Best of luck going back to school. My sister is a vet tech and my wife is a zookeeper and they both find incredible fulfilment in working with animals, so I hope you can find the same joy. By the bye, I have Platninum Chou Kuro loaded into the black Asvine V126 with an EF nib and I adore that combo for daily writing in my work environment. The Asvine nib is a complete surprise, well behaved, smooth and bouncy and even able to squeeze a tiny bit of line variation out but it plays well with low quality copy paper, too. The pen style/feel is "inspired" by the 823 so it might be a nice substitute for that pen at a much nicer price point if you wanted to take something similar to class. Chou Kuro is a little expensive but I've had tremendous luck with it on any kind of paper I put it on and it's darker than Sauron's soul at the stroke of midnight. Amazingly deep, dark black. It's not *quite* as permanent as Carbon Black is but it's definitely what I would consider waterproof enough to use for any kind of writing that requires some permanency. Good luck and let us know what the young whippersnappers think of fountain pens!
Thank you so much for your super! I’m glad to hear that they find fulfilment in their jobs because that is definitely my number one concern when looking for employment! The new platinum bank is definitely one. I’ve had my eye on because it looks absolutely amazing. I 100% laughed out loud when I read your Sauron comment 😆 so good! I’ve never heard of that pen before but once I’m done commenting, I will absolutely Google it.
Just a few pieces of advice from a current undergrad: 1. I wouldn't worry aobut screw caps; I've never had any note timing problems as a result of them, so if that's a concern barring you from using certain pens in class I'd try them anyway. 2. I really promise that the 18 year olds aren't put off by adults in classes after about the first week of freshman year. Some of the smartest, kindest, and most helpful classmates I've had have been adults who went back to school. I'm sure that won't erase your nerves, but just try to trust that nobody's judging you or thinking you don't belong. Good luck!!!!!
HA! That shook loose an old memory. I was a student in my early 40s and took my soon to be a college student daughter with me one day. We are walking to class and I saw her bobbing her head around. She said, "Gee Dad, the students are mostly my age!" At least in the mid-90s that extra two decades of life experience gives you some gravitas. Enjoy it, but watch out! They tend to want you to be the manager/leader of any group projects that are assigned.
Congrats on your decision to go back to school. I just turned 50 last month and for the past 1.5 years I've been a part time mature student at U of T. I'm having the time of my life and really enjoying every minute of it. I work full time, at a desk, for long hours. My job is very stressful - so adding an extra 25 hours of study time for a course on top of a 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 hour work week has been a wee bit of a challenge. However, I'm completely satisfied with my decision. I am also using fountain pens - and use either Lamy Safari (which are lovely - but small ink capacity), and TWSBI. I also have a FANTASTIC Opus 88 that is a complete joy to use. I'd love to see you demonstrate the Platinum Carbon Black on various papers. I've not used this ink. What I've learned is that I do like permanent pigment inks. I've used Octopus Write/Draw inks with great success - and always in my TWSBI Eco's. The cap liner creates the perfect seal and my nib has never dried out. (I'm told if the nib and feed dry out - the pen is destroyed.) Their inks do stain the demonstrator nature of the pen - but I'm okay with that. The ink is sensational and has been tested through pouring rain while I ran from class to the library. I have found, during my time as a student, that permanent inks are what I prefer. I also prefer high ink capacity pens. I've not used the A4 Clairefontaine spiral bound notebooks before - so if you get your hands on those - I'd love to see you do a video. I'm very particular about my note taking practices - and prefer three-ring, hole-punched student paper - because I can sort those into a binder with section dividers. Lectures are now posted as PDFs of slides - so you'll do a lot of printing. Readings are also posted online and you'll need to print those too. So having said all of this - I find I am still using cheap-ass student paper, and finding an ink that writes well on this paper has been a challenge. The Octopus inks are great on this paper. So is Noodler's X-Feather - which I just bought. Great ink on cheap paper. No feathering. Also waterproof. Don't use it on your hobonichi (highly recommend a hobonichi) because this ink does not dry on good quality paper - ever. I recently used it write in my Hobonichi - and 45 minutes later - the ink still had not dried. I've been thinking about picking up some of the new Pilot Kakuno pens because (1) they have some cool new colours coming out this year, and (2) they take a CON-70 converter - so at a 1.2-ML ink capacity, they carry enough ink to get me through the week. Also - and I promise this is my last comment - have you seen the reviews of the Asvine V126? It's a $40 knock off of the Pilot Custom 823. And yes, it is a steel nib, but everyone LOVES them. They also have an amber colour, and at $40, you can't go wrong. I need another pen like I need a hole in the head, and I'm drooling at the seven possible colour variations of this pen far more often than I'm willing to admit. Thank you for the great video. I believe in you. Enjoy every minute of this experience.
Congratulations on going back to school! That's exciting! I got the Benu DailyMate this week in Creative Thursday. It's just a little smaller than the Euphoria and a great size for my hand. I love the fluted ridges on the barrel, and I get plenty of interaction with them because it takes about 5 turns to cap or uncap, which is a bit deep, but I might not have noticed if RUclips reviews hadn't pointed it out to me. I recently acquired a Kokuyo Campus soft ring notebook which reminds me a lot of Clairefontaine, and if I were in school I'd be using their paper for pretty much everything. Wishing you the best! I will enjoy your videos about the process. Thanks for sharing!
Congratulations ! Fountain pens actually helped me a lot when studying, as they made me actually excited to write something, so I wish you the best on your path, and to have a lot of reasons to use those beautiful pens.
@@PensandTea It's fun how pen choice can impact you. I disliked writing by hand my whole life, was trying to avoid it as much as possible and had terrible penmanship, now it's not great, but much more legible, sometimes nice even, and I try to use any excuse possible to write something on paper by hand, at the very least to see the beautiful ink again.
Congratulations on going back to school. I started my undergrad degree when I was 26 and I have to say that maturity is a wonderful thing. I was nervous about university because I had been a so-so high school student, but I was pleasantly surprised at my ability to buckle down and work at it. I did well; you will too.
Congratulations on back to school! I carry pens to work for note taking which means I transport them around. My findings are (1) snap caps over screw caps are more convenient for intermittent jotting and (2) some pens are sturdy and can get knocked around BUT are prone to substantial nib creep and cap getting lots of ink splash (I'm looking at you, Metropolitan). My best performers in terms of durability and no problem with nib-splash have been LAMY Safari, Al-Star, Vista. The 2000 is also good, but falls into that 'ouch if I lose that it will hurt $ to replace'. If you're not into LAMY, then just test out carrying things around to see if they make a mess after they've been jostled about in transit. (: Good luck!!
Congratulations on going back to school! Don't worry at all about going back to school at 36. I have had class with 70yo students and have worked with students who are 80+. Being 18-22 in undergrad, I learned so much from them. Learning is for everyone, and everyone has their own timeline! :) I did not use fountain pens in undergrad, but I use them for all of my grad school notes. My favorite right now is my Pilot Custom 74 . It bleeds a bit in my Mead notebook, but I can live it as the smooth nib and ink flow make up for it. Good luck to you on your classes! :D
As a student who only uses fountain pens I know a lot about this topic. First thing first is no one cares what your writing with. I only get asked to try a pen maybe once a year. The clairefontaine note books have been great. Good size for school work but may be a bit lacking in the amount of sheets. Being prepared for cheep paper is a very valid concern. I personally have no issue with the price of the pens I bring with me as you'll know if someone steals one (they can't hide from a trained eye). I've never dropped a pen or had one pushed off a table so I'm more concerned with the durability in the bag. Finally I recommend a fine or extra fine for math courses. Hope that helped in someway.
