Not just a degree, a chapter

When I returned to Cleveland State University in 2009 to finish my degree, I looked at it as a business transaction. It was easy to feel that way because I had been away for seven years, and I had lost any emotional attachment.

Plus, it had been a long time since I factored into any four- or six-year graduation cohorts. So I suspected that in the university's eyes, I was a source of revenue. I was fine with that because I was here to earn a diploma, not for people to put their arms over my shoulders and say "Welcome back!"

College has a way of sucking you in, though, no matter how old you are. It's the idealistic nature of the environment, and how people on campus are always looking forward. Someone is always starting anew—a freshman picking a major, upperclassmen preparing to graduate, or faculty unveiling a research project.

I decided to continue working full time while taking classes part time. Actually, it wasn't much of a decision to make. I couldn't imagine quitting work in this economy and trying to re-enter the job market with a year's salary worth of debt.

So I've spent nine semesters, including summer sessions, living two roles. School is an investment in my job, and work—the paycheck, specifically—is an investment in school. It lets me get away from work for a couple days a week, albeit at $373 a credit hour.

I've been able to add my professional experience to group projects, which has been fulfilling. It's been frustrating at times, too, because I know first-hand the commitment and work ethic required in a career-oriented, full-time job. CSU offers the opportunities students need to produce at that level, but only if they want it. I've seen many who don't. That bothers me at times, because I know that even with a diploma, they won't be prepared.

During my first stint here, now-retired professor Susan E. Kogler-Hill told us about a student who had a job and children to rear, but she still made it to night classes and finished her degree. It took her something like eight, 12 or 15 years. I don't remember exactly, and I think the legend has grown in my mind over time. But I always kept in the back of my head that if she could do it, I should be able to without half as many things going on in my life.

I'm lucky to be graduating without having to worry about getting a job and without any student loan debt. I'll go back to the real world having achieved one of my biggest accomplishments.

I won't miss the nights of getting four hours of sleep. But I will miss being on a transformed campus and being around people who are trying to better themselves through education.

I put a lot of work into completing my degree, and I'll be happy when my diploma arrives in the mail in January. But I'll be a little sad that this chapter of my life is ending.