Kim, I'd never, ever, try to stop anyone from getting more schoolin'. My BA in English Lit (and often I was lit, too) was a remarkable achievement, given that it was interupted by my rich Uncle Sammy, a lot of poor grades, and a kid who didn't have a clue about where he was going.

No, I wasn't drafted, I was National Guard and my unit was activated and sent to Vietnam; I ended up in Korea. When you're told that you're going away to war for up to two years BEFORE the end of the semester, 18th Century Literature suddenly isn't quite so important anymore.

Fortunately, when I got back I was physically older, and psychologically MUCH older, and I wanted to get undergrad work over and get on with my life. All I did then was take up with the woman I eventually married and, because I was dating a faculty member and some of my previous friends had returned to teach, I went to faculty parties and such.

I found my niche in libraries, following an aborted grad school stint, a futile attempt to get into another grad school, and finally graduating from what was then one of the best library sci. grad schools in the US. Then, with my wife in working on her doctorate (in law), I started another master's program, in English (writing focus). That school dropped the program before I finished, so I quit.

The last class I took ended on July 3. Prior to that I'd taken two classes last fall, when I was still back in KY.

If you want to go to grad school, do it. Now or later, but if you want to, do it. You're not to old until the sod hits your casket, and maybe not then.

By the way, you might check out a book called "Graining the Mare." It's a collection of Western poetry by women -- I've been "into" so-called "Cowboy" poetry since about 1992 and find it far more vital and involved than much of the current "academic" poetry.