The percentage of students who return to college who are more than 25-years-old, continues to increase as the older UH commuter population expands.
The UH Statistical Handbook reports that 3,496 out of 40,747 students enrolled at UH in Fall 2012 were first-time college students. According to the Commuter Student Services, 85 percent of undergraduate students are commuters. Several students at UH have families and jobs to juggle outside of school, but persevere to earn their degree in the process.
Mayuri Palmer, a 30-year-old public relations senior, served in the U.S. Army after high school to earn money for college.
“When I graduated high school, I wanted to go to college but didn’t have the money. I was the first person in my family to go to college and didn’t know how to navigate the financial aid process,” Palmer said. “I thought the best thing I could do was join the military. I joined the army specifically to earn money for school.”
Palmer chose UH because of Jack J. Valenti School of Communication’s reputation and manages time between her 5-month-old daughter, husband and home.
“It is pretty difficult to manage my schedules. My husband works two jobs, so he’s not always available to take care of the baby. I don’t live too far, so my commute is fairly painless until I have to find parking,” Palmer said. ”I tried parking at ERP my first day, but I got motion sickness from the shuttle that I didn’t even make it to my classes.”
Palmer’s balancing act becomes hectic with commuting and she noted that her lifestyle differences make class projects and study groups difficult.
“Being older than most of my classmates and having different responsibilities makes it a bit more difficult. Usually, they don’t want to meet until late, but I have to be home to put my baby to bed,” Palmer said. ”I don’t mind hosting study groups at my house, but most of the time people want to study on campus. I could bring my daughter because she’s likely to sleep through the study session, but babies seem to make some college students nervous or scared.”
Adriana Segura, a 37-year-old public relations senior and mom of two, returned to UH to earn her degree.
“I was working and kept getting promotions, but the salary wasn’t catching up because I didn’t have a degree. It’s also a personal goal of mine; I want to be an example for my kids,” Segura said. ”My priority is my kids, but I’ve learned that I really have to maximize my time whenever I can. I stay up a lot to get things done for school.”
Segura also balances her children, a household and baseball schedules, and she has a different solution to the parking and commuting issue.
“It takes me a maximum of 20 minutes to get to school. I get rides from my dad, so that I don’t have to park,” Segura said.
arts@thedailycougar.com