Because every town needs a park, a library and a newspaper
Carbondale’s weekly
community connector
Volume 12, Number 48 | Jan. 2-8, 2020
It’s never too late to try something new Getting a degree later in life By Jeanne Souldern Sopris Sun Correspondent For at least three "nontraditional" Colorado Mountain College students, the path to higher education has been quite different from that of their 18 to 22-year-old classmates. One common thread for Paula Mayer, Amanda Emerson and Troy Harcourt is although they had previously earned a degree, they sensed they had not quite hit the mark. Their college careers would take them through many twists and turns to a new vision for themselves. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nontraditional students meet one of the following seven characteristics: delayed enrollment into postsecondary education; attends college parttime; works full time; is financially independent for financial aid purposes; has dependents other than a spouse; is a single parent; or does not have a high school diploma. Yet, the term “nontraditional” is becoming obsolete as their numbers, on college campuses across the country, increase. According to a 2015 survey by the U.S. Department of Education, nearly 74 percent of undergraduate students enrolled in the 2011-12 academic year possessed at least one nontraditional student characteristic, while 55 percent had two or more. Mayer got her bachelor’s degree after high school and in her early 40s earned a master’s in social work from Simmons College in Boston. She worked in Denver as a hospice and palliative care social worker. In 2019, she and her husband, Stephen, a medical oncologist at Valley View Hospital, moved to Glenwood Springs. After their move, she recalls her husband saying, “I know how much meaning you derive from the work that you do, and I know it doesn't make you happy.” It prompted her to take stock and examine what she wanted to do with her life. Now, at 56 years old, Mayer is pursuing a degree in professional photography and anticipates graduating in spring 2021. She says now that she is older she “can go for it, in a way that maybe when I was younger, I just wouldn't recognize what was happening and I'd speed bump right over it and just not pick up on it.” Emerson, who just celebrated her 39th birthday, was born and raised in Carbondale and is a 1999 graduate of Roaring Fork High School. Now a divorced mother of two children, Skye, age eight, and Zeb, six, Emerson is seeking an associate of Applied Science, Professional Photography degree. Continued on page 8
Best bar menu in Carbondale
Paula Mayer photographs her self-portrait in the side mirror of an old truck 580 Main St. Carbondale Open Daily 11:00am-9:00pm