Going Back to School in my 30's | Graduation 2025

I don’t even know where to start. After two of the most challenging years of my life I can finally say it. I graduated.

This wasn’t a clean or easy path. It wasn’t a decision that came with a perfect plan. I didn’t know where it would take me or who I’d be on the other side. All I knew was that something inside me needed more. More growth. More understanding. More tools. More life.

A couple years ago I made the decision to go back to school and get my degree in business with a focus on marketing and communications. People still ask me why. The truth is I never had a why. I had a “for me.”

I didn’t do it to prove anything to anyone else. I did it because I had built my business to a place where I could step back, invest into myself, and try to become someone better than the person I already was. Not better in a success sense. Better in a purpose sense.

And one quote kept echoing in my mind.

“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”

That line has followed me for years. It shaped how I think, how I work, and how I look at growth. I never want to be the one who has it all figured out. I want to be surrounded by people who challenge me, who are great at things I’m not. I want to sit at tables where I feel small, so I have room to grow.

So I walked into a new room.

And nothing about it was easy. This wasn’t online school or a couple evening classes that fit around my schedule. This was full time. Five days a week. Five classes a semester. Two full years. In downtown Vancouver.

I spent hours commuting. Hours studying. Hours away from the people I love. There were nights I stayed alone in hotel rooms after late classes just to make it back for early morning exams. I chose the uncomfortable path because I knew comfort wasn’t where I would grow.

And somehow in the middle of all that I still had a business to run. I was still building brands. Still in the trenches as a marketer. Still a husband. Still a dad. Still a human trying to keep my head above water.

There were days I felt like I was holding everything together with duct tape and prayer. Days where I questioned every decision I had made. Days where I wondered if I belonged in those classrooms at all.

My biggest battles weren’t with professors or assignments. They were with myself. My own doubt. My own impatience. My own harsh inner voice. The version of me that would criticize myself for doubting in the first place. Most of the time I was the roadblock. And if I didn’t have challenges in front of me, I’d make some just to remind myself that I could overcome them.

You learn a lot about yourself when you’re stretched in every direction at the same time. When you’re exhausted, overworked, overwhelmed, and forced to show up anyway. You learn how strong you are. How stubborn you are. How much you’re willing to sacrifice for the future you want.

Growth is rarely clean. Success is rarely comfortable. Becoming who you’re meant to be always costs something. It costs sleep. It costs convenience. It costs time away from the people you love. And it costs the version of yourself who thought you couldn’t do it.

Maybe this post sounds like a brag. Maybe it is.

I’m proud of myself.

I fought through nights where I had nothing left.

I pushed when my mind told me to quit.

I proved to myself that I could do something hard and come out better because of it.

And I’m not done.

I walked into that new room as a student.

I’m walking out as someone who knows exactly what I’m capable of.

I did this for me. But if there’s anything I hope someone takes away from this, it’s that you’re never too old to learn. You’re never too late to start. You’re never stuck in the life you have today. There is always more to add to your tool belt.

Sometimes all you have to do is choose the room you’re scared of and walk in anyway.