For notebooks, I recommend B5 Tsubame notebooks, because they are affordable, and handle inks like a champ. I’m in the final semester of my grad program, and I’m using the Kokuyo Campus Smart Ring Binders with Loose Leaf Sarasara and Shikkari papers, which are fantastic with fountain pens. For fountain pens, I’ll be using my Platinum Curidas, my Pilot Capless Special Alloy, my Pilot Kakuno fine point, and my Lamy 2000 fine point. Congrats on furthering your education, you got this!
@@PensandTeaI second the notebook recommendation! I have quite a few of these and it’s easy to take out papers from the first half of the semester to make room for more paper for the rest of the semester.
I used fountain pens in school from age 8 onward. My favorites were always Parker, because the cartridges are so long, and they have the “tap tank”, which saved me from running out of ink many times over the years. My favorite inks for bad paper are IG blue blacks. The Curidas or a Preppy with Platinum BB would be a great school pen.
I use a Majohn C4 (big, reliable & replaceable) with an EF nib, and I'll open the main ink reservoir during long note taking sessions (lectures, etc.). During note taking lulls, I "soft-cap" the pen to keep it at the ready, and haven't had any issues with hard starts. The preppy is a great writer, but I found that the plastic is frail and cracks with much use. I agree that the EF Platinum nib is awesome for handwritten calculations/formulas/diagrams, or when you need to scribble a note in the margins of your paper (but having a good reverse writing nib works too) - this makes it great for labs. A workaround is to swap a Plaisir section for the EF Preppy section. I typically use a permanent/pigment black for notes (coffee/tea spills are gonna happen). De Atramentis document/archive black performs well: good flow, dries fast on cheap/copier paper with little to no bleedthough or feathering. I'll often also use Pelikan royal blue - a fantastic workhorse ink for school that has some water resistance. Wishing all the best for you going into your new program :)
Congrats on your new adventure and wishing you the best ❤ my recommendation is that you bring at least a tablet with dictation mode on, to take notes in addition to your own manual notes, for revision at home, in case you forgot to write down something during the lesson, for example. Also ask first day to the teachers if they are going to use/provide online materials during the lesson, so maybe you'll need to bring your tablet or computer too. Edit: in online lessons you van use the "cut" tool in your computer to copy and paste formulas if needed.
Welcome to the older grouping of students. I am 79 y.o. and attend classes at Portland State University. Don't worry about being accepted with younger students or the teaching staff. We older folks are loved by both groups. BTW… if you were born before 1998, then you are old. Why before 1998??? You mean you were born BEFORE google? OMG!!! How did you manage to live??? As for fountain pens, I rotate through a collection of moderately inexpensive pens. I mean in the range of $20 to $30 USD. Minimalism is very present on PSU campus, and I have sold two of my Hong Dian Forest pens. One was black with Noodler's black ink and it was bought by a student who sketches (very well) in ink. Then one woman asked if I had any purple pens, and I brought in another Hong Dian Forest pen. This was one was purple and inked with Diamine's Deep Magenta. She immediately fell in love with it and and was astounded at how smooth it writes. She was thrilled to find that there is such a thing as purple ink. As a patreon of yours, if you wish we can continue this dialogue over there.
Congratulations on going back to school! I used a lot of orange ink as my notes were only for me....got the benu Tuesday approximately 4 full rotations to get the cap off and weirdly 5 to get it on again, so many I felt the need to count..... but it is pretty in a unicorn vomit kind of way and writes very well. I still prefer the euphoria and you have some really nice euphorias!!
Congrats on going back! I stopped my degree at age 20 after starting at 18, and finally went back to finish in 2020 at 28. Applying to grad school now. It can be scary but it’s worth it in the long run :)
Congrats on going back to school! I love learning. I went back years ago at age 35 for a masters degree. I don’t recommend the Curidas. I bought mine when it first came out and found that it dried out quickly. I haven’t used it in years. The newer ones might be better. You can’t go wrong with Preppies or the slightly more expensive Prefounte (same nib, sturdier plastic) and of course the Varsities and Metro. Brian Goulet just showed all the new daily Benus on his latest video.
Congrats on going back to college! I went to Uni at 18, but was already burned out and so failed quickly. Some years later, I got a second chance as a mature student. It was totally different! I put a proper effort in, and got a good result out of the other end. I'm sure your determination will get you through. I used mainly V Pens (Varsity) throughout, and I really enjoyed using them. If i went today, I'd take my Kawecos by preference, but a Majohn A1 would be really useful.
I went back to school when I was 39, with a prior PhD in a different field. I was a bit embarrassed to admit it-but now I’m 44, two years into my new career, and so happy I made the change. You’ve got this!
Before I had one I had mocked the Curidas because of its appearance but since I've acquired one I've really enjoyed it and I actually like it better than the Pilot Vanishing Point and the homage A1 and A2s that I have. That's because the Platinum converter holds considerably more ink than the Pilot Con 40 does and because of how smooth the "F" nib on mine is. I actually think the Curidas could be the only "school" pen that you would need if you are OK with only using one ink color. It might also draw the curiosity of your fellow students due to its somewhat overly engineered appearance which you may or may not consider to be a positive outcome lol. In any case, going back to school is can be very exciting and a fantastic thing to do as I have myself done numerous times over the years and I think you will find it exciting as well.
I got a Platinum Curidas and think it's a brilliant pen. The one I have has a medium nib, and being a Japanese medium it is a little finer than say the medium nib on a Diplomat for example. But for my application, I'm studying math so do a lot of figure and symbol work, that slightly finer comes in handy as does the fact the pen is retractable; write something, retract so nib safely away then onto the calculator, nib out write some more math and so on. Ink I use in mine is the standard Platinum blue / black cartridges or Platinum standard blue / black bottle ink, it's the same ink, and that stuff will write on copier paper and cheaper notebook paper without bled through, even using a Diplomat medium nib it's fine. it's also a permanent ink, so can take a soaking no problem. For at home you need a pen that you can work with / write with for a long time and it be comfortable in the hand, it doesn't need to be fancy just comfortable, so I'm surprised you didn't mention your Diplomat Arrow, not a looker of a pen, but boy are those comfortable to write with.
Congratulations on returning to school. I used an extra fine Lamy 2000 for quick notes (the slip cap is very convenient). What about Peneider Avatar UR EF steel nib in place of the Pilot 823? I have a Platinum Curidas and didn’t hold up like Pilot VP does. The TWSBI GO with an extra fine nib is also a good choice-it writes reasonably well, snap cap, plunger piston filler, holds lots of ink, and costs about $18 USD. It’s all personal preference, though. I would go with what distracts you the least. The idea about the Preppy strictly for Carbon Black or Noodler’s is a good one. I currently use Pelikan yellow highlighter ink in either a Lamy Safari (1.5 mm nib) or a TWSBI Go with a 1.1 stub for highlighting. In late July/early August I hit Target/Staples/Office Depot for the back-to-school sales, looking for notebooks that are roller ball friendly (if a roller ball doesn’t bleed through, chances are good that your fountain won’t bleed through either-I test it out regardless). Good luck on your new adventure!
