Kind of like Janie in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, I lived my life a bit backward. I was married at 18, had a child the next year, worked full-time, and was going to school. My lifelong goal was to be a college graduate. Marriage, work, house, husband, and kid made that look like a very long-distance goal. It was pretty rough for a while, but having UMKC close by made it possible. It took me a few years to get my bachelor’s degree, which made me determined to get my master’s degree in a more timely fashion. With my great advisors and friends at UMKC, I was able to define “what I wanted to be” academically, get on track, and stay on it. I used to tell my college students that I know Life intrudes. But before they give up or drop out, come talk with me. After two courtships, two marriages, two children, and two divorces, I made it, and so can they. I now have an earned Ph.D., am experiencing an intellectual life just as I’ve always wanted, and I continue to learn.
Stay Focused. It will happen.
