Back to school? Decision's tough for adults out of classroom for a long time

By Kelli Dodgen

January 25, 2005 | The college classroom is filling up with people of all ages, as non-traditional students are becoming more a part of higher education.

After an extended leave from school, more students, after taking an extended leave from school find themselvesasking the question, Should I go back?

Universities call them non-traditional or reentry students, who after an extended amount of time, decide to come back to college to receive their degrees.

Thirty-six years ago, Normon Jones started his education at Utah State University in business management. With three kids at home and another on the way, Normon left his education, one class away from graduating, for full-time work to support his family. Reaching the opposite conclusion, 56-year-old Susan Krosbie has decided to go back and finish her accounting degree at USU.

Young adults come to college with the expectation for a better life, but school can easily be interrupted as married couples begin their lives together. These young adults soon realize that part-time jobs can't pay student loans with and with more money on the demand, empty pocket books start gathering dust.

Jones started college at Weber State in 1968 studying geology while working at Hill Air Force Base. After deciding to get a bachelor's degree from a university, Normon and his wife, Jean, moved to Logan to pursue more of his education.

With three kids at home, wanting to be held, scribbling on expensive college books, and blaring cartoons on TV, Jones's full attention was easily taken away from studying for his classes. On top of studying, Normon needed more hours at work for diapers, doctor-bills, formula, clothes, and medicine for his kids.

Normon worked nights at the Dispatch Office at USU then went to school during
he day. Working at the Dispatch Office, Normon had more time to do his homework to keep up with his classes. With his fourth child, arriving soon, Normon knew that his part time job at the university wasn't going to keep paying the bills. His last year at USU he took a job working full time to support his family at Moore's.

"When the time was open to go back the next year, I was working overtime and I needed the money, I just wasn't interested," Jones said.

The balance among work, family and school can be overwhelming. When patience and energy were running thin, Normon feels that the professor's expectations were just too much. Jones didn't expect professors to take a person with a family into consideration with grading, but he does feel that professors shouldn't take it personally when students can't spend all their time on one class.

"Some of the professors at the university think that if you have a family, you have no business being in school," Jones said.

The support of family and friends in continuing your education is very important, Normon feels, and he said his wife was very supportive in his education. His wife and family could have lived a better life if he hadn't chosen to go to school and stayed at his job at Hill Air Force. Staying with his original plan of getting his degree, Normon says that he wouldn't have been happy.

"Given the chance to do it all over again, I would have just taken classes that I was interested in and not tried to pursue a degree," Jones said.

Today, Normon 62, known as a professional student by his wife, takes classes occasionally, but still feels he will never go back to take the one class to receive his bachelor's.

Reentry students have a range of opinions on coming back to college. Many feel that after leaving school without their degrees their lives could have been better, if they would have stayed in school and finished what they started.

Today, more then ever could be easier for non-traditional students to come back and receive their degrees. Recently, USU has opened a reentry center to assist re-entry students with coming back to the University.

The USU Reentry Student Center provides students with a better transition back to university life. The Reentry Student Center gives its own version of the freshmen orientation program called SOAR, with workshops to become better acquainted with various campus resources, such as computer labs. The center help's provide scholarships such as Pinnacle, a national honor society for reentry students. The Parent Locator service, contacts parents on campus in case of emergencies.

The Reentry Center helps with getting financial assistance and is offered to reentry women and men with a gap of five or more years in their education. The center also provides some reentry students by providing tuition waivers.

The Reentry Center helps non-traditional students go through the admission process, that all USU students must complete before being accepted to the University.

One of the best services that the reentry center provides is peer facilitators. Peer facilitators share survival skills that others have acquired through the reentry process. They are there to provide assistance and support for the transition back into college life once more.

Susan Krosbie, a peer facilitator at USU, started her education in 1966 and received her associate's degree in accounting. She came back to pursue her bachelor's degree at USU in 2002.

For Susan, the first feeling when coming back into college life was intimidation.

"I think anybody that's had a break for a while and they decide to come back, find it quite intimidating," Krosbie said.

One of the things that brings on the intimidation is being surrounded by young adults who have been in the college environment for a while.

"It's hard competing with kids that are so sharp," Krosbie said. It's just a big adjustment altogether.

Reentry students find it hard to adjust because they have already established their lives, and are used to their routines and daily activities, Krosbie says. A big part in pushing for coming back to school comes from money and the opportunity to make more progress in your career path.

Susan family is supportive of her decision to come back to school, with one son attending USU with her they share common student stresses and pressures.

Non-traditional students go through the same late night study sessions as regular students do, Krosbie says, but they usually don't have time to participate in the activities that the university provides.

"Reentry students feel like their really not apart of the university because we already have lives that need to be taken care of," Krosbie said.

The disadvantages might seem larger than the advantages but Susan, says life experience does help. The advantages of life skills, helps you to organize and prioritize your school work. She wishes that USU would take life experience into account and re-think it's breadth education requirements.

"There are a lot of things that I already know, and things I don't care to know," Krosbie said.

Other advantages for reentry students is the more mature attitude toward class work, getting a second chance to go back and do better, and a more focused outlook on education.

"I treat coming back to school, just like I would treat a job," Krosbie said.

Susan's best advice is, "That the intimidation wear off after a while, and you soon realize that your not the only one on campus, there's a lot out there.

The reentry student center at USU is on the third floor of the Taggart Student Center in Room 315. For information call (435) 797-1728 or visit www.usu.edu/stuserv/womencen/reentry.htm.

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