Reasons for returning to study
My own reasons for returning to study related, as I recall, to a need to update and upgrade my professional qualifications and also to a feeling that I was missing something in terms of the depth of my understanding of what was going on in my professional work. On reflection, my initial professional training had not been as intellectually stimulating for me as it might have been (this is not to blame my tutors or the course I followed – the reasons were probably manifold, not least among them my own inclinations at the time). I recall vividly being uncertain of my own abilities second time around and trying to weigh curiosity (about my own abilities and about ideas) against possible difficulties\and the potential embarrassment of low achievement and/or failure.
You will have your own reasons and possibly your own set of anxieties. Your reasons may be bound up with career advancement, or with a need to prove to yourself that ‘you can do it’, or with competition with colleagues, or it may be that your employer feels you need more qualifications. On the other hand, it may be that you have quite simply always wanted to engage in further study but have, for one reason or another, never had the chance.
It would be improper of me to impose my own view and suggest the kind of reason you should have for returning to study. Yet it has been a feature of discussions with students at the end of courses that they often mention, obliquely, self-improvement “n terms of their own intellectual ability but seem embarrassed to come out and say that they think they have become a better or cleverer person. They do, however, sometimes admit to feeling more able to think clearly about issues, solve problems effectively, put across their views more accurately and confidently and so on. Whether or not you feel comfortable in anticipating such intellectual gain or are likely to lay claim to being improved in these terms at the end of your studies, the fact remains that study should improve the mind if it has any legitimate claim to success. Therefore it seems reasonable to suggest that ‘learning how to think’ is a possibility and might well be a part of your agenda.
Whatever your reasons, returning to study, whether full-time or part-time, is by no means easy. Many students have pointed out to me, sometimes ruefully, that when they embarked on a course of study, perhaps for the first time in some years, the rest of life did not suddenly go on hold. Demands of work and family persist, and involvement in such things as hobbies and sports does not suddenly lessen in importance. But many students have found that, in the face of new and potentially conflicting demands, it helps to be clear about the reasons for accepting the challenge of further study. Indeed, identifying your reasons can lend a clear sense of purpose to new structures within your life and also create something to return to for reassurance if things do not quite go to plan.
