After graduating from high school, Grace Holmes went straight to college. After a year at the University, however, she decided she didn’t want to be a student in a classroom any longer. Instead, she moved to Los Angeles, where she recorded albums and performed with a band.
“I’m totally glad I left college,” Holmes said. “I appreciate it more now, and I really got to celebrate my twenties.”
Holmes, a senior at age 31, is preparing to graduate this term with a degree in Spanish. She’s also serving as the director of the Nontraditional Student Union, a group for students who don’t fit the profile of a typical undergraduate. Nontraditional students might be older, veterans or supporting a family while attending school.
“The primary purpose of the NSU is to connect students with the resources on campus and to serve as a support system,” Holmes said.
The NSU office, in Suite 2 of the EMU, offers nontraditional students free use of computers and printing. Holmes and other NSU staff assist students in choosing classes and help familiarize them with other campus programs.
After years of working and performing, Holmes returned to the University to complete her degree and increase her access to jobs. She called her return to school “a little intimidating,” but overall, she’s enjoyed studying alongside younger students.
“I’m kind of one of those people that gets along with everybody,” Holmes said. “I’ve made friends with traditional and nontraditional students. I think everyone’s unique, and I’ve met all kinds of great people, no matter what their age.”
Holmes said she takes her education more seriously after returning from her time away. She’s more focused on her classes now that she’s had more life experience — a common theme among nontraditional students.
“What my teachers have told me is they like us because they ask more questions in class … We’re more engaged and more interested in learning,” Holmes said.
University senior Debbie Sheehan, like Holmes, attended college briefly after high school. She also decided to leave school to work full-time, eventually raising a daughter. In 2006, Sheehan lost her job as a manager at a Florence hospital where she had worked for 13 years.
Later that year, she accompanied her professor aunt on a trip to a Uganda university, where she took college classes for the first time since 1980.
“Most of the students were 18, and I was almost 50,” Sheehan said.
Despite the age gap, Sheehan had “a great time” and developed a strong interest in Africa.
“I took an anthropology class at the University of Oregon to learn about Africa, and I ended up loving school,” Sheehan said. “I’ve always wanted to complete my college education, but I never had the opportunity.”
Sheehan said her return to college has been positive, and she has been surprised by the support she’s received from her professors and classmates.
“I didn’t realize how smart younger people were,” she said. “I’ve been treated very well. I’ve been included in study groups. When I needed some help, the students were more than ready to help me as far as studying. I didn’t feel excluded from the whole process of learning.”
Sheehan works part time, currently at the U.S. Census Bureau, in addition to attending classes. She considers her life experience an advantage in her academic work.
“In 1979, I don’t think I was quite as focused,” Sheehan said. “Now I have a focus, and I’m a lot calmer. I’m willing to ask for help. Back then I just wanted to do it all myself and be done with it. I work hard at my studies, but I didn’t then.”
Though one goal of the NSU is to build relationships among nontraditional students, these students tend to be focused on their classes and less involved in campus groups.
“The nontraditional student demographic is the hardest to get together,” Sheehan said. “Traditional students are trying to find their way, so they’re making social networks and meeting friends. People who are nontraditional already have friends and have experienced some things in life. When they come to school, they come for the academics.”
However, international studies major Dan Brotman said the Nontraditional Student Union helped him make the transition to an American university.
“When I first came here, I was looking for a group for people that had a nontraditional path to college,” Brotman said. “As a nontraditional student, I found it very hard coming back into the American system because a lot of people were younger than me and were less
focused on school.”
Brotman attended high school in Boston and spent several years working and studying in Israel before he entered the University.
“Toward the end of high school, I was totally burnt out, and I realized I wasn’t ready to go straight to school,” Brotman said. “I needed more life experience. I immigrated to Israel when I was 18 years old and became a citizen.”
Brotman served in the Israeli army for a year and spent another year in an intensive Hebrew language program. He then studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for a year and a half.
“In Israel, when professors want to get paid more or students want lower tuition, they go on strike,” Brotman said. “We had three months off of school and then summer vacation. My education was constantly interrupted. It was also very hard because I was going to school in a different language.”
After working at a summer camp in Belarus, Brotman returned to the United States, eventually entering the University at age 23.
“In Israel, I was a nontraditional student because I was 19, and most people in Israel start their undergraduate degrees at 24 or 25. Then I came to the U.S., and I was so much older than everyone else. People were just drinking and partying and they were paying so much to be here, but they weren’t focused on studying.”
While Brotman struggled with the University’s political climate, he received substantial scholarships and the opportunity to pursue his interests. The University accepted all of his credits from the Hebrew University, and Brotman is currently preparing to graduate. He is finishing his classes this term and plans to travel to South Africa this summer to write his
honors thesis.
Sheehan plans to take a fifth year to finish her language requirement. She and her daughter will both be graduating in June 2011 — her daughter with a master’s degree from Portland State University, Sheehan with a bachelor’s degree in international studies. After graduation, Sheehan plans to earn her master’s degree in international studies and pursue a career in public health.
After Holmes graduates next month, she plans to take some time off to “relax, do yoga, and move to Hawaii,” before continuing with her career.
“I think everybody that comes to school should be a nontraditional student,” Holmes said. “Sometimes students who come straight from high school take their education for granted. A lot of people that come back to college have to learn how to learn again.”
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