Higher education a family affair for many
Islanders
Adults and adult offspring
enrolled at the same time are part of a trend among nontraditional
students
Staten Island Advance - Sunday, June 25, 2006
College students in their 50s and 60s are part of a
trend among nontraditional students across the country, including
Staten Island.
In fact, nontraditional students roughly equal traditional students,
according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Often, the enrollments are a family affair that includes mothers and
daughters, and occasionally sons also.
The formula that seems to bring success to these arrangements
include supportive husbands, cooperative families, mutual respect
among the parents and offspring -- and leisure time spent together.
COLLEGE MATES
Mary Murphy of Great Kills has two daughters who are her college
mates.
The mother and full-time secretary at St. John's University is
taking several courses (evening, lunch hour, and on-line) toward a
bachelor of science degree at St. John's University.
Her daughter, Jessica, 19, is a student preparing for a career in
funeral administration, and Kristin, 23, is preparing to receive a
degree in communications in the fall.
Mrs. Murphy, 49, said sharing the experience with her daughters was
beneficial "because we helped one another get through some tough
times."
"Sometimes we just vented with one another ... and it was fun, it
was wonderful, talking with them at the dinner table, or sitting
around the table when we could do homework together."
"I needed a lot of help, especially with a certain class," she
recalls, "and my daughters, who had already completed that class,
would reassure me. They'd tell me the professor 'is a piece of
cake.'"
CLOSENESS WITH CLASSES
Providence Palastro said taking classes at St. John's while her
daughter was also a student at St. John's, brought them closer. The
Castleton Corners mother works as assistant to the dean of
professional studies.
Her daughter, Candice Manheimer, is working toward her master's in
school guidance counseling. An Oakwood resident, Mrs. Manheimmer has
a 6-year-old daughter, Cassandra, and works during the day and
attends classes at night.
Mrs. Palastro said she and her daughter "have had some very
interesting conversations. We both love going to school."
She says the family makes it a point to spend weekends together, but
weeknights are difficult, She does manage to cook dinner when not
staying at school.
At commencement exercises at St. John's on May 13, Mrs. Palastro,
dressed in the traditional red cap and gown, received her master's
degree in criminal justice.
Mrs. Palastro, 51, said, "It's very hard to be a student at 50.
Concentration is difficult. It takes me longer. It's harder to
gather your thoughts."
But studying did become easier, she said, and the evidence is her
grade point average of 3.9. She will continue to take classes in the
field of education because she likes the routine -- "getting out a
night or two."
AGE HAS ADVANTAGES
For Connie DeSimone, going to college as a "non-traditional" student
is so much better "when you don't have to do it. I think you enjoy
anything more when you're not forced. It's for my self-satisfaction
-- just to know that I can."
Mrs. DeSimone, a Dongan Hills resident, is a secretary in the office
of the assistant dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences at
St. John's, and takes the maximum of three courses a semester, and
still managed to maintain a 4.0 grade point average.
She says being an older student has many advantages. For example, if
she doesn't understand a point being made in class, she says, "I ask
a question. I'm not shy." But being excited over good marks is the
same at all ages, she says. "If I get a good grade, I'm all excited
-- like a little kid."
Just as the other three non-traditional students, she says she
started taking courses for her own self-satisfaction, not to prepare
for another career. "When you work here, you kind of get in the mood
-- the atmosphere of being around so many people with master's and
doctorates."
"This is the best time in my life for me to do this," she says. "The
kids are grown, and instead of watching TV, I can make dinner, then
study for a couple of hours."
Her daughter, Marissa, 20, is working toward her degree in
accounting in St. John's Tobin Business School. Another daughter,
Alicia, 17, is a grduating senior at nearby Notre Dame Academy High
School and is already enrolled at St. John's for the fall semester.
Mrs. DiSimone says her daughter loves the fact that they share a
common interest. "We had the least in common when they were
teenagers."
She added, "We have a home office, and because our schedules vary so
much, we're able to work it out."
NEW APPRECIATION
Another non-traditional student, Angela Mirabile, a secretary in the
school of education at St. John's, said, "At this age, we kind of
appreciate what we didn't when we were younger, and definitely, life
experience helps."
Mrs. Mirabile, 55, received her associate in arts degree May 13. Her
daughter, Nancy Mirable Maneri, a Westerleigh resident, will receive
a master's of science degree in January and teaches elementary
education at Notre Dame Academy.
A Brooklyn resident, Mrs. Mirabile says people ask her why she is
taking classes at this stage of her life. She says, "I do it for
me."
