The term “adult learner” always makes me feel kind of weird… For one thing, realizing that I’m an adult (or a “grown up” as my son says) sometimes gives me pause. I wonder, did my parents and elders “feel more grown up” when they were my age?

There’s something about feeling like I took a really messy route with my education-- despite it taking me 3 schools and 9 years to get a 4 year degree… I can’t help but feel like I still don’t really know what I want to be when I grow up... I feel like I should have figured out my career path in high school, I should have gone directly into college and plugged straight through until I completed my degree, 4 years later, and entered straight into the field of my choice, where of course, I lived happily ever after… That’s how it’s supposed to work, right?

Instead, I attended 2 other schools for vastly different degree programs (Theatre, then Information Technology) took many breaks here and there before stumbling across the DCP program here at APU, then later transferring into the RANA program, where I’m proud to say, I’ve finally completed my degree…

I’ve been fortunate to work for a tribal nonprofit here in Anchorage administering scholarships for over 5 years now. The term “traditional” student hardly applies to the majority of the population I serve… Many of them are parents, in their 20’s all the way up to their 50’s, juggling school and work and family (we call those “adult learners” too)- I can relate to their stories. I talk to many people about postsecondary opportunities, urging them to continue their education, no matter what their circumstance. I tell them how Benjamin Franklin said “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

It reminds me of a book I read for work, called The Tiny Warrior by DJ Eagle Bear Vanas. In this book, a grown man named Justin is talking with his grandpa, lamenting over all of his past missteps. He tells his grandpa how he fell into the wrong crowd and made their misguided priorities his own, only to discover that in the end he only had himself to depend on to improve his future. He’s beating himself up for not attending college for Engineering when he had the chance, thinking of the employment opportunities that had been waiting for him back then. His grandpa asks him gently, Well why don’t you go to school then? And Justin laughs and says Grandpa, do you even know how old I would be by the time I finally finished school? His grandpa replies, I sure do, Justin… You’d be exactly the same age you would be if you didn’t go.

The book itself is simple, but the message is clear. You can’t control time, but you can control what you do with it. One of my favorite quotes is from Henry David Thoreau: “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”

Another realization lies in the fact that this degree isn’t mine alone. I’ve depended on many, many people for support to help me get here today. From financial support through scholarships, emotional and mental support through times of discouragement, to helping me with David so I could devote time to homework and projects… I owe the majority of my degree to my family, friends and support system, many of which are here today—thank you guys, I couldn’t have done it without you.

It may have taken 3 schools and 9 years to get my degree. It may have cost me stress while juggling work and school and being a mom… But when I stop to think where I would be if I hadn’t taken that first step 9 years ago to stand here before you today… I can’t help but feel like I took exactly the path I was intended to, all along.

Thank you everyone, God Bless and congratulations to the graduates and all who supported them.