Good on you!! I wish you all the best! 36 is not old! Old is realizing I started my career as a vet when you were still in nappies!! . I hope you find as much joy in your new career as I have found. For paper, the Arc brand from Staples is pretty friendly for FPs if you are wanting some loose leaf paper. It is pretty smooth. I use a fine point VP and I can write with speed and without smear. I usually use iroshizuko inks. For black ink, either the Iroshizuku Take Sume, or Platinum Carbon black. I still take a lot of classes, and they are definitely more enjoyable when using my fountain pens. I think it is great to keep reinventing oneself!! I look forward to hearing more as your journey unfolds.
Good for you for going back to school-vet tech sounds interesting. When I started college I decided it was time to get myself a good fountain pen like my mother always had, so I bought a Sheaffer. She had an Esterbrook, if memory serves. My ink of choice was permanent black Skrip. My pen served me well for many years and then hid in the back of a drawer for about 35 years until I got back into pens when I took up sketching! If I went back in time to start school again with one from my present collection I think I might choose my Pineider Twin Tanks Touchdown EF clear vacuum-filler with magnetic cap. Big ink capacity which you can see (no demonstraters on the market in the old days) and cap pulls off quickly for note taking. Permanent ink still, but maybe some colors. I have a 2-pen Rickshaw pen sleeve on a lanyard, so if I had my Pineider and one other (maybe my Pilot 823) on my body at all times I wouldn’t be afraid of loss.
I wasn't taking a ton of notes the last time I had classes. However, when I did take notes, I found myself reaching for the Pilot Varsity a lot! (They were actually sold at my school's bookshop for, like, $3CAD a piece, which did come in handy on occasion.) I also went for what has since become my EDC pen: Pilot 78G . I didn't spring for permanent/waterproof inks, as I didn't want to have to deal with cleaning them from converters, but I can see why somebody might go for more "sturdy" inks. I acquired a Lamy Safari a year into my course and that was another one that I enjoyed using, though I did discover that the cap was more loose than I thought, as the cap came off in my bag and messed up the nib when I was in a hurry. (I usually try to keep pens in a pocket/on my person, but sometimes ya gotta run like hell for public transit and putting everything back Just So becomes a bit less of a priority.) Thankfully the Safari nib was easy to replace (I actually prefer the EF nib it has now, as opposed to the F it came with), but it definitely became a more "at home" pen after that.
Congrats, I am doing the same in Toronto, skule rocks. I have been using my Lamy Safari Steel Black F nib with PR Fast Dry Ultra Black since I am using typical Hilroy paper.
Congratulations on going back to school! I went back after a layoff, at age 41. I absolutely adore using my fountain pens at school. Currently, my go-to notebook is the Muji Planting Trees letter-size spiral-bound notebooks that they sell in 3-packs for under $15. The perforated 3-ring pages are perfect for organizing into a binder after class. My campus pens: TWSBI Ecos, Pilot VP (click is perfect for sporadic notes during a lecture), Platinum preppy with Sailor Seiboku ink for a water-resistant option, and various other "guest pens" in my Kako 10-pen case.
Yeah...my office supplies us with just Staples or Beaties brand spiral note books - EF and F nibs are 100% your friend for non-fountain pen friendly papers! Congratulations on going back to school!!
I have 4 Pilot Kakunos in various inks I take to school, i also have a Toyama Teal Kaweco with a stub nib for funsies. All easily replaceable I did take my VP in for a while … and lost it. Luckily it was found & returned to me but I haven’t risked that again
Don't forget a mechanical pencil for scantrons! Or wood! Crayola does number 2 pencils now and I used the crud out of them for drawing a year or so back.
Congrats on the next chapter of education, best wishes. The extended cap off inks ECO truly allows longer pauses and no hard starts during class note taking.
My experience with the Curidas is that you will need to write with it every day to prevent nib dry out. Also if you are interested in some fountain pen friendly notebooks, checkout the Hamelin notebooks with Optik paper. Paperage composition notebooks are also fountain pen friendly, and will show a sheen if you use sheeting inks.
Pilot kakuno is awesome with a con 70… cheap, fantastic nibs, huge ink reservoir and snap cap, and won’t break your brain if anything happens to it cos it’s inexpensive. And they are clear so you can put all the fun inks in them. And if you want something unique try the decorated maki e con 70 ink converter from Bungubox 😊have fun at school 🤩
First off: Congratulations! Second: I am currently about half way through a 3 year long master program and have been using my pens the whole time so I have a lot of thoughts about it. For now I'll just leave a quick run down. 1) you will likely end up doing work on worksheets at onw point or another. School paper is terrible quality. I recommend the Zebra brand of disposable fountain pens because they put down a finer line than varsities and are better on bad paper. I'd keep at least one with me for that reason. 2) personally I find I use my pens mostly for headers, underlines, boxes, etc. Things to organize or emphasis my notes. The majority of my notes are written in pencil (partially for erasability) but that just my preference. Either way I suggest investing a in either a nice mechanical pencil or some Ticonderoga blacks if you prefer regular pencils. 3) I do usually have my 3 currently inked pens with me but I find that for school stuff I usually only end up using my varsities and zebras (unless I'm at home, but most home work is computer based). 4) Other good notebooks to check out are the koyuko campus notebooks. They are founrian pen friendly, afforable, comw in a few difderent sizes and many fun patterns and colors. Though personally what I did is buy refillable notebooks and campus paper so that I never have to worry about running out of pages or wasting extra pages because you never know how much writing you'll do for each class. It also makes it easy to store notes for the future when switching between semesters. 5) a nice (and cute) pencil case full of pens and other cute or weird stationary/office supplies (I'm minorly addicted to jet pens) often makes me feel better when school gets stressful and it's nice to always have whatever you might need. 6) a good agenda is a godsend. I personal use the koyuko campus one but whatever layout works best for you. I think that's it for big things. I'll add more if I think of it. Sorry for the long rambling post. Hope it all made sense!
Here is what I used to work on my masters degrees: Rhodia Composition Notebook, Kokuyo Campus Semi B5, and lately I discovered Logical Air B5 and love it. I also have the Platinum Curidas and it is also a wonderful writer. I like the way it feels in my hand v. the Vanishing Point
I love my Platinum Curitas only issue is if you have a dryier ink it can dry start in the beginig if left over night or for a long period of time. But quickly starts writing agian
I am so excited for you! And you are NEVER too old to go back to school! I went back to school at about the same age when my kids started school full time!
I have been buying the Varsity pens and removing the nib and pulling the feed and filling them with Noodlers #41 brown (water resistant almost proof) and Noodlers Polar Black or Blue (waterproof)if I’m in freezing temps. Goulet pens has a video on how to do the fill/refill if you need a reference. I’m not a huge fan of the Preppy but I love the Kakuno and the Kakuno nibs can be swapped with many other Pilots like your metropolitan. Pilots fine and extra fine nibs even work well on sub par papers, and a cartridge seems to last for ever in the ef.
Look at you. Well done. I went back to study at the age of 32. What got me through was a Schaffer imperial, just the plastic one black with in laid nib. What a work hoase that was. I used fountain pens all my life. But those studies that I return to ended up seeing me as an academic and a professor. I’m 65 now. Got to Fountain pen buying addiction during my later working years and have way too many at least 30 inked up at any time. Studying is the best enjoy it and enjoy writing. 😊
I went back to school at the age of 35. I use to take notes with my kaweko perkeo (m) cartridges, lamy safari f carbon black and my twsbi eco F with most of the time jacques herbin inks in it. ( I was studying computer science, so a lot of maths) I was also taking a of notes on my Samsung tab.
