Going to college is a tough job in itself, but problems multiply geometrically when you go back to school after years of absence.
Some women leave full-time professions to get coveted degrees. Others go to school while continuing to hold down paying jobs. Both require great motivation, stamina and determination.
Constance H. Alvarez (see below) writes TempoWoman that she is ”very interested in the woman who is a nontraditional student.” She says ”many women have left their careers to enhance their education on a full-time basis.”
Alvarez cites women she knows who have enrolled in a professional school after a career in another field; who decided to complete degrees or pursue additional degrees; or who simply wanted to enrich their education.
The undertaking, says Alvarez, ”has frustrations, joys, humor and challenges.”
When you are not 18 years old and not even 21, an educational journey often is demanding, exhausting and plain hard work.
It also is rewarding.
– Mary Anne Riehl.
Age 53, secretary, PruCare-Illinois, Des Plaines.
”Higher education is important to me, and I want to pass that value to my children,” said Riehl, a full-time employee for the Prudential HMO and a part-time student at DePaul University.
Divorced with three children, Riehl is scheduled to receive her bachelor`s degree in communication in June, three years after she enrolled in night and weekend courses.
”In the back of my mind, it was always nagging at me that I should have gone to college,” said Riehl, who went to work right out of high school to help her family. ”I worked as a secretary, and then I had a wonderful career as a staff vocalist for the Don McNeill Breakfast Club network radio show from 1961 to 1966.”
She left her singing job upon marrying. ”I raised my family, but I continued to sing and to do radio commercials. I also took some courses at Oakton Community College.”
In 1982 she was hired by PruCare: ”In order to grow in my career, I knew I needed a bachelor`s degree.”
In 1985 she enrolled at DePaul, 32 years after her graduation from high school. ”I had fears about not being able to keep up, because I hadn`t been in school for so long. I was lucky to have financial help from my employer to pay for college.”
It`s been hard work, she said: ”My house hasn`t been cleaned in three years. We clear a path through the house, and my friends understand. If they don`t, it`s an educational process for them.
”I`m often up till midnight working, but my children have been supportive. They keep asking me, `Have you done your homework?` ”
Riehl encourages ”any woman, if financially possible, to get your college degree. Somehow, you do what you have to do, and it`s so self-satisfying.”
She added, ”I still don`t know how I did it.”
– Constance H. Alvarez.
Age 34, substitute teacher, Clarendon Hills.
Alvarez, who teaches English and Spanish at Mooseheart Junior High School and kindergarten at Downers Grove Montessori School, was graduated from Marquette University in 1976 with a degree in Spanish and sociology.
Ten years later she decided to get her master`s degree.
”I`m enrolled at Illinois Benedictine College in Lisle and go to school three days a week,” said Alvarez.
She is married to Rafael Alvarez, an attorney, and has a daughter, Andrea, age 4. ”I`ll get my master`s this December.”
Alvarez carefully planned her return to school. ”I had worked in public relations, married, had my family, had been at home, worked as a substitute teacher and reevaluated my goals. I felt it was the perfect opportunity to return to school and to get my teacher`s certification.”
As a substitute teacher she needs only a bachelor`s degree.
”I checked out numerous universities to see what arrangements they had for my daughter while I was in class, and chose Illinois Benedictine,” said Alvarez. ”Andrea accompanies me to school.”
At first, combining everything was difficult. ”My anxiety was high. I wasn`t used to taking tests and I wasn`t computer literate. I rearranged my home for my computer, books and papers.
”It`s worked out pretty well, though. My family is cooperative. There are some sacrifices: We have few social engagements, especially when there`s an upcoming test or a paper due. And financially, tuition is expensive.”
She now feels accepted by college classmates and is involved in school activities.
”Do it!” Alvarez said. ”Muster up the courage-that`s half of it-and go to school. Go slowly, though: ”I took only one class the first semester and gradually built up to four.”
Going to college, she said, ”has raised my self-esteem tremendously. Even math doesn`t frustrate me as much as it would have 15 years ago.”
– Mary G. West
Age 50, assistant purchasing agent, Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago.
In 1985 West, who has been with the Metropolitan Sanitary District for 28 years, enrolled at Loyola University to earn a master`s degree in business administration.
”I was then secretary to the chief engineer, Frank Dalton, who was later made general superintendent, and I knew an MBA would help me in my job,” she said.
West earned her bachelor of science degree in commerce in 1984 from DePaul University after attending school at night for 15 years and maintaining a B average.
”I thought about the MBA degree for one full year,” she said. ”I finally decided to go ahead, with some tuition reimbursement from the District. I want to teach when I retire and I need a master`s for that. An MBA seemed the logical thing to do.”
A strong motivation in working for her MBA, which she is scheduled to receive in 1990, was a promise she made to her daughter, Cheryl, now 31.
”Cheryl has two master`s degrees, one in journalism and one in criminal justice. She`s a teacher and a playwright, and I promised her I would get my master`s, too. I`m keeping my promise.”
West, who is divorced, also has a son, Abraham, 32, a computer programmer.
”It took me a long time to get my undergraduate degree, and I`m studying for my MBA the same way: I go one night a week and take only one class each quarter.”
West was promoted last October to her present post.
”Education is important to me as a black woman,” she said. ”In our society, to be successful, education is an absolute must: We must be better educated than our white counterparts.”
West urges returning students ”to remember first what is important to you, to be goal-oriented and not to let anything interfere with reaching your goal.”
She is, she acknowledged, ”starting to give some thought to a doctorate.”
Send comments and ideas for future questions to Carol Kleiman, The Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.
