We can all agree that college is hard. It is one of the most difficult and challenging times for many students. Taking 12-plus hours a week, working a part to full-time job and trying to have a social life is all very stressful and time consuming. But the people who deserve the most applause are the nontraditional college students. These are the students who are either coming back to college after dropping out for various reasons, or those who are just now finding the time, energy and money to be able to attend college for the first time. Either way, these types of students deserve a lot of credit for all that they face on a daily basis.

For one, most nontraditional students are parents. Some of them left college after they realized they were going to be a parent and started working in order to pay for all their child’s needs. Some never went in the first place and decided to start a family first. Although I am not a parent, I cannot imagine how hard it is for these men and women to come to college after they have kids. Think about it. As a college student, you are trying to take as many hours as you can a semester, stay healthy and in shape, have a social life, work some in order to support yourself and all that in and of itself is hard. Now add being in charge of another life and all the things being a parent requires of you. PTA meetings, school functions, cooking dinner for more than one person, grocery shopping for more than one mouth, entertaining the children, the list goes on. Parents who decide to go to college have so much on their plate, yet they still manage to keep their grades up and attend almost every class despite their busy schedules.

Some of these nontraditional students were offered really nice jobs right out of high school and were able to make it by for a few years in the position. They tend to see college as their next step to better their education and position in that company or somewhere else. These students have really good insight for us traditional students who went to college right out of high school. They have experience in the job market and for me serve as a reminder that there is opportunity everywhere - you just have to find it.

I am not saying that traditional college students should not feel like college is too hard. I think it’s good to have some time to reflect on what other people’s situations might be in order to motivate you to finish. I like to remind myself that if the thirty-something-year-old in my class who has three children and a fourth on the way can make it to class every Tuesday and Thursday, then I can definitely drag myself out of bed to get to class. It doesn’t mean that I don’t face my own struggles or that they aren’t important - it’s just a motivating factor.

Nontraditional students remind me that I can do anything in my life that I want to and that I still have a lot of years left to live. I still have so many more experiences to have and I shouldn’t let college be an obstacle for me. It also reminds me that not everyone makes it to college at the same time (or sometimes, at all) and that they are still making it. It is nice to have their opinions shared in class because they have had more experiences than just college, so it gives the class a different viewpoint to appreciate.

I think that all nontraditional students deserve a big round of applause for all they have accomplished thus far and will continue to accomplish as they earn their degree. They are reminders that we can all get through college, regardless of when we make it there.