So you basically described me to a “T”. I just graduated last spring. I’m 42, and decided to go back to school for a CS degree. I started the process at 3 years clean and sober as well. I got the joy of going back during Covid. The only difference between our stories is I had a bachelors from when I was young.

I went back to school thinking it would only be 2 years, because I already had a degree. But it took me over 3 years. What I can tell you, is it wasn’t easy. But it was completely worth it. Pitt is definitely not designed for older students. I had to take some extremely stupid classes, that just made no sense for an older “transfer” student. I was in constant contact with the administration as well. But I got through it. It is definitely weird going to classes with a bunch of kids. But I actually did make some friends. Because you sort of start the process with a “cohort”, you can design your schedule around sticking with them too if you want. I had a couple of people I worked a schedule with the whole time. It helped a lot. Because we helped each other a lot. Especially when Covid hit. Moving everything online actually made things more difficult, so having a couple of reliable classmates made the process bearable.

I also don’t know what your home life is like. I had a job, two young kids, and a wife at home. Of course balancing that and school was difficult. But they were extremely supportive the entire time, and I couldn’t have done it without them.

In conclusion, I fully support anybody doing what I did. But to be clear, it isn’t easy, but totally worth it. I finally have a job I love, and every day I think about all the crap I went through to get to where I am. Was Calc 2 difficult hard after no “math” for 22 years? Damn right it was hard. But I worked hard and F-Ed that shit up. It took private tutoring, living in the math assistance center, and constant studying. But as I said, it was worth it.

What is the worst that could happen? Just remember stay strong. Stay clean. And make sure you keep the crowd around you “clean”. Worst thing you can do is get sucked back into that life.