When School Calls You Back

The college track for high schoolers is fairly well defined—narrow your choice of schools, agonize over the admissions essay, hope for the best dorm buddy, then dive into studying—but what happens when college beckons later in life, when family and work factor into the equation?

Thanks to a range of flexible scheduling options and a host of local offerings that include travel study, advanced degrees, personal enrichment classes, and continuing professional education, it’s never been easier to answer the call for more school. No one knows that better than the quartet you’ll read about on the following pages who have found their place back in the classroom.

Chris Owens
Age: 52
Attended: Hamline University
Program of study: Master in Public Administration
Lives: St. Louis Park
Fun fact: Went back to school at the same time that one of her daughters was in college.

When some people think of retirement, they imagine golf courses, leisurely travel, and grand gardening plans. But Chris Owens had a different vision.

Having worked in the corrections field for more than twenty years, she’d grown passionate about the work, but had seen others burn out when trying to extend their careers into retirement. She decided to try a different tack and prepare for a career in teaching.

Owens graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and  began working as a correctional officer. Professionally, she moved from that role to juvenile probation officer and then assistant superintendent at the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center. Along the way, she got married and had twins.

When a promotion to director of juvenile probation and a fiftieth birthday coincided, it prompted Owens to think about what she would do when she was eligible to retire at age fifty-nine. “I wanted to do something different,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to teach, but you need a master’s degree for that.”

Owens looked at both online universities and at more traditional classroom-based programs before deciding on Hamline University’s master in public administration, which suited her interest in blending career and family with school. The two-year accelerated program, which she completed last May, met one night a week  and featured a cohort model that meant she would get to know her classmates well.

She was about fifteen years older than most of her fellow students, but she loved the mix and was surprised to find that school was a bit easier than she thought it would be. “There were some really daunting topics, like finance, but once I was in the class, I realized that I knew more than I thought,” she says.

The happy surprise of tapping into existing knowledge didn’t mean the experience was without challenges. On her first night of class, Owens sat in the parking lot at Hamline and called her husband. “I told him that I thought I was going to throw up; I was that nervous and scared,” she says. “It had been twenty years since I’d written a paper or taken notes, and I didn’t know if I could get back in the academic mindset.”

The walk from the parking lot to the classroom that night may have been a long one, but it was the start of a journey Owens appreciates for both its immediate rewards and the ones ahead. “Absolutely the best thing I ever did for my career was going back to school,” she says. “It fit perfectly with what I want to do with my life.”

Pat Duffy
Age: 63
Attended: Metropolitan State University
Program of study: Individualized bachelor’s degree
Lives: Edina
Fun fact: Pat recalls that her father would ask everyone at the dinner table what they learned that day—a habit that inspired a family of lifelong learners.

The challenges that Pat Duffy faces seem formidable. She started her academic career late in life, having taken just a few college courses in library science. She also faced physical challenges. In 1982, inner ear bone deterioration from cancer caused significant hearing loss, and one of the operations to repair the damage affected her vision years later. As a result, she uses special equipment to read textbooks and to listen to lectures.

“My eighty-six-year-old mother still sometimes asks me why I’m going to school—she thinks I’m crazy” she says. “But she knows I have a commitment to making a difference in the lives of the elderly and going to school will help me realize my dream.”

That dream is to create a facility for the elderly where their mind, body, and spiritual needs are met. Toward that end, she’s focused her individualized bachelor’s degree on leadership service, health, and spirituality.

While living in New York City for twenty years, Duffy volunteered at an area hospital and visited housebound seniors. She currently logs more than sixty hours a month volunteering for the nonprofit Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly.

“In my opinion, we don’t care for the elderly properly in this country. There are so many of them who are depressed and lonely, and that needs to change,” she says. “My philosophy is that every human being has the right to dignity and respect, and there’s a better way to extend that to the elderly.”

Duffy knew that making her dream  a reality would require education, and she’s happy that Metropolitan State University allowed her to tailor her academic studies to her interests and was able to accommodate her hearing and visual impairments.

“Without that support, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to study with my challenges,” she says. “It takes me twice as long as other people to do my homework or to take tests. They’ve been so gracious and supportive in giving me the tools I need.”

Duffy’s resolve also goes a long way toward achieving her academic goals. Not only does she plan to finish her bachelor’s degree, but she’s contemplating a master’s degree and PhD sometime in the future. She encourages other older adults to do the same.

