The good news is I feel my life has begun again at 50. There is a certain freedom with that – less pressure, more enjoyment, and a lot more wisdom and maturity.

I was always a late bloomer. I took swimming lessons at about age nine with my younger sister. By the end of the session, she was swimming circles around the pool. I, on the other hand, had to come back for an extra lesson just so I could master floating on the surface.

I was born late, got married at 35, and . . . well, you get the picture.

This continued as I graduated from high school and prepared to go to college. I basically picked TLU because I went to a high school weekend event and had fun. It was not based on any career plans.

On the first day of registration, I stood facing all those tables (in the days before computer registration) and felt lost. Dr. Tim Franck, one of the communications professors, struck up a conversation with me.

“So, what do you like to do?” he asked, sensing my lack of structure or plans for my college future.

I told him that I had worked on the high school yearbook and had really enjoyed it, that I was good at typing, and I liked to write.

“Well, just sign up in communication arts. You can always change your major later.”

It sounded like a reasonable idea to me, so, before long, I was headed down the college registration trail with a major and classes on my schedule.

I never changed my major, and it has served me well. I ended up with various jobs in public relations, but I always felt like something was missing. I just didn’t seem to have the commitment to what I was doing that other people had. Recently, a friend of mine was retiring after working for the school district for 22 years.

Deborah Huth Price displays a moose antler at Rocky Mountain National Park.

“I’ve had at least that many jobs,” was my immediate response.

I floundered around in my 30s, seeking more to life than just good jobs – I wanted a career and, more importantly, a passion.

I found this passion with a move to California, and then again soon after when I married my husband – which took me to Colorado. All those vacations to national parks with my family as a child started becoming more important as I explored the beautiful natural areas of California and Colorado.

One day I was flipping through the Colorado State University catalog and came across the description for a major in the Natural Resource department, with an emphasis in Natural Interpretation. As I read the description, it jumped out at me as exactly what I had been seeking.

So at age 42, I went back to college to earn a second bachelor’s degree – this time a bachelor of science. This fact alone is ironic since I spent most of my time at TLU trying to avoid science classes.

It turns out I just needed to look at science and nature from a lay person’s perspective. Once you share it as fun, hands-on, interactive, and applicable to life, it becomes a lot more interesting.

I now have several dream jobs. I teach environmental education at the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area in Colorado, create science classes at a hands-on children’s museum, and write articles for local newspapers and magazines. I have fun every day, love what I’m doing, love the interaction I have with kids and parents, and get a thrill every time a kid discovers how exciting it is to be connected to nature. I am doing everything I ever wanted to do.

Deborah Huth Price with her first class of Junior Bobcats at Bobcat Ridge Natural Area near Loveland, Colo.

Seeds were planted in my youth on those family vacations, nurtured with studies at TLU that encouraged my creativity, and blossomed at CSU with a plan for the future that has tied me into the lives of so many people.

What I have learned is that it is never too late to venture into new horizons. Mid-life is not a curse, but a blessing. I am no longer concerned about what I will achieve with my career, but simply that I enjoy what I’m doing, positively impact the people I work with and the world around me, and always keep looking for new ways to share my talents and experiences.

Life is ready and waiting, and 50 is just a stepping stone on the trail. ♦

Deborah graduated from TLU in 1979. She works for the City of Fort Collins as the environmental educator at Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, and is the education coordinator at Discovery Science Center in Fort Collins. She does freelance writing in her spare time. Deborah is married to Paul Price and has lived in Loveland, Colorado for the past 16 years. You can contact her at dhprice@usa.net.