Seconded. DeAtrementis Document Brown is perhaps my favorite ink. Sets like concrete very quickly and makes travel journaling perfectly rain resistant. I also love drawing in brown and you can even watercolor over it after it dries.
Congratulations! I don't know what the situation is in Canada, but in the U.S., there is a shortage of vet techs. And AI can't replace everything they do. It should be a great career!
I, too, went back to school in my 30s. It’s a great decision and I’m sure you’ll do great! Congratulations. As for pens, pick up a Muji aluminum FP. It’s a great daily writer and costs about $20USD, and pairs well with any of the DeAtrementis document inks. Also, if you’re taking chemistry you’ll need a good mechanical pencil and an eraser! Good luck.
Not about pens, but paper! Your campus bookstore may sell notebooks with optik paper in them, which handles fountain pen ink really well. If there's any sales going on, you should see if you can score some good paper for cheap. I got a 3 pack of A4 sized spiral notebooks for like $11.
Kerry, I went back to school several times, and I found two things: 1. I was writing on cheap paper most of the time, and 2. Note taking requires fast writing, and using a gel pen or fineliner generally works better. Now, I’m 76, and things have probably changed a lot since then, but I’m just wondering if you’ll realistically be using your good fountain pens most of the time. Also, I’m wondering why you chose the Curidas, as I have read reviews from so many people who’ve had problems with it. I’m wondering why you’ve chosen it over the Vanishing Point, which generally gets great reviews (despite the meager ink supply). As I said before, I have gone back to school several times, and things may have changed a LOT since then.
Girl I am going back to school this year, TOO! I am Turning 39 returning after an almost 20 year gap. I placed into college Eng and college math (with mandatory tutoring lol). I have similar feelings of nerves and excitement. I want to bring my pens, but I can't shake the feeling I will loose my precious beauties. I have an old preppy. Its not a fine nib. I don't have Permanente / archival ink. I start Feb 21! Going for science degree : radiology tech path. Wish me luck. Cuz I am sure my brain will be fried. I know you will do great. I cant wait to hear about your back to school adventures. It will feel like we are going on this journey together.📖🖋
I’m turning 56 and getting my MBA. Keep green and growing. I recommend the Japanese Campus brand notebooks. Way cheaper than CF, TM, etc…unless you have unlimited resources as a student?
Good luck in school. Your choices are perfect. I go out to sketch and bring my pens with Carbon Black ink plus I fill empty cartridges with it and seal them up with low heat, hot glue. Then I can have Carbon Black in any pen I want, especially Pilot Kakuno.
A notebook to look into is the Kyoku PTD03SV FOBCOOP Ring Notebook. Really great paper, it is a spiral, similar paper to Clairfontaine and maybe less drag than you mentioned with Rhodia reviews.
Get a digital recorder. That way you can listen to the lectures again. You might prefer fountain pen friendly paper, but you could also use cheap college ruled paper since you will using mainly cheap fountain pen that are Fine -EF 🙂.
Could check out the Nahvalur Eclipse as well (retractable). Doodlebud recently did a video on the issues and remedies of his example and it's right around the price of a Curidas but with a more "up market" look. Also, for capacity on the go with high quality, I love the Asvine V200. It is a surprisingly nice pen for the price (typical sub $50 USD) and the medium i have is just as smooth as my 823 Broad.
Great news, curious on what you will be studying. Yes it's scary. I went bak to school after 50 years to get a graduate certificate. It was certainly different, but I got though it. Best of luck
Hey. Congrats on deciding ro go back to school. Reach out if you have any academic related questions: my wife is a vet tech in Texas and I am graduated with a chemical engineering degree in 1998. I can help with chemistry/math questions....my wife Holli can help with vet tech related questions. Ps. We both are fountain pen users too.
Congrats. As so many others have said, I also went back in my late 20’s and again in my mid 30s. I regret nothing, I think the idea of one career for life is boring and outdated. Reinvent yourself, education is never a burden.
Good Lord, I took you to be in your twenties ! Fantastic for you, you go for it Girl, you're NOT old, and you'll bring so much extra to your lessons and your fellow students. Lol.
Congratulations on going back to school. As a SPED teacher, I have a set of Varsity pens in my classroom that I never mention, but I do have a separate collection of school and home pens. Here’s a recent example: Currently Inked January school/work pens/inks, Pilot Prera & Sailor Compass ruclips.net/video/O7KOquztFzs/видео.html
I think you'll be wanting a BENU Pixie in honey bronze. I think they made this one for you -or someone took a Kaweco Sport into the BENU factory and these Pixies were the resultant offspring...
BENU Dailymate looks nice and is a good price but requires 5 turns to uncap. You might want to take a pencil with you -the basic Uni Kuru Toga is a great option.
You're heading into a new adventure with something you love? COOL! I used to do loads of animal rescues, and there is a lot you can do on your own. Even though animals cannot readily verbalize what their discomforts are and often do a powerful job at hiding illness, lots of the interventions are much like those with humans. For some time I did a lot of slave labor with a vet practice. Loved it! My "real job" at the time was Senior Program Consultant for the State Health Dept., and we had a contract for additional research in the city where my vet buddies had their practice, so since I had to go there twice a month, in addition to my usual obligations, I got to visit and learn a lot. So check back with me. Do it a lot. Can you get fully vaccinated against rabies before you inevitably run into a scared mammal whose immunization history is unknown? Vaccination before the fact will ultimately save you a lot of pain and inconvenience as well as a lot of money for the health service. No joke. Going back to school at 36 is totally doable. More and more adults do so all the time.
Wow, that’s an amazing story, thank you for sharing! It is a requirement for me to get the rabies vaccine before I start my placement and work with the animals so I’ll be covered 👍🏻
Best of luck going back to school. My sister is a vet tech and my wife is a zookeeper and they both find incredible fulfilment in working with animals, so I hope you can find the same joy.
By the bye, I have Platninum Chou Kuro loaded into the black Asvine V126 with an EF nib and I adore that combo for daily writing in my work environment. The Asvine nib is a complete surprise, well behaved, smooth and bouncy and even able to squeeze a tiny bit of line variation out but it plays well with low quality copy paper, too. The pen style/feel is "inspired" by the 823 so it might be a nice substitute for that pen at a much nicer price point if you wanted to take something similar to class. Chou Kuro is a little expensive but I've had tremendous luck with it on any kind of paper I put it on and it's darker than Sauron's soul at the stroke of midnight. Amazingly deep, dark black. It's not *quite* as permanent as Carbon Black is but it's definitely what I would consider waterproof enough to use for any kind of writing that requires some permanency.
Good luck and let us know what the young whippersnappers think of fountain pens!
Thank you so much for your super!
I’m glad to hear that they find fulfilment in their jobs because that is definitely my number one concern when looking for employment!
The new platinum bank is definitely one. I’ve had my eye on because it looks absolutely amazing. I 100% laughed out loud when I read your Sauron comment 😆 so good! I’ve never heard of that pen before but once I’m done commenting, I will absolutely Google it.
Just a few pieces of advice from a current undergrad:
1. I wouldn't worry aobut screw caps; I've never had any note timing problems as a result of them, so if that's a concern barring you from using certain pens in class I'd try them anyway.
