I couldn’t write about my husband in this month’s feature story – that would be a bit of nepotism, perhaps – but he was what got me thinking about that “second chance” to go back to school at midlife.
You see, that’s just what he did when our son entered high school.
As every parent who’s walked the four years of preparation knows, today’s high schools start talking to students about college plans as soon as they become freshmen. And it was when our son Evan entered ninth grade that my husband, John, started looking into the associates degree in accounting he had started – but not completed – at Springfield Technical Community College in the late 1970s. Was it easy to head back, even one class a semester, with a full-time job and a family? No. Did he enjoy it? As an outside observer, I’d say, yes. Was it worth it? I think he’d say absolutely.
As the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic shut down life, he was laid off from the food service sales job he’d had for the past 16 years, his second company in a 33-year career in the industry. This April, that new degree opened the door to a different type of job, one he truly enjoys.
It wasn’t just the knowledge that John appreciated, like Heide Blackak in this month’s feature story, he enjoyed the multi-generational learning environment. And like her, he wasn’t shy about helping the younger students get the answers they needed. All in all, it was a win-win situation.
That’s the observation of Lori Wayson, director of the New Directions for Adult Learners program at Holyoke Community College (HCC), has noticed with the older students she works with. They come back with purpose, and often, a passion.
“For a lot of people ‘It’s time for me now,’ others come back to be retrained [after a layoff] or to get a degree or a certificate,” Wayson said. “These students amaze me, not only because of what they bring, but how they have lived their lives and endured. When they come back with all that experience and knowledge, they have a thirst to learn.”
The graduation rate for New Directions is pretty impressive – 83 percent. Her oldest graduate, Wayson said, was 93 years old. The average age for people beginning the program is late 50s and early 60s. For her, the job is all about helping her students find success when they make the decision to start – or continue – a college degree.
Check out the map of the Prime Living Senior Expo on Aug. 28!
This issue of Prime includes your guide to the exhibitors and activities that will be part of Prime’s first-ever Expo in the Aria Ballroom of the MGM Casino in downtown Springfield on Aug. 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. We hope you find it helpful! Say “hello” if you attend. I’ll be working the entrance. As always, thanks for reading,
