School? At my age?

Thanks to giving almost 25 years of my life to a company where I thought I'd work until I retired, and then being laid off due to outsourcing to India, I have nothing but a high school education and lots of job experience that only means I'm either "over-qualified" or "under-qualified" for the few jobs that are even out there. So.......

I'm thinking about going back to school. Seriously. Even the most menial jobs out there now are requiring a college degree, apparently because there are so many applicants for every job that employers feel they can get whittle down the stack of resumes on their desk by requiring degrees. I've even seen ads for receptionist jobs asking for college degrees. What??!!??

I'm sure I could receive financial assistance, so I'm not too worried about cost. But I am worried if it would be worth the time, at my age.

I thought becoming a substitute teacher would be rewarding, but after checking I found that it requires a bachelors degree. Well, forget that. By the time I got out of school, I'd be 57 years old, and then who would hire me? Plus, I don't have 4 years to spare before I can begin earning an income.

Then I thought about technical schools. Being a pharmacy technician really interests me, and can be be completed in just one year. (It does involve LOTS of math, though.) Then I started looking at the job-search sites for pharmacy techs. Oops, not much demand for employees. I might just go to Borders and buy the textbook, start studying, and check to see if job opportunities open up a bit before plunking down money at a technical school.

Think, think, think, what kind of job would I enjoy doing that would only take one to two years of training? Looks like I need to do a lot of research and soul-searching.

Or am I just crazy?

Cat