2. I really promise that the 18 year olds aren't put off by adults in classes after about the first week of freshman year. Some of the smartest, kindest, and most helpful classmates I've had have been adults who went back to school. I'm sure that won't erase your nerves, but just try to trust that nobody's judging you or thinking you don't belong. Good luck!!!!!
HA! That shook loose an old memory. I was a student in my early 40s and took my soon to be a college student daughter with me one day. We are walking to class and I saw her bobbing her head around. She said, "Gee Dad, the students are mostly my age!"
At least in the mid-90s that extra two decades of life experience gives you some gravitas. Enjoy it, but watch out! They tend to want you to be the manager/leader of any group projects that are assigned.
Congrats on your decision to go back to school. I just turned 50 last month and for the past 1.5 years I've been a part time mature student at U of T. I'm having the time of my life and really enjoying every minute of it. I work full time, at a desk, for long hours. My job is very stressful - so adding an extra 25 hours of study time for a course on top of a 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 hour work week has been a wee bit of a challenge. However, I'm completely satisfied with my decision. I am also using fountain pens - and use either Lamy Safari (which are lovely - but small ink capacity), and TWSBI. I also have a FANTASTIC Opus 88 that is a complete joy to use.
I'd love to see you demonstrate the Platinum Carbon Black on various papers. I've not used this ink.
What I've learned is that I do like permanent pigment inks. I've used Octopus Write/Draw inks with great success - and always in my TWSBI Eco's. The cap liner creates the perfect seal and my nib has never dried out. (I'm told if the nib and feed dry out - the pen is destroyed.) Their inks do stain the demonstrator nature of the pen - but I'm okay with that. The ink is sensational and has been tested through pouring rain while I ran from class to the library.
I have found, during my time as a student, that permanent inks are what I prefer. I also prefer high ink capacity pens.
I've not used the A4 Clairefontaine spiral bound notebooks before - so if you get your hands on those - I'd love to see you do a video. I'm very particular about my note taking practices - and prefer three-ring, hole-punched student paper - because I can sort those into a binder with section dividers. Lectures are now posted as PDFs of slides - so you'll do a lot of printing. Readings are also posted online and you'll need to print those too.
So having said all of this - I find I am still using cheap-ass student paper, and finding an ink that writes well on this paper has been a challenge. The Octopus inks are great on this paper. So is Noodler's X-Feather - which I just bought. Great ink on cheap paper. No feathering. Also waterproof. Don't use it on your hobonichi (highly recommend a hobonichi) because this ink does not dry on good quality paper - ever. I recently used it write in my Hobonichi - and 45 minutes later - the ink still had not dried.
I've been thinking about picking up some of the new Pilot Kakuno pens because (1) they have some cool new colours coming out this year, and (2) they take a CON-70 converter - so at a 1.2-ML ink capacity, they carry enough ink to get me through the week.
Also - and I promise this is my last comment - have you seen the reviews of the Asvine V126? It's a $40 knock off of the Pilot Custom 823. And yes, it is a steel nib, but everyone LOVES them. They also have an amber colour, and at $40, you can't go wrong. I need another pen like I need a hole in the head, and I'm drooling at the seven possible colour variations of this pen far more often than I'm willing to admit.
Thank you for the great video.
I believe in you.
Enjoy every minute of this experience.
Congratulations on going back to school! That's exciting! I got the Benu DailyMate this week in Creative Thursday. It's just a little smaller than the Euphoria and a great size for my hand. I love the fluted ridges on the barrel, and I get plenty of interaction with them because it takes about 5 turns to cap or uncap, which is a bit deep, but I might not have noticed if RUclips reviews hadn't pointed it out to me. I recently acquired a Kokuyo Campus soft ring notebook which reminds me a lot of Clairefontaine, and if I were in school I'd be using their paper for pretty much everything. Wishing you the best! I will enjoy your videos about the process. Thanks for sharing!
Congratulations ! Fountain pens actually helped me a lot when studying, as they made me actually excited to write something, so I wish you the best on your path, and to have a lot of reasons to use those beautiful pens.
Thank you so much! And I’m definitely hoping fountain pens will get me to study more lol
@@PensandTea It's fun how pen choice can impact you. I disliked writing by hand my whole life, was trying to avoid it as much as possible and had terrible penmanship, now it's not great, but much more legible, sometimes nice even, and I try to use any excuse possible to write something on paper by hand, at the very least to see the beautiful ink again.
Congratulations on going back to school. I started my undergrad degree when I was 26 and I have to say that maturity is a wonderful thing. I was nervous about university because I had been a so-so high school student, but I was pleasantly surprised at my ability to buckle down and work at it. I did well; you will too.
Don't worry. I went back to college at 43 and graduated top of the class. You will do great.
Congratulations on back to school! I carry pens to work for note taking which means I transport them around. My findings are (1) snap caps over screw caps are more convenient for intermittent jotting and (2) some pens are sturdy and can get knocked around BUT are prone to substantial nib creep and cap getting lots of ink splash (I'm looking at you, Metropolitan). My best performers in terms of durability and no problem with nib-splash have been LAMY Safari, Al-Star, Vista. The 2000 is also good, but falls into that 'ouch if I lose that it will hurt $ to replace'. If you're not into LAMY, then just test out carrying things around to see if they make a mess after they've been jostled about in transit. (: Good luck!!
Congratulations on going back to school! Don't worry at all about going back to school at 36. I have had class with 70yo students and have worked with students who are 80+. Being 18-22 in undergrad, I learned so much from them. Learning is for everyone, and everyone has their own timeline! :)
I did not use fountain pens in undergrad, but I use them for all of my grad school notes. My favorite right now is my Pilot Custom 74 . It bleeds a bit in my Mead notebook, but I can live it as the smooth nib and ink flow make up for it. Good luck to you on your classes! :D
As a student who only uses fountain pens I know a lot about this topic. First thing first is no one cares what your writing with. I only get asked to try a pen maybe once a year. The clairefontaine note books have been great. Good size for school work but may be a bit lacking in the amount of sheets. Being prepared for cheep paper is a very valid concern. I personally have no issue with the price of the pens I bring with me as you'll know if someone steals one (they can't hide from a trained eye). I've never dropped a pen or had one pushed off a table so I'm more concerned with the durability in the bag. Finally I recommend a fine or extra fine for math courses. Hope that helped in someway.
For notebooks, I recommend B5 Tsubame notebooks, because they are affordable, and handle inks like a champ. I’m in the final semester of my grad program, and I’m using the Kokuyo Campus Smart Ring Binders with Loose Leaf Sarasara and Shikkari papers, which are fantastic with fountain pens. For fountain pens, I’ll be using my Platinum Curidas, my Pilot Capless Special Alloy, my Pilot Kakuno fine point, and my Lamy 2000 fine point.
Congrats on furthering your education, you got this!
Wow, thank you for all the great recommendations I will definitely read up on those!
@@PensandTeaI second the notebook recommendation! I have quite a few of these and it’s easy to take out papers from the first half of the semester to make room for more paper for the rest of the semester.
I used fountain pens in school from age 8 onward. My favorites were always Parker, because the cartridges are so long, and they have the “tap tank”, which saved me from running out of ink many times over the years. My favorite inks for bad paper are IG blue blacks. The Curidas or a Preppy with Platinum BB would be a great school pen.
