Please tell Back to School Divas a little bit about yourself and your back to school story. What made you go back to school? What makes your back to school experience unique? I am a single mom of two (boy and ...

Please tell Back to School Divas a little bit about yourself and your back to school story. What made you go back to school? What makes your back to school experience unique?

I am a single mom of two (boy and girl), 32 years old. I have always wanted to obtain my degree in Accounting, but I kept putting it off for no valid reason, other than I hate writing essays. I was working with a telecommunications company when I decided to go back to school. I was not happy in my current position or department. I wanted out but as much as I applied with other companies, I never got a callback. One day I came across an ad for the University in my area, and I thought, “what’s the worst that can happen? Let me apply and see how this goes” …I got accepted, I was excited and nervous because I felt I was too old to start university. I sucked it up and completed my first semester. Shortly after, I was granted a full scholarship and got a job offer at another company within their finance department. I am now in my second year with one semester left to complete my associates then I am on to my bachelor’s degree.

Has your back to school experience been a smooth journey? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?

Thankfully, my experience has been smooth. I have family and friends that encourage me when I feel like throwing in the towel and remind me why I started in the first place.

Tell us about some time management, study, or money-saving tips that helped you make it to where you are in your journey.

Time management was always a problem for me, I am a procrastinator. I had to discipline myself to stay off social media and put my phone down so that I could focus on my assignments or to spend that ‘social media’ time studying. It is still somewhat of a struggle now, but I use apps that help with keeping track of study time (Flora) and Notion as a planner and ‘to-do’ list for assignments. Whenever I can, I try to stay ahead by reading the chapter that will be discussed before class and making some notes; that way, I understand what the lecturer is discussing.

Tell us about your career goals. What do you plan to do with your degree once you finish?

I will be working towards becoming a CPA. Though, I have been thinking of going into law as well. But I will wait to see where life leads me.

If you had to start over, what would you have done differently?

I would not do anything differently; I feel that I am more mature now, and I take my studies more seriously.

The heart of our mission is to encourage other women on their back to school journeys. The goal of Featured Diva is to celebrate women who are making their academic dreams come true in hopes that other women will find encouragement to strive toward their goals.

group of young people around a laptop smiling and talking about work

March 27, 2019March 26, 2019

How to Apply for Internships in Grad School

Grad school internships should never be an afterthought. This is how you’ll often get your “foot in the door”, after all. Knowing how to go about applying for your ideal internships will help to ensure that you l...

Finding the Right Internship Opportunities

Before applying for an internship, you first need to learn how to find good internship opportunities. There are many streams that can help you achieve this.

Ask Your Teacher or Professor

Your teacher or professor will know about the available opportunities in your field because many times, companies will directly contact colleges about available internship opportunities.

Google Search on Intern-Specific Sites

There are plenty of sites online that are specifically dedicated to announcing internship opportunities in different fields. Sites such as LinkedIn, Wayup and YouTern can help you get started in finding the right type of internship for you.

General Google Search

A general Google search for internships in your field will help you identify what the opportunities are and where they are. Putting in your nearest town or city is also ideal when doing this.

Now that you’re clear on how to find an internship, let’s have a look at the steps it will take to apply for one.

Steps to Apply for an Internship

Identify the Internship

This first point has to do with your specific field. I’d also encourage you to be open-minded here. For instance, if you studied journalism and would like to be a magazine editor one day, if there’s an internship available for the Beauty Section of Elle magazine, there is certainly no problem in applying for one.

Although the “Beauty” section may not be something you’d ideally want to do, it is still helping you to get your “foot in the door”. Applying for this internship will also help you to broaden your mind as to what the other opportunities may be in your field that you may not have considered before.

Prepare Your Resume

If you’ve been in school your whole life or haven’t really had the opportunity to work in your field of study, don’t stress. This is an internship, after all.

All your prospective boss wants to know is what your background and interests are. To make sure that your resume is as professional as it can be, make sure that you do the following:

Include your school courses and extracurricular activities
Mention any volunteer work you’ve done in your past
Of course, if you have prior work experience, include that too
Try to be as concise and as internship-related as possible
Don’t forget to include contactable references

(Want a professional resume review by Lorraine, Founder of BacktoSchoolDivas.com? Book her now! You’ll receive a one-on-one call with Lorraine to review your goals and your experience. Your $25 review fee will be put toward any revisions you order.)

