Grad Proves It's Never Too Late to Reach for a Dream

Emily Phinney is an outstanding example of why it is never too late to reach for a dream. Phinney is graduating from University College with an associate's degree in pre-business and will continue working on her bachelor's degree in accounting through the College of Evening and Continuing Education. Before her experience here at the University of Cincinnati, it had been 30 years since she had set foot in a classroom.

Phinney was born in Cincinnati, lived on Republic Street downtown, and attended junior high school in Mount Healthy before her family moved to Colorado. She never finished high school, but instead got her GED, got married and had three children. Phinney says she endured emotional and physical pain when her 18 year marriage turned abusive, and it was the end of her marriage that brought her back to Cincinnati and the emotional support of friends and family in 1985. She's the mother of two sons, one in Walton, Kentucky, a son in Battle Mountain, Nevada, and she has a daughter who lives in Covington. At 48 years old, Phinney is also a grandmother.

Before she decided to enroll at UC, Phinney was earning a living in the business world, and her resume' included 10 years of experience as a credit manager. In a turn of events that's a familiar story in today's working world, the company for which Phinney worked was sold, the new owners were cutting costs and cutting employees in the process, and Phinney was one of the workers affected by the downsizing. Phinney took her severance, gathered up her courage, and signed up for University College.

"I was very lucky, because I had a mentor in my life who went to college and received her degree when she was in her '50s," says Phinney. "You're never too old to have the courage to get out of what you were. Be that child, reach for the stars, have your dreams. We get locked into these stereotypes — you're too old, you're too fat, you're too something — but you're not."

During Phinney's first quarter, 30 years after she dropped out of school, she won third place in a university-wide essay contest. She is a member of the University College honorary Phi Theta Kappa and has been an active member of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) and the 504 Club.

"It's wonderful to watch her, and to see the commitment she's made to her own success," says business technologies professor Sanford Kahn. "She came here because she lost her job in a world where there are no longer any guarantees, regardless of talent. She pulled herself up and set her sights on an education. I have never heard her tell me she couldn't do something or that she couldn't meet a deadline."

Phinney mentioned that when she started out at UC, she was worried other students might treat her like a "mom," but as it turns out, Kahn says she's treated like a peer and an equal.

Phinney hopes her story will inspire others who may have thought about going back to school, but for some reason or another decided it was too late to reach for a higher education. "You can always try it...you can quit, but give it a shot. I was scared of it too. I was scared of it financially, but the experience has been absolutely wonderful."