CSI FAMILIES
"Some nights, our house feels like a college town," says Susan
Chapman, 48, a Tottenville resident who works full-time as a
secretary in the English department at the College of Staten Island,
and takes two evening classes.
Her daughter, Amanda, 23, also employed at CSI, is a student
studying for her master of science degree in education, and her son,
Zachary, 18, is a freshman at CSI.
"I think, in the long run, it's a good thing," says Mrs. Chapman.
"At our house, everybody is running in and out, and we're not
together as much as we used to be, but we make a point to do
something on the weekend. It's important to keep on top of what's
going on with them," says Mrs. Chapman.
At this juncture in her life, she says she feels she's doing better
now than as a teenager -- she now appreciates education more.
There's no time for hobbies or recreation, she says,
and she admits it makes it harder to get things done around the
house. "You have to look the other way," she says. "On weekends, I
get it together and clean, and the kids help, and my husband helps
too."
She says she and her daughter and son do their
college work in their own rooms because each has a computer, and
separate television.
Mrs. Chapman says, for the past 27 years, she had
wanted to resume her education, and taking the actual step was less
intimidating because of CSI's Adults Returning to the Classroom.
She took the maximum of three courses in the
program, which "made me feel better about my decision to return."
FOCUS ON ACCOUNTING
Diane Reeves of Great Kills, 47, who works full time
in the accounting office at the College of Staten Island has a
strong focus on earning a bachelor of science degree in accounting.
"That forces me to be organized," she says.
Taking classes two or three nights a week, Mrs.
Reeves says, "whatever time I have, I have a book in my hand. I plan
ahead. While I'm studying in the kitchen, I have something cooking
on the stove. And I don't watch TV."
When exams loom, "I get up early in the morning and
stay up late at night." The family goes away a lot on weekends," she
says, "so I'll study in the car on the way." If necessary, she does
the same thing on their camping trips.
Her daughter, Kelly, 22, is a full-time student
working for a degree in elementary education at CSI, and her mother
says, "We share the stresses and the joys. She's come to realize
what it takes to do well."
Kelly joins her mother in juggling their schedules
because Kelly's 2 1/2 year old son, Kai, need a "sitter" when
Kelly's husband is not available, and her mother needs to fill in.
Sunday is family time, Mrs. Reeves says, and that
includes her daughter, Kristin, 18, a graduate of Tottenville High
School, who is enrolling at CSI this fall, probably in the art
program.
"We try to eat together when we can, and everyone
enjoys the weekly custom of dinner at Pizza Hut on Thursday night."
She also manages to fit in some exercising, such as
walking on her lunch break, or at night when her husband can join
her. "It clears your mind," she says.
But the accounting degree is not the only goal of
Mrs. Reeves. She hopes to work as an accountant at CSI and take
courses in oil painting.
She intends to resume teaching pre-kindergarten and
Sunday school classes at Eltingville Lutheran Church, too, which she
previously did for 10 years.
And along the way, she says she's made lots of
friends, young and old.
EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS
Elena Pesochin and her family left Ukraine 16 years
ago to settle on Staten Island and make a life for themselves. The
Great Kills woman said, "We didn't expect the streets to be paved
with gold, but we did have expectations anyway and they have
definitely been exceeded."
Mrs. Pesochin worked full-time at the College of
Staten Island until 2002, when she became an adjunct professor of
computer science.
Her major is biometrical security algorithms which,
she explains is based on a structural system of doing things.
In plain terms, she says, it can be used for
fingerprint and voice recognition, DNA identity, obtaining
information on credit, and still-undiscovered procedures in the
security field.
She expects to receive her doctor of philosophy
degree, continue to teach at CSI and do some research in the
computer security field, which she describes as a growing industry."
Her son Alex, 20, also a CSI student, hopes to
receive a bachelor of science degree in computer science, and is
working in the college library. He hopes to become a lawyer in
Interior jurisdiction. His father, Eugene, who has a master of
science degree in mechanical engineering operates his own business
in Internet jurisdiction.
Although their daughter, Esther, 6, is just
completing first grade at PS 32 in Great Kills, she already plans to
enroll at CSI when the time comes. Her mother says, "It's a natural
part of the path they see."
Mrs. Pesochin, 39, spends a lot of time transporting
Esther to ice-skating practice, and says her daughter is preparing
for championship events this summer in New England,
Although the family has a complicated schedule, Mrs.
Pesochin said, "We always eat together, absolutely, for an exchange
of information," and they take vacations to the shore and ride
horseback in Pennsylvania.
"We have to do things like this," she said.
Otherwise families fall apart because people don't talk, she said.
"They lose interest in each other."
By Julia Martin
Reprinted here with permission
from the
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