Thirteen years ago I found myself alone (again, naturally), broke, and unable to provide even the basic needs for my children. My third marriage, doomed before it began, had predictably failed. In my need to provide hands-on parenting, I had gradually down-graded my employment from the 80 hour weeks of restaurant management to wind up as a temp receptionist. I knew I had to improve my situation, so I decided to go back to school. Fourteen years before that, I had dropped out of college. I was a business major way back when, leaning towards marketing (though my mother wanted an accountant). My oldest child was just a baby, and I was working 3 jobs to make ends meet. At the age of twenty-three, I was too short-sighted to see that education was going to improve my life and income. I only saw that it took time away from money-earning activities and raising my baby girl.
So here I was, thirty-seven years of age, and returning to school. My new major was IT. In the months leading up to my first class, I took a continuing education course, studied for and earned my A+ certification. I sent out a round of resumes, knowing I couldn’t continue with school without some sort of income. I lucked out and was offered a paying internship with an IT services company – as a printer technician. And so I began my education, both in the classroom and on the job. I didn’t push straight through though. The internship eventually became a full-time job and required that I study for a round of certifications, so I took a year off school. That stretched into two years when I started a new job. Soon I realized if I didn’t get moving, I would never finish. I kept hacking away at it, part-time, and eventually I earned an associate of applied science, then my bachelor of science, and finally an MSIT. Twelve years and an awful lot of student loans later, I was finished. I’m not in my dream job yet, but I am working on getting there. Meanwhile, I teach a course at the community college where I started.
This is where the story is leading. Today we had staff development day for the college. The theme of the day was student completion. As I sat and listened to the chancellor talk about how we needed to find ways to help students complete their education, I couldn’t help but think about that twenty-three year old mother working 3 jobs and trying to take care of a baby girl. How many of our students find themselves overwhelmed with needs and fail to see what finishing something can do for them? A couple of things said today resonate with me. It’s not like I didn’t already know these things, but they were reinforced today. In this economy, some sort of college credential is required to earn a decent living. Even an associate degree or certificate can make a huge difference in the individual’s earning potential. 38% of adult Americans have college credentials – in comparison with higher achieving countries that boast 60% of their adult population with college credentials. And it’s not that students aren’t going to college – it is that they are not finishing.
I turned over a new leaf. It wasn't easy - but I'm doing it every day. Now - how do we make it easier for the next generation to do that?
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