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| Multicultural Prospective
Students Weekend: ‘Big success’ |
Becky
DiVerniero
Features Beat |
Jacque Lenz | The Appalachian |
Senior applied communication major
Fred E. Shaw is not your typical college student.
While thoughts of 18-21-year-olds tend to spring
into mind when college is mentioned, Shaw, along with many other
students, does not fit this label.
Over 47 percent of college students are over
the age of 25, according to the Association of Non-Traditional
Students in Higher Education Web site.
Shaw, 47, decided to continue his education
and came to Appalachian State University following his retirement
from the U.S. Air Force, where he served for 20 years.
“This is my first bachelor’s degree,”
said Shaw. “I have three associates of applied science degrees.
[I] needed something more concrete. I am retired from the air
force, so I have the benefit of the GI bill to pay for college.
It was a situation where it was just in my best interests to use
that money.” |
“I went
to college twice before I went in the air force. It just wasn’t
what I wanted to do at that point in my life. I did not have the
years of knowledge to understand the importance of going to college.
I thought ‘Why do I have to do this.’”
Shaw said he has not given much thought to
age differences while attending Appalachian.
“I’m comfortable being on the same
level [as younger students], and I want other students to feel
comfortable being around me on the same level,” he said.
“Granted, I’m old enough to be most of their fathers,
but I don’t see myself as that. I want my classmates to be
comfortable around me. I have a whole world of experience and
I don’t want to be your parent either. I want to be your
friend and classmate and will do all I can with any project. I’m
just another student.”
As he works towards his tentative graduation
date of December 2003, Shaw is thinking about the future.
“One of my associate degrees is in instructional
technology and military science,” said Shaw. “I enjoy
teaching, I enjoy course development, I enjoy training; I always
have. I was looking through some old material ... from the air
force to write my resume and really never concentrated on just
how much of my 20 years in the air force had been spent as a trainer.
“I came to that realization that I had
spent a majority of my 20 years as a trainer and that I really
enjoyed it. And so communications is a good place to carry on
with that.
“I would like to find a job in training
and development either with a private consulting firm or with
a major corporation,” said Shaw.
Shaw said that while the thought of a master’s
degree is intriguing, he’s going to wait to make a decision
about pursuing one.
“[It’s] a definite maybe. I’m
going to have to see where the bachelor’s degree takes me.
I have roughly 15 years [of work life] left, so I have to do everything
twice as fast and there may not be time for a master’s.”
For right now, Shaw said he is enjoying his
life as a student and the classes he is taking.
“[I’m] busy. I feel good about [classes];
I’ve enjoyed it. I try to leave school everyday knowing that
I have learned something, either ... about somebody or something
new or refreshed something I already knew.
“Once I leave here and go home, I try
to sit down and relax for a little while. I usually end up taking
a power nap, then I go and sit down and study; reviewing notes
from the day, trying to stay ahead on assignments.
“Sunday is usually spent preparing for
the entire week. I will spend Sunday afternoon going over what
needs to be done for the coming week, anything that I can complete
that is due that week, I complete.
“I try to complete things as soon as I
can, simply because there’s always something else that’s
going to come up that’s going to get in the way, either at
school or at home. So I try to get things done as quickly as I
can, as quickly as I know about them. That way I don’t have
to worry about it at 3 o’clock in the morning the day before
class.”
Shaw said his family plays a big part in his
determination.
“My wife thinks it is wonderful,”
he said. “She is the driving force behind me doing this.
Basically it’s, ‘Your job is to go to school and get
us out of Boone.’ My son, he thinks it’s cool.”
Since he began last spring, Shaw said he has
kept his priorities straight.
“I came into it with my eyes pretty much
wide open about it, knowing the amount of dedication and work
it would involve, so it wasn’t really a surprise and I guess
that just comes from maturity and being older,” he said.
“I’m not interested anymore about going out and barhopping
and drinking on weekends, whereas 30 years ago I was.
“The priority is schoolwork, and at the
same time have fun. You’ve got to have some degree of fun
and enjoyment out of this. I’m not suggesting that everybody
should quit going to the bars, everybody’s got to unwind.
Have fun but do the work as well.” |
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