Back to school at 54

By John Kennett
Journalism 312

Nontraditional is not how a conformist wants to be labeled.

But, that word is being used to describe a student such as myself that decides to return to college later in life.

For someone that has a desire to be accepted, it was quite a challenge trying to fit in.

Would the clothes I wear be acceptable? How much should I share in class? Or not share?

But, I found out that being accepted is universal no matter what generation you were born in. The students in my classes were just as concerned about whether I would be accepting of them.

“I remember the first time I saw you (in Journalism 202) and wondered what you must think of all of us,” said Central Michigan sophomore Meredith Mayberry. “I thought you would just sit there and be smug about being older than us. I thought you might judge us.”

About two years ago, I accepted a part-time position in the sports department at the Midland Daily News. Even though I have a bachelor’s (1976) and master’s degree (1984) from that outstanding school in Kalamazoo, Western Michigan University, I knew that I needed additional training for my job.

Unfortunately for me, there are only two accredited university journalism programs in the state of Michigan, Michigan State University and Central Michigan University.

MSU is too far to commute, so that only left CMU. I applied and was accepted at CMU. Talk about being nontraditional, not only am I off the charts age-wise, but I’m also a WMU grad attending school at the hated rival, CMU!

I will say that it was a whole lot easier to get accepted into CMU than it was WMU.

With all the other students in my classes younger than my two children, I stuck out like an old rusty bicycle on a lot with brand new Mercedes Benz.

CMU Institutional Research shows that 407 nontraditional students are enrolled at CMU with 345 of those students seeking a degree. The students age range is from 30 to 83.

“CMU isn’t an incredibly diverse campus as far as race or ethnicity goes,” Mayberry said. “So, it’s nice to see diversity in age and experience in the classroom.”

As I am finishing my second class at CMU, I want to say thank you to all my classmates for their acceptance.

But, especially a ‘big thank you’ to my fellow team members in Journalism 312.

Sheri, may God continue to guide you as you determine His path for your life. Justin, your love for sports is heartening. Jason, your questioning mind is a challenge to me as a journalist. Ben, God has made you with a heart of gold.

Edited by Jason Baird and Sheri Krotzer