I use a Majohn C4 (big, reliable & replaceable) with an EF nib, and I'll open the main ink reservoir during long note taking sessions (lectures, etc.). During note taking lulls, I "soft-cap" the pen to keep it at the ready, and haven't had any issues with hard starts. The preppy is a great writer, but I found that the plastic is frail and cracks with much use. I agree that the EF Platinum nib is awesome for handwritten calculations/formulas/diagrams, or when you need to scribble a note in the margins of your paper (but having a good reverse writing nib works too) - this makes it great for labs. A workaround is to swap a Plaisir section for the EF Preppy section. I typically use a permanent/pigment black for notes (coffee/tea spills are gonna happen). De Atramentis document/archive black performs well: good flow, dries fast on cheap/copier paper with little to no bleedthough or feathering. I'll often also use Pelikan royal blue - a fantastic workhorse ink for school that has some water resistance. Wishing all the best for you going into your new program :)
Congrats on your new adventure and wishing you the best ❤ my recommendation is that you bring at least a tablet with dictation mode on, to take notes in addition to your own manual notes, for revision at home, in case you forgot to write down something during the lesson, for example. Also ask first day to the teachers if they are going to use/provide online materials during the lesson, so maybe you'll need to bring your tablet or computer too.
Edit: in online lessons you van use the "cut" tool in your computer to copy and paste formulas if needed.
Welcome to the older grouping of students. I am 79 y.o. and attend classes at Portland State University. Don't worry about being accepted with younger students or the teaching staff. We older folks are loved by both groups. BTW… if you were born before 1998, then you are old. Why before 1998??? You mean you were born BEFORE google? OMG!!! How did you manage to live???
As for fountain pens, I rotate through a collection of moderately inexpensive pens. I mean in the range of $20 to $30 USD. Minimalism is very present on PSU campus, and I have sold two of my Hong Dian Forest pens. One was black with Noodler's black ink and it was bought by a student who sketches (very well) in ink. Then one woman asked if I had any purple pens, and I brought in another Hong Dian Forest pen. This was one was purple and inked with Diamine's Deep Magenta. She immediately fell in love with it and and was astounded at how smooth it writes. She was thrilled to find that there is such a thing as purple ink. As a patreon of yours, if you wish we can continue this dialogue over there.
Congratulations on going back to school! I used a lot of orange ink as my notes were only for me....got the benu Tuesday approximately 4 full rotations to get the cap off and weirdly 5 to get it on again, so many I felt the need to count..... but it is pretty in a unicorn vomit kind of way and writes very well. I still prefer the euphoria and you have some really nice euphorias!!
Congrats on going back! I stopped my degree at age 20 after starting at 18, and finally went back to finish in 2020 at 28. Applying to grad school now. It can be scary but it’s worth it in the long run :)
Congrats on going back to school! I love learning. I went back years ago at age 35 for a masters degree. I don’t recommend the Curidas. I bought mine when it first came out and found that it dried out quickly. I haven’t used it in years. The newer ones might be better. You can’t go wrong with Preppies or the slightly more expensive Prefounte (same nib, sturdier plastic) and of course the Varsities and Metro. Brian Goulet just showed all the new daily Benus on his latest video.
Good luck at your new school! You have a nice array of tools to help you along your way. :) It's a good thing to go improve your abilities. Good luck!
Congrats on going back to college! I went to Uni at 18, but was already burned out and so failed quickly. Some years later, I got a second chance as a mature student. It was totally different! I put a proper effort in, and got a good result out of the other end. I'm sure your determination will get you through.
I used mainly V Pens (Varsity) throughout, and I really enjoyed using them. If i went today, I'd take my Kawecos by preference, but a Majohn A1 would be really useful.
I went back to school when I was 39, with a prior PhD in a different field. I was a bit embarrassed to admit it-but now I’m 44, two years into my new career, and so happy I made the change. You’ve got this!
Thank you for your kind words, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one!
Good for you. I went to grad school at 60. Vet tech sounds fun and right up your alley
Just finished my second masters at 65 and working on a Phd research project this summer. NEVER to old to learn!
Before I had one I had mocked the Curidas because of its appearance but since I've acquired one I've really enjoyed it and I actually like it better than the Pilot Vanishing Point and the homage A1 and A2s that I have. That's because the Platinum converter holds considerably more ink than the Pilot Con 40 does and because of how smooth the "F" nib on mine is. I actually think the Curidas could be the only "school" pen that you would need if you are OK with only using one ink color. It might also draw the curiosity of your fellow students due to its somewhat overly engineered appearance which you may or may not consider to be a positive outcome lol. In any case, going back to school is can be very exciting and a fantastic thing to do as I have myself done numerous times over the years and I think you will find it exciting as well.
I got a Platinum Curidas and think it's a brilliant pen. The one I have has a medium nib, and being a Japanese medium it is a little finer than say the medium nib on a Diplomat for example. But for my application, I'm studying math so do a lot of figure and symbol work, that slightly finer comes in handy as does the fact the pen is retractable; write something, retract so nib safely away then onto the calculator, nib out write some more math and so on. Ink I use in mine is the standard Platinum blue / black cartridges or Platinum standard blue / black bottle ink, it's the same ink, and that stuff will write on copier paper and cheaper notebook paper without bled through, even using a Diplomat medium nib it's fine. it's also a permanent ink, so can take a soaking no problem. For at home you need a pen that you can work with / write with for a long time and it be comfortable in the hand, it doesn't need to be fancy just comfortable, so I'm surprised you didn't mention your Diplomat Arrow, not a looker of a pen, but boy are those comfortable to write with.
Congratulations on returning to school. I used an extra fine Lamy 2000 for quick notes (the slip cap is very convenient). What about Peneider Avatar UR EF steel nib in place of the Pilot 823? I have a Platinum Curidas and didn’t hold up like Pilot VP does. The TWSBI GO with an extra fine nib is also a good choice-it writes reasonably well, snap cap, plunger piston filler, holds lots of ink, and costs about $18 USD. It’s all personal preference, though. I would go with what distracts you the least. The idea about the Preppy strictly for Carbon Black or Noodler’s is a good one. I currently use Pelikan yellow highlighter ink in either a Lamy Safari (1.5 mm nib) or a TWSBI Go with a 1.1 stub for highlighting. In late July/early August I hit Target/Staples/Office Depot for the back-to-school sales, looking for notebooks that are roller ball friendly (if a roller ball doesn’t bleed through, chances are good that your fountain won’t bleed through either-I test it out regardless). Good luck on your new adventure!
Good on you!! I wish you all the best! 36 is not old! Old is realizing I started my career as a vet when you were still in nappies!! . I hope you find as much joy in your new career as I have found.
For paper, the Arc brand from Staples is pretty friendly for FPs if you are wanting some loose leaf paper. It is pretty smooth. I use a fine point VP and I can write with speed and without smear. I usually use iroshizuko inks. For black ink, either the Iroshizuku Take Sume, or Platinum Carbon black. I still take a lot of classes, and they are definitely more enjoyable when using my fountain pens.
I think it is great to keep reinventing oneself!! I look forward to hearing more as your journey unfolds.
