Family Ties’ Justine Bateman Freshman At UCLA; Actress Blogging About College Experience

It’s never too late to become a student – just ask Justine Bateman.

The former “Family Ties” star, 47, became a freshman at UCLA last fall and has created a blog chronicling her collegiate experience.

On a Tumblr page titled “College Life,” the actress (and sister of “Arrested Development” star Jason Bateman) details her journey as a computer-programming student.

Highlights from her blog include tidbits such as, “Had another choice of seating today between sitting next to someone with a cold or someone with smelly food. (WTF with eating in the library, BTW?),” as well as stories of how her class experience has changed now that she’s an adult and hungry for knowledge.

After weeks of struggling to hear a professor over the casual conversations of her classmates, Justine blogged about her decision to take matters into her own hands.

“I interrupted the professor with a raised hand and when he called on me I turned to the class and said, ‘I don’t mean to be an a**hole, but the talking is out of hand. It’s disrespectful to the teacher and it’s hard to hear him over it all,’” she recounted in a post titled, “I Finally Told My Calculus Class To Shut Up.”

“It was quiet after that,” she continued. “And they probably all hate me now, but F**K IT.”

The actress has also used the blog to post encouraging feedback she’s received from other students – including fellows late-starters – and e-mails she’s received from fans thanking her for the inspiration to go back to college themselves.

— Erin O’Sullivan