“I think those coming to college later in life are more committed to the learning process,” she says. “When I was younger, there weren’t the kind of opportunities there are today, and it’s wonderful to be able to have this experience.”

Jeffrey Bores
Age: 44
Attended: St. Olaf College
Program of study: Travel study trips through St. Olaf’s Center for Lifelong Learning
Lives: Minneapolis
Fun fact: Bores is an attorney but also owns the taraNa Yoga Studio in south Minneapolis

Sometimes it isn’t just education that calls a student—the world can beckon as well. While attending St. Olaf College in the mid-eighties, Jeffrey Bores had the opportunity to study in the Middle East for a term; he traveled to Israel, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Italy. He later attended William Mitchell College of Law and eventually embarked on a career as an attorney, but the thrill of combining travel and education never quite went away.

Fortunately, Bores found he didn’t have to go back to school to quench his desire for a semester abroad. Although he traveled after college, he yearned for excursions with more academic rigor and began to regularly sign up for study travel trips through St. Olaf College’s Center for Lifelong Learning. The lectures and tours at spots around the world are led by St. Olaf professors and are open to anyone, even those who aren’t alums

In 2001, Bores spent thirty-five days on a trip that started in Switzerland with briefings from United Nations representatives about world health issues, and then moved on to Egypt, India, Nepal, and China, where he learned about religion, art, and even calligraphy. Two years later, he visited Vietnam and Cambodia for three weeks for an intensive education about the French and American occupation from the 1800s to the 1970s.

In 2005, he went back to the Middle East, nearly replicating the trip he’d taken as a young student, but learning more about contemporary politics and economic development. This past summer he went to Moscow for lectures about history, literature, art, and ballet.

“I’ve never been a lay-on-the-beach kind of person with my vacations,” he says. “It all comes down to how you want to spend your time off from work. For me, I want to grow as an adult learner and as a citizen of the world. I believe I’m never truly out of school.”

The St. Olaf program is ideal, Bores says, because the college has resources that allow a vigorous academic program that can be done in a shorter amount of time than the usual months-long semester. Since professors lead the trips, they’re able to give insight into politics and the arts, while also connecting travelers with academics in other countries.

Bores is keen to continue his journeys and plans to take a St. Olaf trip at least once every two years. “One of the luxuries of practicing law is that there are always new things to learn,” he says. “It always requires more study, and it’s wonderful to extend that kind of thinking beyond what I do professionally.”

Jessi Kingston
Age: 34
Attended: College of St. Catherine
Program of study: Leaders of the New Millennium
Lives: Edina
Fun fact: She started a new job as a purchasing manager at Digital River the same month that she began her new round of studies at St. Kate’s.

Although Jessi Kingston already has a bachelor’s degree from Macalester College and an MBA from Metropolitan State University, she began to feel that career preparation wasn’t just about changing companies or getting promoted—it was about developing leadership skills that could carry her throughout her professional life.

While working at ING as a sourcing specialist, Kingston attended luncheon events at the College of St. Catherine and found herself drawn to Leaders of the New Millennium, a program comprised of eight learning sessions that focus on creating individual strategic development career plans and equipping students with leadership skills. Kingston felt that the program could help her to build her professional toolkit, but also extend into other parts of her life.

“The program helps me tap into what kind of a leader I am, what my strengths are,” she says. “An MBA program gives you textbook knowledge of business, but something like this really helps you discover who you are.”

Geared specifically for working adults, the program requires students to do a series of retreats and evening seminars, and provides access to career coaches who can meet at night or over the phone. Kingston began the program believing that she’d get more solid ground for her career path, but found that it also positively affected her friendships and even illuminated different aspects of her personality.

“I’ve begun to see how I operate in terms of risktaking and creativity, and how I handle situations,” she says. “I’ve never seen a program that uses so many different tools that help you learn who you are as a person.”

For example, Kingston discovered that she’s at her most creative when working in a small group, not tackling projects solo. That knowledge has helped her to reconfigure how she does her work, and made her think about how she handles situations in her personal life as well.

She’s been able to ease back into academic life, she adds, because the way the program is structured fits the way she likes to study. “I don’t think I could be in a classroom setting, where I’m just taking notes and writing papers,” she says. “That structure doesn’t appeal to me.”

It was initially challenging to drum up the motivation to do homework, Kingston admits, but now she finds that she looks forward to it because it brings the promise of more insight into what makes her tick. “I never thought I’d be the kind of person who wanted to do homework,” she says. “But it’s been great.”