Good for you for going back to school-vet tech sounds interesting. When I started college I decided it was time to get myself a good fountain pen like my mother always had, so I bought a Sheaffer. She had an Esterbrook, if memory serves. My ink of choice was permanent black Skrip. My pen served me well for many years and then hid in the back of a drawer for about 35 years until I got back into pens when I took up sketching! If I went back in time to start school again with one from my present collection I think I might choose my Pineider Twin Tanks Touchdown EF clear vacuum-filler with magnetic cap. Big ink capacity which you can see (no demonstraters on the market in the old days) and cap pulls off quickly for note taking. Permanent ink still, but maybe some colors. I have a 2-pen Rickshaw pen sleeve on a lanyard, so if I had my Pineider and one other (maybe my Pilot 823) on my body at all times I wouldn’t be afraid of loss.
I wasn't taking a ton of notes the last time I had classes. However, when I did take notes, I found myself reaching for the Pilot Varsity a lot! (They were actually sold at my school's bookshop for, like, $3CAD a piece, which did come in handy on occasion.) I also went for what has since become my EDC pen: Pilot 78G . I didn't spring for permanent/waterproof inks, as I didn't want to have to deal with cleaning them from converters, but I can see why somebody might go for more "sturdy" inks.
I acquired a Lamy Safari a year into my course and that was another one that I enjoyed using, though I did discover that the cap was more loose than I thought, as the cap came off in my bag and messed up the nib when I was in a hurry. (I usually try to keep pens in a pocket/on my person, but sometimes ya gotta run like hell for public transit and putting everything back Just So becomes a bit less of a priority.) Thankfully the Safari nib was easy to replace (I actually prefer the EF nib it has now, as opposed to the F it came with), but it definitely became a more "at home" pen after that.
Congrats, I am doing the same in Toronto, skule rocks. I have been using my Lamy Safari Steel Black F nib with PR Fast Dry Ultra Black since I am using typical Hilroy paper.
Congratulations on going back to school! I went back after a layoff, at age 41.
I absolutely adore using my fountain pens at school. Currently, my go-to notebook is the Muji Planting Trees letter-size spiral-bound notebooks that they sell in 3-packs for under $15. The perforated 3-ring pages are perfect for organizing into a binder after class. My campus pens: TWSBI Ecos, Pilot VP (click is perfect for sporadic notes during a lecture), Platinum preppy with Sailor Seiboku ink for a water-resistant option, and various other "guest pens" in my Kako 10-pen case.
Thank you for this paper recommendation!
OMG what a lovely idea.
I need the perforation and this is PERFECT.
Yeah...my office supplies us with just Staples or Beaties brand spiral note books - EF and F nibs are 100% your friend for non-fountain pen friendly papers! Congratulations on going back to school!!
I have 4 Pilot Kakunos in various inks I take to school, i also have a Toyama Teal Kaweco with a stub nib for funsies. All easily replaceable
I did take my VP in for a while … and lost it. Luckily it was found & returned to me but I haven’t risked that again
How exciting and good for you! Good luck with school!
Don't forget a mechanical pencil for scantrons! Or wood! Crayola does number 2 pencils now and I used the crud out of them for drawing a year or so back.
Congrats on the next chapter of education, best wishes. The extended cap off inks ECO truly allows longer pauses and no hard starts during class note taking.
My experience with the Curidas is that you will need to write with it every day to prevent nib dry out. Also if you are interested in some fountain pen friendly notebooks, checkout the Hamelin notebooks with Optik paper. Paperage composition notebooks are also fountain pen friendly, and will show a sheen if you use sheeting inks.
Pilot kakuno is awesome with a con 70… cheap, fantastic nibs, huge ink reservoir and snap cap, and won’t break your brain if anything happens to it cos it’s inexpensive. And they are clear so you can put all the fun inks in them. And if you want something unique try the decorated maki e con 70 ink converter from Bungubox 😊have fun at school 🤩
Much luck to you in school!
First off: Congratulations!
Second: I am currently about half way through a 3 year long master program and have been using my pens the whole time so I have a lot of thoughts about it. For now I'll just leave a quick run down.
1) you will likely end up doing work on worksheets at onw point or another. School paper is terrible quality. I recommend the Zebra brand of disposable fountain pens because they put down a finer line than varsities and are better on bad paper. I'd keep at least one with me for that reason.
2) personally I find I use my pens mostly for headers, underlines, boxes, etc. Things to organize or emphasis my notes. The majority of my notes are written in pencil (partially for erasability) but that just my preference. Either way I suggest investing a in either a nice mechanical pencil or some Ticonderoga blacks if you prefer regular pencils.
3) I do usually have my 3 currently inked pens with me but I find that for school stuff I usually only end up using my varsities and zebras (unless I'm at home, but most home work is computer based).
4) Other good notebooks to check out are the koyuko campus notebooks. They are founrian pen friendly, afforable, comw in a few difderent sizes and many fun patterns and colors. Though personally what I did is buy refillable notebooks and campus paper so that I never have to worry about running out of pages or wasting extra pages because you never know how much writing you'll do for each class. It also makes it easy to store notes for the future when switching between semesters.
5) a nice (and cute) pencil case full of pens and other cute or weird stationary/office supplies (I'm minorly addicted to jet pens) often makes me feel better when school gets stressful and it's nice to always have whatever you might need.
6) a good agenda is a godsend. I personal use the koyuko campus one but whatever layout works best for you.
I think that's it for big things. I'll add more if I think of it. Sorry for the long rambling post. Hope it all made sense!
Bring a pen that you're comfortable writing with for an hour at a time. For me that's usually a TWSBI.
Here is what I used to work on my masters degrees: Rhodia Composition Notebook, Kokuyo Campus Semi B5, and lately I discovered Logical Air B5 and love it. I also have the Platinum Curidas and it is also a wonderful writer. I like the way it feels in my hand v. the Vanishing Point
I love my Platinum Curitas only issue is if you have a dryier ink it can dry start in the beginig if left over night or for a long period of time. But quickly starts writing agian
I am so excited for you! And you are NEVER too old to go back to school! I went back to school at about the same age when my kids started school full time!
I hear you, it's never too late to learn!
I have been buying the Varsity pens and removing the nib and pulling the feed and filling them with Noodlers #41 brown (water resistant almost proof) and Noodlers Polar Black or Blue (waterproof)if I’m in freezing temps. Goulet pens has a video on how to do the fill/refill if you need a reference. I’m not a huge fan of the Preppy but I love the Kakuno and the Kakuno nibs can be swapped with many other Pilots like your metropolitan. Pilots fine and extra fine nibs even work well on sub par papers, and a cartridge seems to last for ever in the ef.
Look at you. Well done. I went back to study at the age of 32. What got me through was a Schaffer imperial, just the plastic one black with in laid nib. What a work hoase that was. I used fountain pens all my life. But those studies that I return to ended up seeing me as an academic and a professor. I’m 65 now. Got to Fountain pen buying addiction during my later working years and have way too many at least 30 inked up at any time. Studying is the best enjoy it and enjoy writing. 😊
I just take my Lamy Safari and like you said, Platinum Preppy! Im going back to school too. How fun it is being an 'older' student! 😆
I went back to school at the age of 35. I use to take notes with my kaweko perkeo (m) cartridges, lamy safari f carbon black and my twsbi eco F with most of the time jacques herbin inks in it. ( I was studying computer science, so a lot of maths) I was also taking a of notes on my Samsung tab.
Oh, and the deAtramentis Doc Inks are great, I use them for art/watercolor, and you get color options : )
Ooh, good to know - I’ll have to check them out!
Seconded. DeAtrementis Document Brown is perhaps my favorite ink. Sets like concrete very quickly and makes travel journaling perfectly rain resistant. I also love drawing in brown and you can even watercolor over it after it dries.
