Hi, D_Knight. Got questions for you. Ever add up all the TIME your re-education took from your life; all those years? Ever bother to calculate all the MONEY you spent fruitlessly dashing down various "get a job" education pathways, "pretty much up to retirement"?  Man, what a waste!  And THEN you congratulate the writer on making her "first big step".  Tragic.  For you, your friends and...but there is still time, here!

Ms. Fenton!  Get off the education merry-go-round as fast as you can!  Find jobs.  Learn lots while you earn.  Trust me--because I never earned a degree--there is LIFE beyond academe. Time is precious; don't squander it. You'll never get it back.

My oldest daughter: two years in tech school, one-year part-time skill enhancement.  No debt within two years of graduation (diploma); great career and salary. Her siblings: years of university study; years of debt. The point: after all that time/expense, they're successful, but no more successful that the oldest.