Many adults are hitting the books again to learn new skills for their jobs or new careers or just for fun. These older students in Centre County are taking advantage of some of the educational opportunities that can be found here
By Caitlin Bauer
Going back to school can be an exciting and nervous time for anyone. What about if you’re going back to school after having not sat in a classroom for years, even decades? It seems more adults are looking to either further or complete their educations. They may want to start new careers (which, in this economy is happening more often). They may want to learn new skills. They even may want to just have some fun learning.
While their reasons vary, the following adult learners are taking seriously their current time in classrooms and hoping to discover something new about the world, and, maybe, about themselves.
A new challenge
Rachel Breon of Ferguson Township took time out to focus on her family, but now is concentrating on her own career goals. Breon, 38, will graduate in September from the South Hills School of Business & Technology with a degree in business-administration marketing management.
The married mother of two stayed home for several years with her daughters while husband, Joe, supported the family. Her oldest daughter, Amber, 18, just graduated from State College Area High School, where youngest daughter, Teeona, 15, will be a sophomore.
“I never once took being able to stay home with my children for granted,” Breon says. “It was hard financially, but important for me not to miss a moment of my girls’ lives.”
After her daughters entered grade school, Breon began working for State College Area School District in autistic and emotional support.
“I was a listener, supporter, enforcer, planner, encourager, teacher, student, and friend,” she says. “My job was extremely challenging but equally as rewarding.”
She was able to work during school hours, so she could still be home to meet her daughters as they stepped off the school bus each afternoon.
The Breons also are a foster family, “blessed with the presence of many children in and out of our home,” Breon says.
After six years with the school district, she felt it was time to move on with her career. Always interested in business, she enrolled at South Hills because it was a good fit with her future goals and lifestyle.
“Even with my childrens’ activities, household duties, meetings, and appointments, I was able to do homework, study for tests, and be on the dean’s list every term,” says Breon, who has a 3.8 grade-point average.
She refers to South Hills as a close-knit “family school,” with a club or niche available to everyone.
“There is usually something going on — a clothing drive for rape victims, blood drives, scholarships, picnics, and many, many more,” she says.
She represents her school at various functions as an ambassador and is current president of the student forum, South Hills’ student government.
At first, she says she felt nervous and unsure of how she’d be received by her fellow students. She was happily surprised and was soon nicknamed “Mamma Rach” by her classmates.
“I do happen to be one of the older ones for sure, but it’s great to have such an eclectic group,” she says. “I found that with so many personalities and ages, each can learn something from the other.”
She will soon complete the seven-term program and says the time commitment is all about what a student puts into it. She has even encouraged friends to take the plunge and further their educations.
“There is not one thing I regret about it,” she says. “Any situation you’re in now won’t change unless you change it. It makes sense, if you’re struggling, to struggle toward a goal.”
Never too old to try something new
Retirement has given Steve Lupis, 72, the chance to explore interests he couldn’t find time for in the past. The former IBM employee and consultant moved from Connecticut to State College upon retirement and soon became involved with the Art Alliance in Lemont and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Penn
State.
“I wanted to do something but never had the time,” explains Lupis, a former computer programmer and consultant.
He signed up for stained-glass classes at the Art Alliance after coming across some literature at its store. The nonprofit group serves artists and teachers of all ages by offering classes, workshops, and exhibits at their building in Lemont.
“I’m not an artist, I’m not good at drawing or clay or pottery, but I like stained glass,” Lupis says.
Since then, he has studied continuously under teacher Ken Plattner to further his skills.
“I’m working on my second lamp,” Lupis says. “Cutting the stained glass is my favorite part — you have to be very careful because of the hardness and thickness of it. It’s a challenge to cut it.”
It was through an Art Alliance classmate that Lupis had become aware of OLLI. Soon, he and his wife, Shirley, became involved with the Penn State-affiliated organization that provides educational enrichment to mature adults.
Shirley serves on the membership committee and Steve serves on the technology council with several other former programmers and IT professionals.
OLLI has classes to meet every interest, Steve says. “They have classes on Shakespeare, woodworking, the history of the Civil War, or World War II,” he says.
Many of the instructors are former Penn State faculty, and the classes are informal, with no real homework or exams, and involve lots of participation.
The Lupises’ membership also has benefited them socially, with the couple taking part in many OLLI-sponsored trips to destinations such as Italy and Chicago.
“We’ve made many new friends,” Steve says. “It’s a great social network.”
Inspired to help others
A former troubled teen himself, Ray Eisenhuth of Port Matilda hopes to have a career that will allow him to help today’s teens turn their lives around. Eisenhuth, 42, will enter the criminology program this fall at Mount Aloysius College in Cresson and hopes to help at-risk youth make the most of their lives.
His own life experiences will come into play. He says he got into trouble at school and at home, and struggled academically. He left school and earned his GED at 15 years old and immediately went to work.
“I didn’t want to do anything other than what I wanted to do,” he says. “It was in everyone’s best interest that I got out of there, and it wasn’t hard for me to get a job hanging drywall.”
After working in the same field for 26 years, the stress of physical labor and a poor economy have taken their toll.
“When the economy went down the tubes, so did my job,” says Eisenhuth, who now suffers from back problems and arthritis in his hips. “It’s a good job, but the older you get, the harder it is on you.”
Melissa, his wife of 21 years, is currently an LPN and is pursing her RN degree at the same school.
