[hollmt]

So, after seeing the 'Old Dude in College Anonymous' thread I thought I would do a real-life 'dynasty' of my dive back into college. I realize that this might not interest many people, but maybe some. Even if it doesn't interest many, it will interest me, especially if I can look back on this in a year, 2 years and 4 years and remember the progress I made.

So a little boring backstory. I graduated High School in 1993 and went directly to college at The Ohio State University. I did fairly well there my first semester and then shit hit the fan my 2nd semester (co-ed dorms, more parties, less studying, poor financial aid planning) which caused me to drop out. I worked and went back a little later until I had enough and joined the Navy. It was not for a lack of intelligence that I did poorly my first go round of college, but discipline. I was in the Nuclear Engineering program in the Navy and enlisted in 1997. While in Nuke School in Orlando, I got sick. Thinking it was the flu, I ignored it. Thinking it was something else, I continued to ignore it. Finally I could ignore it no longer and checked it out. I popped an 891 blood glucose. Suffice to say, I was in the hospital for 4 days. Before I was sick, I was about 155 lbs. I went down to 128 lbs. So, I was medically and honorably discharged and diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic at the age of 22. Feeling a bit discouraged, I didn’t do much after. Job here, job there, etc. etc. I made ends meet. Speeding up years and years now, to where I got my Associates Degree back in 2012 and found a good job where I have been at for over 5 years as a Systems Analyst for Healthcare Tech Company in Indianapolis.

This job is not enough. It is not what I want my life to be nor a career. Years ago, I thought about becoming a Dietician but did not follow through. Furthermore, I have been Type 1 for nearly 20 years, so I know my shit there as well.

The goal:
To be a Diabetes Educator

How to get there:
Multiple career paths which include being an RN, RD, PT, OT, Pharmacist, Doctor of different disciplines etc. Once you are actually working in one of those specific careers, you must meet the minimum year requirement in that field, which is 2 years. Not only that, but you must also provide 1000 hours of Diabetes Education to even sit for the certification to become a Diabetes Educator. That can be the tricky part. RN is the quickest path, but I do not have as much interest in that field. PT, OT, Pharmacy and Doctor are out. Dietician is the path I want to go on and the best for me personally. The $$$ is not as high as RN, but the field is more of interest to me. Plus, getting the 1000 hours of Diabetes Education will be easier as well.

The problem:
I need science classes…..
I haven't had science classes since High School and my Freshman year of College and that was Chemistry and an Animal Science class.
In order to even enroll in the Food and Nutrition Program at Alabama or the Dietician Program at Kansas St. (the 2 programs I am interested in applying to) I need 5 science classes. Chemistry 1 and 2. Anatomy & Physiology 1 & 2, and some Biology.

Solving the problem:
I enrolled at Ivy Tech and started classes on 01.16.2017. I am currently taking Chemistry 101 and Anatomy & Physiology 101. They are both online classes. I will need to take just the 2 Chemistry classes, but will need 3 A&P classes and likely 2 (but maybe just 1) Biology class. The goal is to finish all 6 or 7 science classes (in order to get the 5 class equivalency) done this year, so that I can enroll and start the Dietician program next January/2019.

So, I thought that I would share my life back in school as a 42 year old dude. Hopefully it will be of some interest to some, but really it will be of interest to me to look back on. I have a short term goal. First to finish this semester and my 2 classes. Then the next goal is to finish the year of science classes and be accepted and enroll into the Dietician program. Next, to finish the program. Then to finish the required Internship (which is 1300 hours). Then to pass the RD exam and be certified. Then to work 2 years in that field and get my 1000 hours of 'providing education'. And lastly to sit for the CDE exam and be certified. I will likely be able to finish the actual F&D/Dietician program in 2-2.5 years, since I have many of the core classes done that was required. So hopefully, I only have 3-3.5 years of school to actually do. Then a 6 month or so Internship. I will provide, as best I can, weekly status updates on my classes, struggles, grades and anything I find interesting.