Making The Ordinary Extraordinary

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!