She’s in search of a new nail tech – and not for the reason you might expect. Her usual guy didn’t give her a poor manicure, and there were no out-of-the-blue price increases or last-minute cancellations.

But if someone laughs at your dreams, it can rattle your courage. And who needs that?! Certainly not Aiken Tech student Amanda Barnett.

How did the scene with your nail tech play out?

When I told him I was going back to school, he busted out laughing. Then he asked me how old I was. I said, “I’m 49. I’ll be 50 in December.” And he just laughed and laughed. Then he said, “Maybe you can go to school with your grandchildren.”

Needless to say, I haven’t been back to him since.

Oof – that had to sting. Since that encounter, has it been hard to open up to others about your decision?

Sometimes it still feels like a hurdle to tell people that I’m going back to school. But I can’t be ashamed of going to school at my age, and I can’t be ashamed of what got me here. It’s very vulnerable to tell others my full story.

We appreciate your willingness to share it with us. When you think about the journey that brought you here, what parts of your story feel most important to share?

I’ve had a really rough past seven years.

It started when my youngest daughter was staying in the dorms at a local four-year university, and she took the partying way too far. She was put in the hospital three times for alcohol poisoning, and I just didn’t know how to deal with that.

Ironically, that’s when I started drinking – to numb the pain and hopelessness I felt because nothing I did could help her.

Fortunately, my daughter ended up transferring to Aiken Tech, which was a much better fit for her. She thrived once she got there and graduated with a degree in welding.

At that point, I had everything that should’ve made me happy – a great husband, healthy children, a beautiful home. But I was in such a pit of depression and practically drinking myself to death.

Then finally, last summer I said, “I’m not doing this anymore. I’m tired of killing myself.”

So I told my husband I needed to go to rehab. I did some research and found a facility that I thought would be a good fit for me in the mountains of North Carolina.

You spent 30-plus days there…

…and hated every minute. It was not the best place for me, but I know it was a step I had to take to get where I am today.

While I was there, I looked at the methods they used – provocative and even vulgar writing prompts, lots of medications – and thought, I want to do better than this.

I had always been a faithful person, but I’d often wondered where my testimony was because I could never pinpoint a specific time that I saw Christ enter my life. But in that rehab facility, I really felt Jesus’s presence.

I realized that I had been mad at a lot of people for a long time, and I had to get myself straight. So God and I had several heart-to-heart meetings about that! And it was during that time that I felt Him calling me to a different destiny, a different purpose.

When I left the facility, I rededicated my life wholeheartedly to God, got rebaptized, and told my husband that I was going back to school!

I was almost 50 years old. Working a full-time job as an insurance agent. Close to retirement age. In a lot of ways, my decision didn’t make any sense.

You also had lingering doubts from your past, correct?

Yes. I had my first of three daughters when I was in 11th grade. I didn’t finish high school, and I’ve always had a complex about that. I tried going to nursing school soon after she was born, but I couldn’t juggle motherhood and classes. So when I decided to return to school at age 49, I wrestled with the thought that if I couldn’t do it then, I probably couldn’t do it now.

I’m three classes in, and I still don’t really know exactly where God is leading me. Once I get my Associate of Arts degree with a focus in psychology at Aiken Tech, I plan to go to USC Aiken and get a bachelor’s degree. I don’t know if I’m going to be a school counselor or a church counselor or maybe even a rehab counselor. But it’s got to be better than the counselors I had at that facility. Sometimes seeing the best example of something is what inspires us, but other times, we get our best lessons when we see the worst example.

What advice do you have for somebody who is older but may be considering technical college for the first time or may be returning to college after many years?

Don’t let it be overwhelming. Try just one class and see if it’s for you.

There are so many resources available, if you’ll use them. Let go of being stubborn and trying to figure it all out for yourself. The instructors are eager to help.

You learn pretty quickly what you’re supposed to do and what you’re not supposed to do. I have A’s in all of my classes, and I don’t want my head to get too big – I know God will put me right back in my place if it does! – but I’m proud of where I’ve gotten so far. I think who I am now makes me a better wife, a better mother – just a better person all around.

I finally feel good about what I’m doing. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been able to say that – if ever.