I did study for my undergraduate degree( design & business) full time whilst also working full time. Graduated when I was almost 30. It took me 10 years until I wanted to study anything again.

Now I'm studying part time for my masters degree( cybersec) whilst also working full time, only this time the job is very mentally draining.

We will be hopping over to Italy/France/or Croatia in the next year or so. Work will not be the motivator, but we both have options.

In the states during late covid, I thought the downtime would be good to do a second masters in something unrelated to working in software. I chose a remote program with a univeristy here in the states, I did the first year, but it reminded me that studying - especially a program unrelated to anything you have currently done - is actually not easy.

I chose Geology. I have BS/BA in Comp Eng and Chemistry and an MS in Comp Eng. So this was personal interest.

Revisiting math I hadn't used in awhile was the easy part. Making the time, while working, reminded my why I also ended up ABD (all but dissertation - toward PHD) post masters. Sometimes your brain needs to relax.

Glad it worked for you. And the European Universities are significantly cheaper than Universities in the states (this was a state univerisity which is - per state - considered a step above a state school. For instance a UC vs a CSU in california).

Felicidades. Sometimes I think about returning to a public university to have something structured to do, especially since I've been in a way educating myself through AI and I appreciate the idea of an environment dedicated to people with a similar intellectual interest. I don't really care about academia, if I do it it would be an experimental change of environment. If there is even a place for people like me in that public university at all (older people).

Super grateful to read stories like these.

I'm studying part-time to complete a BA in political science while working full-time as a software developer. I love learning the subject, but the workload can be tough. Happy to hear it's not just me.

Thank you for sharing!

Being now in my late 30s I worry that the ship has sailed on being able to do a masters degree while juggling adult life as well.

Now we just need the pics of beaches, bars, and your presentations!