Obtaining my bachelor's took me more years than I care to say. Neither of my parents made it past 10th grade. They were both super smart, but as family obligations weighed heavy on them, helping the family was a higher priority than getting an education. I don't remember being encouraged to go to college after high school. Instead, I went right into the workforce. It wasn't until years later that I decided I wanted to get my degree. I met a man in my professional life who was a huge influence in my quest to get my degree. I remember him telling me, 'Four years will go by whether you get your degree or not.' As life would have it, it ended up taking me much longer than four years to finally walk across that stage. I had a few stops and starts through the years. It was when I stumbled upon higher education as a career choice that I was finally able to put in the concentrated effort to complete my B.A. Achieving my master's was quite a bit faster. In fact, I fast-tracked and accomplished my goal in just over 13 months. I had the amazing opportunity to work with first generation students in my last post in higher ed.  I worked with 8-12 graders: showing them the requirements they needed to get to a 4-year, helping them navigate through this crazy complicated money thing called Financial Aid, taking them to college/university campuses so they could see themselves there, and helping them (and their parents) understand that college isn't just an unreachable dream, but an achievable plan. I would encourage anyone thinking of getting a degree, no matter what stage in life you are, to just do it!  As my friend Lloyd said, the years will pass whether you continue your education or not. Learning is a wonderful, life-changing experience that will serve you through your lifetime. If you don't know what you want to be when you grow up, explore! Get with a counselor, take an aptitude and personality test, spend some time doing some self exploration...you'll figure it out!