College: Where Tradition becomes Non-Traditional

While working in advising, I have had a lot of students call who are worried about coming to college. It is not that they are intimidated 18 year-olds, they are coming back to school after taking some time off. They are worried that they won’t be able to cut it, that it’s been years since they’ve taken a math class. I ask them what they’ve been doing since high school. Whether it’s work or family, if you can handle doing either you’ve got the time management skills to balance a class schedule!

I only took a year off after high school, but during that year I learned valuable life lessons. I developed responsibility in paying my rent and bills, and established a hardworking mentality. I worked double shifts as a CNA and quickly learned the importance of an education. When I came to UW-Parkside, I was eager to learn and grow. I had respect for my professors and a respect for my education. Even though it is fairly common for students to take a year, or so, off before heading off to college, those students are still considered “non-traditional.”

As a non-traditional student, I won’t lie, I did find math very difficult. I had not had a math class for three years, and it hadn’t been my strongest subject to begin with. I was more than rusty; I was terrible! I had also never really had to study math very hard to pass in high school, and then I was content to struggle by with C’s. College was different. Now I care about my GPA, and understand the importance of good grades. I am finally finished with my math requirement at UW-Parkside, but it was not easy. It took a lot of studying and many visits to the tutoring center. I couldn’t have done it without Isaac, (who was the tutor I would most often turn to). The best part? The UW-Parkside tutoring center is totally free! (Amazing, right?)

I have enjoyed making friends in Parkside Adult Student Alliance, which is a student organization for non-trads like myself. I have really embraced my status as non-traditional student, so much so that I added another non-trad element to my lifestyle this year and got married! I had met Nicholas while working on The Ranger News, (UW-Parkside’s student newspaper), three years ago and have been dating for the past two years. It is challenging balancing school and work, let alone a husband and two kitty-babies, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.