Thinking of going back to school...

[Ravenshire]

Putting this in the "General Science" forum for reasons I believe will become clear.

A little back story:
I'm an electrical designer working in the mid-stream oil and gas industry. While it's a good paying job with one of the best companies I've ever worked for, I'm having trouble going to work every day. Part of it is burn-out. I've been doing CADD in one shape of form every working day (and a good number of weekend days) of my life since 1993. The other part is the fact that I am contributing directly to destroying the very planet I count on for my very existence. Far more directly than driving a car or buying some petroleum products. I'm helping the bastard tear it out of the ground (fracking) transport it and refine it. Ugh!

The good news:
Colorado State University is starting a new degree program, "Fermentation Science and Technology." When I heard about this my first thought was "what the fuck?" Then I started thinking. Majoring in this, with a business minor, I could open my own micro-brewery. There's huge demand for micro-brews almost anywhere you go in North America and plenty of locations where there are very few/none at all. At the very least I could land a position with Coors, Budweiser or any of the plethora of existing micro-breweries here in the area and do a job that makes people happy instead of one where I'm helping to kill a whole planet.

The (potential) problem:
There's a ton of science required for this degree. It's a little intimidating at my age (well past 40). Lots of chemistry, biology and math. The math doesn't scare me. I've always been good w/numbers. What I know about chemistry and biology (beyond the very broad strokes) you can fit in a thimble. For the most part, I only have myself to blame since I spent a lot of High School stoned out of my mind and asleep in the back of class. Still, I managed to get an AAS in Drafting Technologies in 1993. So, is the chemistry and biology that hard? Am I freaking myself out over nothing? I really want to do this.

Maybe a name change is in my future. GalacticBrewMaster has a nice ring to it.

[Sejanus]

I can't exactly speak about Biology, but I wouldn't recommend diving straight into college level Chemistry, with next to no knowledge of the subject. Surely the university has catch-up courses? that would be a good place to start.

[Angrboda]

I'm thinking of going back to school as well. While it's intimidating, I think I reason about the requirements and my abilities more realistically than I did when I was younger. I was originally thinking of a degree in computer engineering, but I'm handicapped, missing 9 fingers, and that's a lot of math. So I'm leaning towards psychology now. It may be difficult, but I think most people can overcome such obstacles if they are inspired by what they are doing. That's why I've chosen Computer Engineering or Psychology - they both have a high level of intrinsic interest for me.

[Minimalist]

It's a little intimidating at my age (well past 40).

How old will you be in 10 years if you don't do it?

[Ravenshire]

How old will you be in 10 years if you don't do it?

10 years older and (most likely) regretting that I didn't.

Thanks, Min. Best advice I've had today!

[Fidel_Castronaut]

Go for it man.

You're never too old to learn something new. And besides, to qualify that, 40 is not old if one considers that more and more people are living till they're 100.

[Cato]

Just make sure you are passionate about the area of study. I was convinced by my former employer that going back to school for a business degree was optimum for my career path. Big fucking mistake. It was perhaps the most excruciating experience of my life, not to mention it was worthless when I had to look for work.

I'm 44 and would love to go back to school. Physics maybe. Perhaps neuroscience. Philosophy? (would then have to move to AZ just to serve Min fries). Hell, I may just go take a hodgepodge of courses that interest me with no design towards taking a degree.

My wife understands that if we were to ever win a big lottery that I would find a school close to a nice beach and become a permanent student. She thinks it's a bizarre fantasy, but I think it would be fun.

[CapnAwesome]

Couldn't you open a micro-brewery anyway? Maybe I'm missing something, but you don't need to go to school to learn how to brew or to open a business.

[Rhizomorph13]

Capn beat me to it; as a home brewer there isn't much to brewing beer. If you just want to make some, go to a home brew shop and you can learn all you need to get started there. You can learn the rest online.

[Ravenshire]

Couldn't you open a micro-brewery anyway? Maybe I'm missing something, but you don't need to go to school to learn how to brew or to open a business.

Oh, I probably could. But, I enjoy learning and I like the idea of knowing the "how" behind what's going on while the beer is brewing. Couple that with the fact that I know little about either brewing or running a business, school sounds like a better idea than flailing around hoping I can make it work.

Besides, I can think of many worse ways to spend four years than surrounded by cute college co-eds while learning to make beer, wine and spirits.

I am going to take some advice I got elsewhere though, and make it a double major instead of a business minor.