At the age of 53, Kelly Wakefield decided to do a 360 and start a new career.
She had been working in various roles in business since the age of 21, but last year found herself at the end of a contract and considering her options.
“I thought what do I want to be when I grow up?” she recalls with a laugh.
Looking back over her years in business, she thought about what she liked best and realized it was working with people and helping people.
“That’s what directed me to this,” she notes about her decision to enrol in Capilano University’s Health Care Assistant program from which she graduated in July.
She is now working as a residential care aide.
“I absolutely love my decision,” says Wakefield. “I love what I’m doing.”
She also enjoyed her time in the business industry, and still misses some of the people she previously worked with, but she has no regrets about going back to school to pursue something completely different.
“Was I nervous at first? Yea,” she says, but explains that she felt welcomed by her classmates and instructors from the first day on campus.
“The first day I was actually nervous,” she admits, but adds: “I had a great experience.”
Wakefield also had a lot of support from her friends and family, including her husband and two daughters, one of whom is in her final year at high school and the other in her fourth year at university.
Wakefield says she remembers being told what a gutsy move she was making heading back to school, but she doesn’t see it that way.
“It’s not about that. I guess in a way it’s kind of a gutsy move, but I don’t want to say it’s a gutsy move,” she says. “It’s never too late to get an education.”
Anyone can return to school at any age, she believes, and encourages anyone who is interested to take a look at the options.
“You’re never too old to learn,” she adds.
The hardest part of returning to school was changing her mindset from one of a business professional to one of a student. Her business lexicon was replaced by a whole new set of knowledge, and she had to get used to sitting in class and studying. Sometimes she was tired, sometimes she had to ask for help, but it was all part of the experience.
Her time with the other students was also very positive. Although she was stopped on more than one occasion by students on campus asking for directions who thought she worked at the school, not realizing she was new there also, she recalls with a laugh.
She was one of the older students in her class, but says it didn’t affect her working relationship with the others, and they got along so well they became somewhat of a little family.
Wakefield can’t say enough positive things about her classmates and instructors, and encourages other mature adults to consider heading back to school if it’s something they want and not be intimidated by the idea.