Third-ed. Document Black is my daily ink. Very waterproof.
Congrats on returning to school 🙂
Congratulations! I don't know what the situation is in Canada, but in the U.S., there is a shortage of vet techs. And AI can't replace everything they do. It should be a great career!
Well said!
I, too, went back to school in my 30s. It’s a great decision and I’m sure you’ll do great! Congratulations. As for pens, pick up a Muji aluminum FP. It’s a great daily writer and costs about $20USD, and pairs well with any of the DeAtrementis document inks. Also, if you’re taking chemistry you’ll need a good mechanical pencil and an eraser! Good luck.
I write all my first and second draft papers in longhand. I write with black, quotes and references in blue and edit in red.
Not about pens, but paper! Your campus bookstore may sell notebooks with optik paper in them, which handles fountain pen ink really well. If there's any sales going on, you should see if you can score some good paper for cheap. I got a 3 pack of A4 sized spiral notebooks for like $11.
happy birthday and good luck!
Kerry, I went back to school several times, and I found two things: 1. I was writing on cheap paper most of the time, and 2. Note taking requires fast writing, and using a gel pen or fineliner generally works better. Now, I’m 76, and things have probably changed a lot since then, but I’m just wondering if you’ll realistically be using your good fountain pens most of the time.
Also, I’m wondering why you chose the Curidas, as I have read reviews from so many people who’ve had problems with it. I’m wondering why you’ve chosen it over the Vanishing Point, which generally gets great reviews (despite the meager ink supply).
As I said before, I have gone back to school several times, and things may have changed a LOT since then.
Girl I am going back to school this year, TOO! I am Turning 39 returning after an almost 20 year gap. I placed into college Eng and college math (with mandatory tutoring lol). I have similar feelings of nerves and excitement. I want to bring my pens, but I can't shake the feeling I will loose my precious beauties. I have an old preppy. Its not a fine nib. I don't have Permanente / archival ink. I start Feb 21! Going for science degree : radiology tech path. Wish me luck. Cuz I am sure my brain will be fried. I know you will do great. I cant wait to hear about your back to school adventures. It will feel like we are going on this journey together.📖🖋
Bedankt
Wow! Thank you so much 🙏🏻
I’m turning 56 and getting my MBA. Keep green and growing. I recommend the Japanese Campus brand notebooks. Way cheaper than CF, TM, etc…unless you have unlimited resources as a student?
Well done that lady. Have fun!
Ken a fan from Latvia
Congrats! I love my Curidas.
Good luck in school. Your choices are perfect. I go out to sketch and bring my pens with Carbon Black ink plus I fill empty cartridges with it and seal them up with low heat, hot glue. Then I can have Carbon Black in any pen I want, especially Pilot Kakuno.
Thanks so much! I’ll have to try that trick for filling cartridges.
A notebook to look into is the Kyoku PTD03SV FOBCOOP Ring Notebook. Really great paper, it is a spiral, similar paper to Clairfontaine and maybe less drag than you mentioned with Rhodia reviews.
Congrats on going back to school! The carbon black will be good for notes you might want to highlight later.
Thank you so much! I’ll definitely be using lots of carbon black. I also never even thought about highlighter lol
Get a digital recorder. That way you can listen to the lectures again.
You might prefer fountain pen friendly paper, but you could also use cheap college ruled paper since you will using mainly cheap fountain pen that are Fine -EF 🙂.
Personally, I much prefer the pilot vanishing point over the curidas, I found that the platinum had irregular ink flow and dried out frequently
Wow, great choice of career!!! You will be a natural at working with animals!!! All the best!!! ❤
Thank you so much! I appreciate that!
Great! Well done. You’ll look back to this in a few years as the best decision of your life so far 😊 (I do)
Could check out the Nahvalur Eclipse as well (retractable). Doodlebud recently did a video on the issues and remedies of his example and it's right around the price of a Curidas but with a more "up market" look.
Also, for capacity on the go with high quality, I love the Asvine V200. It is a surprisingly nice pen for the price (typical sub $50 USD) and the medium i have is just as smooth as my 823 Broad.
Good luck!
A newer, fancier pen: the Diplomat Viper. Very quick cap/uncap and a hooded nib so it won't dry out between writing notes.
That sounds like a great one, I'll have to check it out!
Great news, curious on what you will be studying. Yes it's scary. I went bak to school after 50 years to get a graduate certificate. It was certainly different, but I got though it. Best of luck
Hey. Congrats on deciding ro go back to school. Reach out if you have any academic related questions: my wife is a vet tech in Texas and I am graduated with a chemical engineering degree in 1998. I can help with chemistry/math questions....my wife Holli can help with vet tech related questions. Ps. We both are fountain pen users too.
Congrats. As so many others have said, I also went back in my late 20’s and again in my mid 30s. I regret nothing, I think the idea of one career for life is boring and outdated. Reinvent yourself, education is never a burden.
Way to go, Kerry!!!
Thank you!
Went back to C.E.G.E.P. at age 50 for a three year technology course. Made honor roll twice and Deans list.
Good Lord, I took you to be in your twenties ! Fantastic for you, you go for it Girl, you're NOT old, and you'll bring so much extra to your lessons and your fellow students. Lol.
Omg you’re too kind lol and thank you!
Congratulations on going back to school. As a SPED teacher, I have a set of Varsity pens in my classroom that I never mention, but I do have a separate collection of school and home pens. Here’s a recent example: Currently Inked January school/work pens/inks, Pilot Prera & Sailor Compass
ruclips.net/video/O7KOquztFzs/видео.html
The Curidas is ok, but you could get a Jinhao 10 and have a VP experience.
I prob have 100 fountain pens… if I had it to do over I’d get 3 twsbis. The pens I reach for constantly.
I went back at 35... I was going to be 37 with or without a degree.
School is nice!
Genial! 🎉
What are you majoring in?
Vet tech
They last forever!
I think you'll be wanting a BENU Pixie in honey bronze. I think they made this one for you -or someone took a Kaweco Sport into the BENU factory and these Pixies were the resultant offspring...
BENU Dailymate looks nice and is a good price but requires 5 turns to uncap.
You might want to take a pencil with you -the basic Uni Kuru Toga is a great option.
You're heading into a new adventure with something you love? COOL! I used to do loads of animal rescues, and there is a lot you can do on your own. Even though animals cannot readily verbalize what their discomforts are and often do a powerful job at hiding illness, lots of the interventions are much like those with humans. For some time I did a lot of slave labor with a vet practice. Loved it! My "real job" at the time was Senior Program Consultant for the State Health Dept., and we had a contract for additional research in the city where my vet buddies had their practice, so since I had to go there twice a month, in addition to my usual obligations, I got to visit and learn a lot. So check back with me. Do it a lot. Can you get fully vaccinated against rabies before you inevitably run into a scared mammal whose immunization history is unknown? Vaccination before the fact will ultimately save you a lot of pain and inconvenience as well as a lot of money for the health service. No joke. Going back to school at 36 is totally doable. More and more adults do so all the time.
Wow, that’s an amazing story, thank you for sharing! It is a requirement for me to get the rabies vaccine before I start my placement and work with the animals so I’ll be covered 👍🏻
Platinum curidas
If you are a decent typist, please consider taking notes on a laptop. It is much faster.
take a Penmanship class?? :):)
Congrats and "break a leg"! You got this! 😇🩵🙏🙌