What is An Adult Student?
You can ask Curtis Cutright what it's like to be an adult student at UNCG. He has been both a part-time and full-time student.He has seen the challenges and rewards of coming to college after building a successful career in the business world.He has faced the hard decision to leave his full-time job and make his college education and his family his main priority.After spring semester 2001, he will be a junior, over halfway through his four-year degree in Business Studies."We're locked in now," he laughs.
Curtis began taking classes at UNCG in 1994.He had had some technical training at community colleges after leaving high school, but no college credits.He took advantage of a campus policy that offered employees free tuition for one course a semester as he was working his way up from Warehouse Manager to Business Manager for Auxiliary Services at UNCG, where his job included responsibilities for contracts in many areas of university life--dining services, housing, postal services, parking, the bookstore, and more.
In the classroom, he discovered that his experience in the work world gave him a real advantage."You think you'll be behind" because you haven't been in school, he says, "but you're ahead" because of your experience."YOU can learn what's in the text book, but traditional students won't learn what you know" until after they graduate and start to work."You're not as far behind as you think.
Curtis was a successful student taking one class at a time, his work responsibilities were expanding, and he and his wife 
Lisa had two young sons. But he'd reached a crossroads where he had peaked in his job and gone as far as he could without a degree.And with one class a semester, he figured it would take over 20 years to finish.When his wife was offered a position as a part-time pharmacist, they took a hard look at their priorities and their schedules.By splitting child care responsibilities with his wife and switching to part time work, he could consolidate his classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and become a full-time student.The family schedule is tight, there's less free time for golf and vacations at the beach than when he was working full-time, and "we don't see each other a lot," Curtis says, but the new arrangement "meets all our goals," including lots of interaction for both of them with their children, Camden, 6, and Carson, 3.
Harder than He Thought
The challenges continue.Curtis is candid about the loss of identity he felt in giving up his full-time job; "that was harder than I thought it would be," he says.He must find new ways to motivate himself in the classroom now that the initial energy of being in school has abated, especially in the courses outside his business curriculum.Sometimes it's hard to schedule what he needs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as is the case with the two foreign language classes he must take to remove an entrance deficiency from not having taken foreign language in high school.
But he puts the challenges in perspective and takes pride in his academic success.He focuses on his long-term goals and is willing to "take a step back to take two steps forward."
Advice to Other Adult Students
He finds that faculty members at UNCG like older students and "want you to do well."His advice to other adults considering college is "Don't be scared."Start slowly enough to become comfortable in a new environment where you will be green in the beginning even though you "look like a veteran."On a practical level, he offers this reassurance:"Go to class everyday and prepare for each class--you may not make an A, but you won't fail."
Curtis, in fact, has made a lot of A's:right now his cumulative GPA is 4.0.And as for setting an example for his young boys, he is at the top of the class.
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Page updated: 06-May-2009
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