Berlin NH College

In 2010 I earned my adult college degree from Granite State College in Business Management.  My 23 year old daughter is now in the Business Administration program at White Mountains Community College.  She chose this school because she is living in Berlin, NH for the next two years.  She knew that once she received her Associates degree from this New Hampshire Community College she would be able to seamlessly transfer all of her credits to GSC to pursue her Bachelor's degree through the CCSNH Transfer program.

My daughter is worlds brighter than I but she loves to be able to come to me and ask for my assistance with any questions she may have regarding her assigned course work.  To date, I have been able to help her with everything she has presented to me!  I have had to pull out some of my own books and notes from the similar business classes I completed at GSC, but I have succeeded in helping her every time either through finding the correct answer or offering my personal insights.  What a great feeling it is to know that earning my adult college degree not only improved my own life but it is helping my daughter in her life as well.

Unfortunately my business degree was of little consequence to me when it came to helping my younger daughter in her course work.  Business and creative hairstyling have little in common.  Below is my daughter on the right with her model from the Avante Garde hair styling fashion show she participated in for her studies in cosmetology.  Thank goodness she did not ask for my advice in this undertaking!

My 23 year old daughter started her adult college program this week.  She not only asked me to attend her orientation day at White Mountains Community College in the North Country but asked me to accompany her shopping for her back-to-school supplies.  I was able to help Brittany choose her courses and class schedule because she trusted my knowledge and advice in this new challenging era of her adult life.


Brittany chose a community college because she could not find full-time work in the north country so she decided to attend school full-time instead.  She only expects to be living in Berlin for the next two years so she knows once she receives her Associates degree from WMCC she can easily transfer all of her credits to Granite State College to earn her B.S. degree as GSC has pre-approved transfer degree programs with all NH Community Colleges.

Receiving my adult college degree has earned me respect from many people.  The respect it has earned me from my own daughter is really the only one that matters.

I went to college long ago... in the dark ages... before online education became an accepted way to get an education. I often wonder if I would have liked going to college in my own living room. I think about people interested in going to college in Berlin NH, or Littleton NH, or Lebanon NH, or taking  Manchester NH Classes or Portsmouth NH Classes or Rochester NH Classes and I think.. wow.. if people from all over New Hampshire decided to go to college at Granite State College they could all be going to the same class at the same time right in their own homes. Maybe that is one benefit of online education. You would come in contact with people from other areas of the state that you might never have known. It wouldn't be the same in some ways, because you would not be going out to coffee before class with online friends, but, think of the possibilities online courses present. Maybe the idea of online education is really catching on, especially at places like Granite State because people are so busy, but they still want the benefits of making connections while getting career college training and affordable continuing education without the constraints of a particular time to be sitting in a classroom. I think I would have liked online classes when I went to school. How about you?

I had put my dreams of a college degree away and carried on with my life.  I was busy, and happy in my career, but really never thought I would "close the book" on an adult education diploma.  I was enjoying some success in my career and as luck would have it, I was promoted to Lieutenant of the Conway Police Department.  This was a happy time for me but a crossroads as well.  Now that I was an administrator, would I have the credibility dealing with budgets, Boards and Committees?  I new I had to take another look at finishing my educational journey.

In December of 2007, I went down to the local Granite State College office and met the greatest people.  From my academic advisor Nancee Caughey to the office staff, Cindy, Patti, Julie and Molly, they were all clearly pulling for me to get back in the game!  They could tell that I was nervous about returning to classes after 15 years, especially the online classes for criminal justice.  I wasn't the most computer savvy guy and I was more than a little intimidated.  They explained the process of re-enrollment, accuplacer testing and the many new programs available to help me obtain an accelerated undergraduate degree. 

The thing that caught my attention first was the huge variety of degree choices.  I had choices like Associate in Science in Business, Criminal Justice or even General Studies.  All of these choices were now available online too.  No traveling to the Berlin NH College or to any Concord NH Classes for credit.  I settled on continuing with a Business Degree, now at the Associate level, and realized I was actually more than half way there!  My fear was replaced with excitement and a renewed sense of purpose.  I thought, "This is really going to happen!"

Next:  Online classes, test outs and the impossible becomes possible!    

In 1990 I decided to enroll in College.  I was 30 years old, had two children, a mortgage and a full time job at a busy police department.  Even though I knew I needed to obtain a degree, I was really dreading it.  The only brick and mortar school in my area was the Berlin NH college, or as we called it, "The Vo-Tech".  This really wasn't a realistic option as the drive was too far, and the time commitment to large.  A friend of mine was involved in adult education services at our local high school and mentioned the night school they held there for adult learners.  Back then it was known as the College For Lifelong Learning.  My first thought was "how would they fit that title on a diploma?"  It didn't sound very enriching but it was the only real option if I wanted to get any level of career college training in my area.

I reluctantly went down to the local C.L.L. office and met some wonderful people.  I am guessing that Gail Paine and Beth Beyerle had met the likes of me before as they quickly stripped away all the preconceived obstacles I felt stood between me and a degree.  I was left with only one real option, jump in with both feet!  I can still remember how helpful they were in taking me from looking in from the outside to actually being a real college student.  

Back in 1990 our college offered a much more limited plate of degree choices and options.  Although a police officer, the school had no criminal justice classes to offer.  As far as delivery method you had the choice of face to face or face to face!  That's right Gen-xer's the Internet hadn't yet been applied to commercial use for distance learning universities.  I picked a degree that I though would help me in the higher ranks of police work.  It was a business offering called a Business and Professional Studies Degree, only offered at the Bachelor's level.  So here I was, signed up with the School For Lifelong Learning in a Business and Professional Studies Degree Program (like I said, imagine the size of the diploma!), and starring down the barrel of at least 6 years of school ahead of me.  So with great trepidation I walked into my first college classroom, at 6:00pm, in my old high school, with my old English teacher.  I thought to myself "was this really going to work?"

Next blog I'll discuss how GSC made the impossible possible for me!