Merna Woman Earns College Degree After 30 Years

Some dreams are worth the wait.

That’s how Cynthia Huhman (’20), of Merna, feels about finally earning a college degree.

This year, Huhman graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Business with emphases in Business Administration and Marketing, as well as a leadership certificate, from Mid-Plains Community College.

“It feels so amazing,” Huhman said. “If I can do it with all the obstacles I faced — anyone can.”

Huhman started out as a traditional college student. She began taking business classes from MPCC as soon as she graduated from Anselmo-Merna High School in 1986.

“Then life hit,” said Huhman. “I got married and started a family right away. I had a baby on Christmas Day of my first semester. I continued taking classes through the following spring, but it was just too hard. I decided I couldn’t do it and took some time off.”

By the age of 27, Huhman had two children and her marriage had ended in divorce. Two years later, she remarried and started over with two more children.

MERNA WOMAN EARNS COLLEGE DEGREE AFTER 30 YEARS

“That marriage ended in divorce as well,” Huhman said. “I decided I was going to try for a degree again so I would have something to fall back on. Over the next several years, I took one class at a time. I couldn’t travel back and forth to North Platte with the kids at home, so I attempted classes online with dial-up Internet. That, too, was unsuccessful.”

Over time, the Internet improved, but Huhman couldn’t always afford it. She would check her assignments at the radio station where she worked, then after work, would put the kids to bed and drive six blocks to her parents’ house to send assignments through her parent’s Internet.

“I would also take any classes I could at the Broken Bow Library,” Huhman said. “Thank goodness we now have a campus in Broken Bow. If not for that, I don’t think I ever would have finished my degree.”

Huhman started taking classes at the campus as soon as it opened in 2011. Her course load consisted of one or two classes per year. It was her children who pushed her to pursue college full-time.

Last spring, her final semester, she took 18 credit hours. At age 52, as a mother of five, she was also raising a family, working part-time jobs and managing her own social media marketing company, Bootstraps Marketing.

“I know there were people who thought I was just playing in pursuing a higher education,” Huhman said. “I wasn’t playing.”

She hopes she has served as an example for others, and especially her children, that anything is possible if you’re willing to work for it.

“I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me,” Huhman said. “This was just my path. I made some bad decisions in life, but I couldn’t give up because my kids were watching. Everything I did, I did for them, and education is never a bad decision.”