By returning to school, Ray says he hopes to serve as a role model for his children — Trevor, 20; Steve Ray, 19; Nathan, 17; and Chelsea, 14.
“It’s an incentive for my children to do something with their lives with the potential I know they have,” he says.
He adds that he has always related to young people, especially those labeled “troublesome” and written off by teachers, parents, or other authority figures.
“I was that way as a teenager,” he explains.
Careerwise, he is not yet sure where his studies will lead him but knows he wants to make a positive impact on those in need.
“I want to be an extra support of some kind to help them reach their potential,” he says. “Anywhere that I can try to make a difference in kids’ lives would be fine with me.
“I hope my experiences will help them somehow. I was able to pull myself out of the dark place that so many people get stuck in. It was 30 years ago, but I think troubles are the same troubles, feelings are the same feelings.”
The four-year program will require hard work and sacrifice but Eisenhuth believes it is the right decision for himself and his family.
“If you have a passion for something, you don’t want to go through life regretting never finding out if you could or couldn’t,” he says. “It’s never too late.”
Education in the video world
Carol Eicher is a continuing-education student who’s taken a class in a nontraditional format. On her way to earning a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership, she took a course through Penn State’s Video Learning Network (VLN). Classrooms are set up with high-definition video-conferencing equipment that allows students and faculty in up to four locations to take part in the same course at the same time.
Eicher works full time as a human-resources manager with Penn State Hospitality Services and always strives to remain current with her career. She has a certification in human resources from the University of Minnesota and had taken several courses without a specific degree in mind.
“I am a lifelong learner and have always pursued continuing education in my profession,” says Eicher, who lives in Bellefonte with her husband, Roger. “I had already taken several of the courses as part of my personal goal to remain cutting-edge in my profession, and decided to put all the credits together and pursue the degree.”
Last spring, she came across the VLN accidentally after enrolling in an accelerated seven-week course in labor law.
“I signed up for a class, walked into the designated location, and found that it was a VLN session,” she says.
At first, she says she was apprehensive because she appreciates having direct interaction with her course instructors. During the first meeting, the instructor explained how the course would work and Eicher decided to give it a try.
“The experience ended up being very positive, particularly after I had contacted the instructor via e-mail with a couple of questions and he responded very quickly,” she says. “The classes were conducted just as he had explained — there were no surprises and it became a very comfortable routine.”
The VLN is designed for adults looking to complete professional-certificate programs. Sixteen Penn State campuses, including University Park, offer such courses. Accelerated professional-certificate programs and general-education classes are being offered this summer. This fall, a wider range of programs will be available, and by fall 2012, the first bachelor’s-degree programs will be offered.
Eicher doesn’t have a specific deadline to complete her coursework, but was motivated to finish faster after declaring her major.
“I work full-time, participate in many community-volunteer activities, and enjoy spending time with my family, so I’ll complete the major taking courses on a part-time basis,” she says.
She adds that she manages her obligations by “creating a plan and sticking to it.”
“I am very attuned to creating and following a schedule — work, volunteer, class, study, home, and personal times are all scheduled,” she says. “The beauty of taking classes through PSU Continuing Education is that I can select those that fit my schedule.”
Completing an educational journey
Denise Maines returned to Penn State to complete the education she started 17 years ago. Maines, 39, of Philipsburg, entered Penn State immediately after graduating from Philipsburg-Osceola Area Senior High School but did not compete her degree.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, and at that point in my life I wasn’t ready for college,” the single mother of two says.
She holds an associate’s degree in specialized business from South Hills School of Business & Technology, and was an information sciences and technology major at Penn State.
A staff assistant in Penn State’s budget office, she once considered putting her plans on hold until her two daughters were grown, but now says the girls are the “driving force” behind her.
“When I don’t know how I am going to get through the next exam or the next class, they are very encouraging and tell me I can do it and they have faith in me,” she says of daughters Alicia, 17, and Bethany, 13. “My daughters were there when I made the decision to go back to school and they were there with me when I submitted my intent to graduate this semester. They have taken this journey with me full circle, and without their love and support I could not have done this.”
Thanks to college credits earned during her previous enrollment, Maines was able to complete her degree in two years by attending class part-time. To round out her skill set, she is completing an internship this month through the Penn State World Campus HelpDesk.
“It has given me a chance to put the pieces of my degree into a real-life situation. I have never installed drivers to a computer, but they had me doing it on the second day of my internship,” she says. “They have given me time to get comfortable with the requests for
eLive and proctored exams. Now they are looking for a project that will challenge me some more.”
Her past experiences helped her to realize how important an education really is, she says.
“I knew it would be tough and there would be long days ahead, but in
the end, it would be worth it,” she says.
Making her accomplishment even sweeter is the fact that she is graduating this month at the same time as her sister, Kim Hummel, who is earning a bachelor’s degree in IST from Penn State.
After graduation, Maines will take a year off from school to focus on family and enjoy Alicia’s senior year of high school. Next fall, she’ll pursue another bachelor’s degree.
One thing she has always emphasized to her daughters is the value of a
good education.
“There are no ends to all of the possibilities that are available when you have that degree,” she explains. “It is going to be hard work, it is going to be demanding, and there are days when you wonder if it will all be worth it. But let me tell you — it is!”
Caitlin Bauer is a 2009 graduate of Penn State, is a freelance writer, and writes feature stories for the Butler Eagle.
