Grandma Graduate Earns Degree to Set an Example for Grandkids

Patricia Rogers will tell you that she was intimidated about pursuing a college education so many years after high school.  She’ll tell you that there were many times when she’s doubted that she’d ever earn the degree that she began working on more than 20 years ago. 

But now, Pat no longer needs to doubt.  The long-time (23 years) UC

College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning

(DAAP) employee is earning an associate’s degree in applied business from UC’s

Raymond Walters College

more than two decades after she first sat down in a UC classroom in 1981.

“For me, working on a degree was about self-fulfillment.  I started taking classes when my two sons were very young.  One son was in school and the other in daycare.  I’d take a class or two and then go a while before taking more because I was working full-time and was a single mother.  I didn’t always have the weekend time for doing homework.  For a long time, I didn’t even have a car and had to rely on bus transportation which made it hard to attend night classes,” Pat explained.

Pat, DAAP records management officer responsible for keeping track of students’ grades and registration status, added that she took more classes in 1986 and 1990.  But in 1997, she began to buckle down and consistently enroll.  In part, her four grandchildren were her motivation.  “I have a 13-year-old grandson and three granddaughters from ages 2 to 7.  Education is important.  My parents tried to make me go to college after high school, but I wanted a job.  I do regret that now.  I don’t want my grandchildren to make the same mistake.  I want my grandchildren to stay in school, to know they can do it and go further,” says Pat, a 1972 graduate of Withrow High School.

She began her UC career in 1979 and quickly fell in love with DAAP, working as a clerk and a secretary before she took charge of student records’ management.  “I love my job.  I really do,” Pat states.  “I’ve been in DAAP the whole time I’ve been at UC.  I’ve never wanted to work anywhere else.  They’ll have to kick me out,” she vows.

In her academic career, Pat, 48, has sometimes surprised herself.  She’s taken computer and accounting classes that she, at first, only hoped to finish.  “We’ve had projects like building a Web page from scratch, doing all the coding.  We’ve had 25 page papers on our management philosophy.  Getting it all done has always been hard work, hard to do with a full schedule,” says Pat.

It’s helped to have the encouragement of her sister, Michelle, who will also graduate on June 13, with a baccalaureate of applied and general studies.  In addition, the two are together in taking a DAAP class, “Current Art Scene,” alongside one another this quarter.

What’s next for Pat?  Now that she’s earned her associates degree, she’s planning to continue toward a baccalaureate.  Like her sister, Pat wants to earn a bachelor’s degree in applied and general studies, keeping a steady pace of two classes per quarter, eventually proving to herself that she can do it.