Ex-bad student: Stay in school, while you can

Mike Kilroy

Even though I'm closing in on 40, it's still hard to admit that mom and dad were right: You need a college degree.

I left Cal State Long Beach after spring 1987 with a few units left outstanding in my journalism degree. I got a job in my chosen profession believing I would return to night school in the fall to finish up.

It never happened.

My newspaper job required me to attend civic meetings in the evening, and when I tried to enroll in an astronomy lab course for the umptenth time and found it closed yet again, I gave up. I figured my writing skills and professional experience would take me through my working life just fine.

I was wrong.

I came to this conclusion last November after I lost my third job interview with a major Southern California employer to another candidate. The interviewer confirmed my suspicions — I had no college degree and the other guy did.

It didn't matter that I was close to a degree. Or that I had 10 years of progressively responsible experience in the media and public relations.

It didn't matter that I was a nice guy. They wanted the sheepskin, and I knew then I had to return to school.

But I had fears. Fears I would have to take general ed courses with college freshmen to fulfill new requirements. Fears I wouldn't be able to fulfill my work and family duties with school responsibilities. And fears that I was too old and inflexible to deal with the bureaucratic whims of higher education once again.

I called the campus operator that November and attempted to find the right person to talk to. The response brought back the same frustrations I had experienced at school — nobody knew who I should talk to. I was transferred to academic affairs, academic counseling, admissions, you name it.

Maybe I wasn't explaining my situation correctly. That's certainly a good possibility when it comes to me and school bureaucracy. After numerous calls and a couple of letters I stumbled upon an evaluator in enrollment services named Stephanie Person.

I sent Stepanie all my college transcripts, even paying to send my CSULB records to CSULB, of all places. Stephanie became my guide as she went through my school records with my many withdrawals, incompletes and repeat/deletes, or my "dysfunctional student" record as my wife called it.

As Stephanie began to pare down what I absolutely needed to take to graduate, I enrolled in an astronomy lab at a community college to fulfill the last general education requirement I thought I needed.

I also contacted my department to see what units it would require from me, as Stephanie suggested. Departments can require students who have left for 10 years or more to retake the major courses for no additional units.

That put the fear of God in me. After a few attempts I was able to contact my previous advisor, Dr. Bill Mulligan. He informed me I could finish the requirements under my catalog year and not have to retake classes.

Just prior to entering summer session, Stephanie informed me I still had two outstanding GE requirements, one upper division and one lower. So I enrolled in an upper division GE course as well, and began to challenge the other course.

As for my major, Dr. Mulligan said I would have to repeat/delete one major requirement and take another upper-division course.  I assumed I might be able to get internship credit with my 10 years of experience in the communications field, but that was denied.

By the end of this summer session, if all goes well, I will have achieved that vaunted degree. And what is my advice sitting on this pedestal of learned wisdom and experience?

It's simple. Current students stay in school until you finish. Like removing a Band-Aid, it's better to take the pain all at once than too slowly.

For those aging students like me who left school: come back and finish. It's not easy, but you might get a better start than I did initially by starting with Bruce Vancil, adult reentry coordinator for CSULB.  He's paid to be helpful in getting you on-track.

To Cal State Long Beach officials, please try to make it a little easier on us easily-spooked older students by having the campus operator and all departments know to send us to adult reentry.

Finally, I never did need that astronomy lab class. But I do know where to find Betelgeuse in the night sky in case anyone ever asks.

Mike Kilroy, B.A., is a staff writer for the Summer Forty-Niner.