TheKevman posted:

I see so much of myself in this post. I'm 37 and dropped out of SF State in 2008 to join a startup tech company that imploded 3 months after I joined because of the great recession. I fell into bartending and did that until I reached peak bartending: a rooftop union job that was around 100k a year in salary + amazing benefits.

Then the pandemic.

I went back to school and did Western Governors University online, got my Bachelor's in Healthcare Management. Leveraged that (plus my solid interview/communication skills) into a job with a healthcare company as a project coordinator because I've got extensive management experience. Working remote, which absolutely owns.

Now, I'm finishing up my MPH which has already got me in the final throes of landing a job with the Department of Health. Close to 6 figures, tons of upward mobility, incredible benefits, and hybrid/remote.

Aside from the tangible benefits of career advancement, there's a massive, incredibly important emotional/mental component for me that was tying up the loose end. I've always hand-waved away my education in the past and made excuses about how 'school sux' etc, but while bartending I knew that I was selling myself and my potential short. So did my wife, who is the primary reason I have been able to do what I've (read: we've) done.

In addition, we're welcoming our first child in about a month and a half from now, so the new position will ensure that he's got access to incredible health care and that we can take care of him to the best of our abilities and that I'll be able to be here with him and not be gone every night/sleeping in the mornings/destroying my body/hating life as I got older, slinging drinks.

Is going back to school worth it? For me, unequivocally and resounding yes, provided you have a plan and a purpose that you're going to use it to fulfill.

I strongly encourage you to never settle for selling yourself short in whatever capacity that may be, and if you feel that gnawing feeling in your bones, apply yourself and your future self with thank you for it. I only wish I'd done this sooner.