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Health & Fitness

Adult Student Success Stories

By Daniel Gerger, President, Adult Education Advocates

Over the past 15 years I’ve had the privilege to advise and mentor thousands of adults who have gone back to college. Although each person’s journey is unique and special, these student stories share a message of inspiration.  Below you will find a few stories of some of the adult students I’ve had the opportunity to work with. 

When Monika came to the United States from Slovakia at the age of 19, she spoke no English. Her plan was to work for a year as an au pair, and then return home having learned some English. The first course she took was English as a Second Language at a local adult school. Soon, she had a dream —  to learn English well enough to go to college and become a teacher. Monika spent the next 16 years working full-time as a nanny, and for 12 of those years she has been going to college.  After mastering English, she applied and was accepted to a local community college, and in five years she completed her associate's degree by attending part time in the evenings.  In 2007, she graduated from the community college with a 4.0 GPA and a degree in early childhood education. Monika was then admitted to a four-year college and finished her B.S. in 2011 with the highest GPA of all undergraduate adult students and received the college's Provost Award for achievement.  Monika started taking graduate level courses while completing her undergraduate degree, and this year she will receive her master’s degree and her teacher’s certification in the state of New York.

Lawrence received his bachelor’s degree in finance and went to work in New York City. When the recession of 2008 happened, he lost his job and because of the economic downturn, he was not able to find another position in his field.  Lawrence looked at the situation and decided to try something he had always wanted to do: Go to medical school. He first went and trained to become an Emergency Medical Technician and found a job working the night shift for his local EMT squad  Because he had never taken the required science courses needed for medical school, he enrolled in a program that taught physics, biology, chemistry, and organic chemistry.  Two years later, he applied and was accepted to medical school and he will begin his residency for his medical specialty next year. 

In Barbados, Dale was a successful 30-year-old businesswoman, working as a loan officer at a bank. Dale owned her own home, had many friends and was in a relationship, but she came to the United States because of the opportunity for a better life and to reunite with her mother and grandmother, who had emigrated to the United States many years before.  She realized very quickly that having a college degree was going to be critical to her success.  In 2007, Dale was working in the mortgage industry in the United States and when that industry slowed she switched jobs and entered her local community college.  She received her associate’s degree in May of 2009.   That July, Dale entered an accelerated bachelor’s degree program that had seven-week terms, with classes in the evenings and on weekends.  This allowed Dale to work full time and still take more than 30 credits a year.  Dale completed her Undergraduate degree in Behavioral Studies in two years.   In May, she received her Master’s Degree in Organizational Management and Human Resource Development.

I know first-hand that the challenges adult students face can be overcome. And the opportunities and rewards of going back to college are lifelong.

Daniel Gerger is the President of Adult Education Advocates, an organization that helps adults make the transition back to college. Dan was the Director of the Adult programs at Manhattanville College and now lives in Maplewood, N.J., with his wife and three children.

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