LAU R IE PEAR M AN
Ellie Pierce is using Boise State’s General Studies Program to customize her degree.
position in San Jose. But I soon realized that I wasn’t excited about a new job in a new city. I was dreading and grieving the prospect of leaving Boise. At the same time, I was pondering something I’d often wondered while I was still a full-time reporter: What would my life be like if I’d pursued math and science and explored that side of my brain? I finally started asking myself another question: Why don’t I find out? A lot of the technology entrepreneurs I interviewed as a reporter told me that Boise needs more people with computer science degrees. One of my former newspaper colleagues was also pursuing a computer science degree at the time, and my interest was piqued. So I enrolled at Boise State for the spring semester as a second-degree-seeking student and declared a major in computer science. Suddenly, after almost a decade, there I was back in school, handling caustic chemicals and radioactive substances in chem lab and staying up late to write essays and mathematical proofs. That makes me one of more than 200 students going to Boise State this year for a second degree. University President Bob Kustra said in his State of the University address Aug. 20 that this fall, Boise State has seen an astonishing 46 percent increase in enrollment of students seeking a second degree. I thought it would be awkward sitting in classes with kids 10 years younger than me. Instead, I’ve been surprised by how many adults have been in most of my classes. I’ve met women who are getting back into the workforce after raising their families, men making new lives for themselves after years in the military, and laid-off Micron employees taking technology classes to help them form new ventures. And, like me, there are victims of the economy who decided to do something altogether different with their lives after they were laid off or let go. Last May, my friend Kevin Labrum was laid off at The Cop Shop after eight years of working there, and just six months after the business was sold to new owners. “I never would have left the security of a job to go back to school,” Labrum said. “When you own a house ...” his wife, Kim Labrum, added. “And pay bills ...” Kevin said. “It’s even scarier in this job market,” Kim said. Kevin has had a taste of just how tough the job market is. “I was looking every day, and there was just nothing out there and I finally just went ...” he trailed off, making a dismissive gesture. “The only stuff out there is jobs that pay far less, and they can pay someone else to do it for a lot less.” The Labrums didn’t make the decision for Kevin to go back to school lightly. It was only after months of searching that they decided he
12 | SEPTEMBER 9–15, 2009
| BOISEweekly
should pick up where he left off in 1987. That was when Kevin dropped out of Boise State, with a year and a half to go on a business administration degree. This time, though, it was time for a different direction. “All you had to do is look at my grades,” he said. “There was no real commitment on my part.” It was easy for Kevin to figure out what to do this time. He’s been active in community theater in Boise for years. He starred in Absence of a Cello and The Movie Game earlier this year at Stage Coach Theatre, and he’s directing the September show at Stage Coach, Duck Hunter Shoots Angel. Ten days before he was laid off, Kevin went to visit an old friend who works as a professor. He sat in on some of his friend’s classes, and for once had the chance to experience things from the teacher’s side of the classroom. “This feels really good,” he said. Kevin realized he enjoys sharing his experience and that teaching might not be a bad fit. Kevin is enrolled in classes for the fall, when he’ll be studying theater arts and secondary education. He has his core requirements out of the way because of his prior years at Boise State, and he will have to go to school a lot longer for his new degree than for business administration. But it’s worth it, he said. “You should go to school to get an education in something you enjoy,” Kevin Labrum said. “The first time, I didn’t do that. I did a degree in something I thought would make me a lot of money.” Adults, like Kevin and me, who have decided to make a change in their lives are driving major enrollment increases at colleges and universities in the Treasure Valley. College of Western Idaho officials announced in August that 3,500 students are enrolled for fall, three times the number that enrolled for spring semester. The community college announced it would increase class capacity by 20 percent to meet the demand. Boise State had a 4-percent increase in traditional student enrollment this fall, not including the addition of approximately 90 new students returning to college for their second degree. “The combination of College of Western Idaho and Boise State available to students is an effective way to meet the needs of the community,” Boise State Communications Director Frank Zang said. “We want to meet the educational needs of our citizens and the workforce needs of the business sector.” Both schools are providing new opportunities to adults going back to school. CWI opened last January and is offering more opportunities for Treasure Valley residents to get professional and technical degrees. CWI and other community colleges like Treasure Valley Community College tend to be geared to adults going back to school. CWI’s new president, Dr. Berton Glandon, said in a State of the School address that at WWW.BOISEWEEKLY.COM