For those of you not familiar with this fine film, I suggest you netflix it as soon as possible. In a nutshell, Rita is a frustrated hairdresser, unhappy with her unfulfilled life and starts attending college classes. Rather, she starts attending university because Rita is British and they speak classier than Americans.
She is met with judgment and resistance from her working class family and friends. I used this film as a comparison to my own late in life collegiate experience.