Write your Cover Letter

A resume is concise and briefly points out all the school and work experience you have had. A cover letter, on the other hand, is more personal. It highlights why you are the ideal candidate for this internship.

Try not to replicate the information from your resume here. Instead, highlight what drew you to that specific internship, what skills you have, and how that has prepared you for the internship.

Prepare for the Interview

Once you’ve applied for the internship/s (make sure that you apply to many. You want to cast the net as wide as possible) and get a call for an interview, you’ll need to prepare yourself for that big day.

Prep yourself by getting a professional outfit, practicing generic questions (such as: Tell us about yourself. Why should we choose you? What are your strengths and weaknesses?) and also make sure that you arrive early for the interview to avoid any chances of bad traffic getting in your way.

An internship will help you to take a step in the right direction of your career aspirations. Following these tips will help to ensure that you identify the right internship for you, and you know exactly how the process will unfold.

Keep track of your graduate school internship process and so much more with the official Back to School Divas planner download! You’ll get free templates for weekly planning, goal setting, meal planning, grocery lists, and so much more.

African American woman smiling wearing cap and gown and holding diploma

Back to School Tips

February 6, 2019February 2, 2019

Am I Too Old to go to Grad School?

There are so many myths about grad school that many of us have heard. There’s the one about how, you should only consider going if you’ll be at a top school otherwise, it’s not going to be worth it (This is a lie). The...

There are so many myths about grad school that many of us have heard.

There’s the one about how, you should only consider going if you’ll be at a top school otherwise, it’s not going to be worth it (This is a lie).

There’s also the myth about how you can only get in with a 4.0 GPA (This is another lie).

But the one that really gets under my skin is the myth that grad school is only for the young.

This particular myth gets under my skin because it couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, statistics show that the average grad school student is actually 33 years old and the number of students who are 35 years and above is on the rise each year.

So if you’ve been thinking about going to grad school but are a bit hesitant because you’re in your thirties or older – I’m here to tell you that now is the time to finally pursue those goals.

Of course, there are a few things to keep in mind if you’re trying to get into a grad school program.

1. Your GRE Scores Are Very Important for Grad School Applications

You’re most likely aware that having a good score on your Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is important for any graduate school application. When you’re a little older, these scores can be even more important because they indicate your ability to handle the program you’re interested in.

2. Get Organized & Gain A College Mindset

So, getting into grad school is great and all – but it’s not going to be easy. You’re going to have to reach deep within to realize your goals. One thing you’ll need to start doing is getting organized.

There’ll be classes to attend and research to do, on top of all the day-to-day tasks you have as an adult returning to school. So, make sure that you create a schedule that involves meal prepping, study time, assignments or researching time.

If you want to get organized today, be sure to download the FREE Back to School Divas Planner. You’ll get access to weekly plans, goal sheets, meal planning sheets, and much more.

You may also need to reach out to your significant other or close family and friends for extra help if you have small kids. Set aside specific time over the weekend to get all your studying done. Whatever the plan is, communicate your needs to your loved ones and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

3. Draw From Your Life Experiences in the Classroom

I’m a firm believer in working with what you’ve got. Can you think of one thing that could give you an edge over your younger fellow peers? Your life experiences. The fact that you’ve lived, have worked, and have life experience always comes in handy when in grad school.

Your new college professors will enjoy engaging with someone who can draw from their real life experiences. You can add value to the class discussions. So start viewing your age as an asset you can draw from, Diva!

Going to grad school may have been a dream of yours when you were younger. Maybe you started to slowly let go of this dream because of that annoying perception that graduate school is only for young people.

Well, that’s not true. You’re never too young or too old for school. As long as you feel that your career can benefit from you furthering your studies, go for it Diva! You have nothing to lose and infinite opportunities to gain.

Tag: grad school

Featured Diva: Rose, Associate of Applied Science (AAS) – Accounting