. I’m 29, still have another year of MD/PhD training and then another 3+ years of training before I’ll have a real job. I spent 1 year between college and grad school working full time otherwise I’ve gone through school uninterrupted.
Working part time through school you probably have more real world experience than I do
There’s no time stamp. College is for anyone and everyone. You can apply to college at 50 or 60, seriously. Many people go into college expecting to graduate at 21. That hardly happens, and if they do graduate they still have to go back to school depending on major. Mental illness held you back, understandable, but with proper treatment ( you are obviously doing better since you want to get back into the swing of things) you can move forward in life. Every adult you see is struggling as well. We are all human.
Six years for me. There’s no time limit.
The above advice is great. I do want to add that if you have switch your major, you may have enough credit to nearly complete a degree in something. Sit down with the college advisor to see if your credit form a pattern.
The trick is to go into it with a clear plan and a solid backup plan or two. Unfortunately guidance consulars in this country have really dropped the ball in that regard. They just blindly push everyone along into a 4-year school, because there is a perception that is the ONLY way to be successful in life.