“Where are you going to college?” is a question that many high school students are familiar with. Chances are it was the sheer frequency of that question that may have made some students make a decision in the first place. However, some student’s post-high school plans were a bit more non-traditional.
“I started my bachelor’s degree when I was 26,” Brittany Beckloff, who is in the Center for Advanced Ministry Training (CAMT) program, said. “I had been living and working as a missionary, massage therapist and community clown. I had always planned that I would be married by at least 25. God had a different plan I suppose. I’ve been blessed to do many amazing things with those years. When I was 18, college didn’t appeal to me.”
Beckloff and many other students at Harding and across the world fall into a category commonly referred to as “non-traditional students.” In the simplest definition, it refers to students who did not go to college right after high school. It can also refer to students like Mark Walker, who chose to return to school for a change of direction and to join the CAMT program.
“I am currently 53 years old,” Walker said. “After a couple of career changes throughout my forties, I decided to change directions in pursuit of something I hope to be more fulfilling than simply chasing a paycheck. My previous careers were as a pilot, and then an engineer. I knew if I wanted to do anything full-time in ministry I would need training.”
Having gone through more of life than traditional students, non-traditional students have significantly more diverse backgrounds. No matter the background, it is enough to greatly change their Harding experience.
“My time isn’t as free and open, having two kids,” Samuel Baggett, who is studying broadcast journalism, said. “I can’t join clubs, or participate in extracurricular activities like other students because I’ve got to pick up my kids from school, get home, cook dinner, give baths and tuck them into bed. I can’t live on campus. I can’t freely come to the Bison ball games. I can’t enjoy the college life as the kidless traditional students do.”
Walker said he finds a big difference between being a student now and being a student before.
“My approach to school is completely different than it was when I graduated the first time in 1984,” Walker said. “I do not learn as easily as I did 30 years ago, but my interest level is higher, so I would say I learn better than I did. My wife and I live off campus, and our two sons are in college, so I would guess our life is quieter than most traditional students.”
The experience is different for every non-traditional student. For Beckloff, her greatest challenge is relating with other students who are younger than she is. For Baggett, his greatest challenge is scheduling “everything around everything.” What they all do have in common is a bit of life under their belt.
“It is nice to have some of life already in the rear view mirror,” Walker said. “Like many others getting ready to graduate, I do not know what I will be doing, or where we will be living. However, I am not as anxious about the unknowns as we have already weathered many of them in the past.”
Non-traditional students have a lot to offer others, according to Beckloff. From why you should stay in school, getting out of your comfort zone and reaching out to others, each one is a wealth of experience and knowledge.
