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Going Back to School
January 2015
By Tavia Gilliam
Going back to school can be one of the biggest challenges a person can face. The typical student is expected to finish high school, immediately begin college, and graduate with an undergraduate degree in four years. This is starting to become a lot rarer, though. Many students are being faced with more and more financial, familial, and personal issues. These issues have resulted in preventing individuals from obtaining their degrees in the “standard” amount of time.
Tatiane McCormick, a current Virginia Commonwealth University undergraduate student, can certainly relate to this struggle. She graduated from West Minster Academy, a home school co-op, in 200 and that same year, she started her undergraduate career at Campbell University. Although she seemed to be on the right path, Tatiane, like many of her peers, ran into some obstacles along the way.
There were two time periods in which Tatiane put a hold on her college career. The first was involuntary: “I was in a serious car accident and had to endure ten months of physical therapy in order to be able to walk and function again without the aid of another human. Because of this situation, I missed out on three semesters of school. The second was mainly because I felt stuck in life and needed a reset.”
After missing three semesters of school, Tatiane decided to apply to Lee University, “an ultra religious and conservative school that [she] just wasn’t fitting in at.” She moved to Paris for a little over a year and while she was there, she finally applied to VCU and made plans to complete her college career in her home city.
Going back to school can be one of the biggest challenges a person can face. The typical student is expected to finish high school, immediately begin college, and graduate with an undergraduate degree in four years. This is starting to become a lot rarer, though. Many students are being faced with more and more financial, familial, and personal issues. These issues have resulted in preventing individuals from obtaining their degrees in the “standard” amount of time.
Tatiane McCormick, a current Virginia Commonwealth University undergraduate student, can certainly relate to this struggle. She graduated from West Minster Academy, a home school co-op, in 200 and that same year, she started her undergraduate career at Campbell University. Although she seemed to be on the right path, Tatiane, like many of her peers, ran into some obstacles along the way.
There were two time periods in which Tatiane put a hold on her college career. The first was involuntary: “I was in a serious car accident and had to endure ten months of physical therapy in order to be able to walk and function again without the aid of another human. Because of this situation, I missed out on three semesters of school. The second was mainly because I felt stuck in life and needed a reset.”
After missing three semesters of school, Tatiane decided to apply to Lee University, “an ultra religious and conservative school that [she] just wasn’t fitting in at.” She moved to Paris for a little over a year and while she was there, she finally applied to VCU and made plans to complete her college career in her home city.
When asked what her biggest struggle was in regards to being a 27-year-old still trying to obtain a bachelor’s degree, she responded by saying, “I find the biggest struggle to be the balancing of family life, school and work. It is insanely easy to be overly devoted to one of the three, which causes strife and stress in the other two areas. Being married, I do not have my parents to fall back on. It’s just my husband, who is a graduate student at VCU, and me. Prioritizing each other’s education has been a big discussion in our household.”
Tatiane did have a few good things to say about being an older student, however. She admits that "[she] appreciates [her] education so much more now than when [she] was a young, bright eyed twenty. Education is a privilege, and it took [her] a long time to realize that. Because [she] is an older student, [she] can relate better to [her] professors and [has] been able to establish professional relationships that would not have been possible for [her] at a younger age.”
When asked if she had any school-related regrets, she started to get a little emotional. She commented by saying, “It is really easy to get caught up in the world of comparison. I have friends who are almost done with their Ph. D’s, have great jobs, and are having their second or third babies. Sometimes I find myself wishing that I, too, was on that path of parenthood and corporate America. But in those moments, I tell myself that I am immensely fortunate to be in the program I am in with professors who respect me, that I have a husband who supports my educational pursuits 100 percent, and that I get to follow my educational dreams. Not everyone can say that. Fulfillment looks different on everyone, and for me, it looks like a personal library full of books and the knowledge that goes with it.”
Tatiane is currently planning to go to graduate school at VCU to work under Dr. Joshua Eckhardt in Paleography. She hopes to continue her education and earn her Ph. D. in the near future. Her ideal job would be to work in a museum or in a teaching environment. Tatiane has big academic dreams and she has made it clear that her previous impediments will not stop her from reaching her goal.
Going back to school is common and it should not have a negative connotation behind it. It is a full-time job. Instead, these people should be praised and congratulated for taking such a huge step in the right direction.
Tatiane did have a few good things to say about being an older student, however. She admits that "[she] appreciates [her] education so much more now than when [she] was a young, bright eyed twenty. Education is a privilege, and it took [her] a long time to realize that. Because [she] is an older student, [she] can relate better to [her] professors and [has] been able to establish professional relationships that would not have been possible for [her] at a younger age.”
When asked if she had any school-related regrets, she started to get a little emotional. She commented by saying, “It is really easy to get caught up in the world of comparison. I have friends who are almost done with their Ph. D’s, have great jobs, and are having their second or third babies. Sometimes I find myself wishing that I, too, was on that path of parenthood and corporate America. But in those moments, I tell myself that I am immensely fortunate to be in the program I am in with professors who respect me, that I have a husband who supports my educational pursuits 100 percent, and that I get to follow my educational dreams. Not everyone can say that. Fulfillment looks different on everyone, and for me, it looks like a personal library full of books and the knowledge that goes with it.”
Tatiane is currently planning to go to graduate school at VCU to work under Dr. Joshua Eckhardt in Paleography. She hopes to continue her education and earn her Ph. D. in the near future. Her ideal job would be to work in a museum or in a teaching environment. Tatiane has big academic dreams and she has made it clear that her previous impediments will not stop her from reaching her goal.
Going back to school is common and it should not have a negative connotation behind it. It is a full-time job. Instead, these people should be praised and congratulated for taking such a huge step in the right direction.
