Released from the Golden Anchor
By Anthony P. Curcuru

After being notified that the manufacturing company that I had worked for for 26 years was about to move in nine months, I had little time to plan for my future.  A couple of months of research led me to the computer field. Attending a computer night at the local community college and listening to a couple of speakers led me to set my sights on a helpdesk degree. 

It was back in 1979 that I had attached myself to the Golden Anchor, a term I use to describe being content with the current position and thinking it will always be there until retirement.  Wrong. I had taken a couple of classes back in the late 70s, but my boss at the time said, “There's plenty of overtime here and I need you at work,” thus killing my dream of bettering myself---and my latching onto the Anchor began.  I was a single father with two young sons, and I felt I had no choice.

Going back to college isn't possible for everyone, because we all have different needs.   But money was not a problem by the time I was 48.  I had no children at home, no car payments, and a wife that worked, so I decided to follow my dream.  This was also possible because my company was moving out of the country, so I was entitled to free training and unemployment pay for the duration of the program.  

I returned to school not because I knew it was going to get me a high- paying job, but just because I wanted the degree. Thinking I had missed out on this when younger, and now seeing my children also not going to college, I needed to set an example and prove it was never too late to achieve your goals.

It's important to take into consideration all the demands and expectations before committing to a going back to school:  finances, spousal understanding, fair amount of stress with tests, time needs.  I selected Computer Applications as a degree that could be attained in a couple of years and would get me back to work in the shortest amount of time. I found that school at my age was not the same as when you’re younger. Homework took up much of my spare time. Funny, it seemed like school for me was much more difficult than my full-time job had been.  Remembering things was not as simple as when I was younger. Nonetheless, this was a task I had decided to take on, and I accepted all the responsibilities that came with that commitment.

During my initial research I had called a couple of firms to check out their hiring policies for helpdesk employees, and it was one of these firms that said, “When you graduate, call us.”  They hired me immediately after graduation, and I have been in the field ever since.  I think that at my age you have much more confidence that you can do a lot of things, and I’ve never been afraid of hard work, so I never had a fear of not finding work.  The idea of graduating at 51, even with only an associate’s degree, was for me very fulfilling, and I would recommend it to anyone.  So remember, you can always go back and achieve your goals and dreams, no matter what they are.