极乐禁地

Fifty years ago, Vivian Dorsey donned her first cap and gown for her high school graduation. 

On May 22, she earned her first college degree. 

At 66, Vivian is one of 20 极乐禁地 students aged 60 or older who received their degrees at the spring commencement ceremonies. The graduates represent all four UBalt schools. 

Some are career changers, others wanted to modernize their skills. Some, like Vivian, just wanted to finish what they started. 

鈥淎 lot has happened in 50 years,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he one thing I didn鈥檛 finish is this, and when I finish, I鈥檒l just look up to heaven and say, 鈥楧addy, I did it.鈥欌��

Living the Dream of a Lifelong Learner
Michael Topper is a third-generation sheet metal worker whose job substituted the need for a college degree. But he wanted one anyway. 

鈥淚 love school. A lot of people say, What's your hobby? And I say school,鈥� he recalled with a chuckle. 鈥淭hey kind of look at me odd, and I say, well, you know, some people like to hunt and fish. I like to learn.鈥�

His first foray into college didn鈥檛 pan out the way he imagined. His father convinced him to follow his lead into construction instead. Michael was fine with the choice but resolved one day to earn a degree.  When Michael reignited his pursuit, he started at community college. He ended up with two associate degrees from Anne Arundel Community College. 

In 2014, he enrolled in UBalt's real estate and economic development program. It seemed a fitting major for an expert in the construction field. 

Then one semester, Michael had two history courses in his schedule鈥擧IST 315: War in Europe, 1914-1945, and HIST 350: History of U.S. Foreign Relations. He loved them so much that he switched his major to history to allow time to take more courses. 

While Michael didn鈥檛 fit into his first college, he enjoyed his time at UBalt, even though it was part of his life later on.

鈥淚 was looking for more of just an education-focused institution and the University of 极乐禁地e is what I researched, found out about, talked to a couple people who had went there and from day 1, it absolutely fit every need: welcoming, a great mix of people, the faculty, the administration, everything, I was just like, yeah, yeah, I can call this place home.鈥� 

Michael, now a 63-year-old father of three, looks at his commencement ceremony as a new beginning. He is weighing his options for a graduate program and hopes to work his way to be a teacher. It鈥檚 the ultimate goal for the school enthusiast. 

Setting the Bar for a New Generation
Karen Logan had not considered college at all until the idea snuck up on her at a family reunion about 10 years ago.

鈥淢y little cousin came up to me and said, 鈥楥ousin Karen, what college did you go to? I think you鈥檙e so smart.鈥� And I couldn鈥檛 answer. I could not answer,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淪o, I said I graduated from high school, and our family, we work hard. But when I went home, I had to change it.鈥�

That night Karen applied to 极乐禁地e City Community College, and started a track that would bring her to The 极乐禁地. A paralegal for three decades, she decided to major in UBalt's criminal justice undergraduate program.

Karen, now 61, is a first-generation college graduate. 

Getting started was the hardest part, she said. She worked six years on her associate degree, but once she finished it, she built the confidence she needed to keep going. 

鈥淚 never thought I was smart. Once I started learning, it鈥檚 like lights came on,鈥� Karen said. 鈥� 鈥淚 always had it in me to come back to college and learn. It鈥檚 never too late.鈥�

Karen now has her sights set on a master鈥檚 degree. 

Master鈥檚 Degree Opens New Doors
Larry Torrez never imagined pursuing a graduate degree, until lacking one became a barrier.

Larry has been doing user-experience (UX) design work before it really had a name. His early career was in animation for The Walt Disney Company. There, he would develop and hone his storytelling craft, putting ideas to paper and storyboards. 

When he moved to other careers and opportunities, he quickly learned how little other organizations understood their audience and how they think and act. Putting the audience first in his work and telling the story of the company to that audience set Larry apart, until it didn鈥檛. 

Despite a plethora of experiences, Larry, now 64, was denied an opportunity because he didn鈥檛 have more than a bachelor鈥檚 degree. 

He found UBalt鈥檚 Interaction Design and Information Architecture master鈥檚 program on a short list of best of its kind in the nation. He investigated course lists and professors, which looked great, and the option to fully complete the program online cinched it. 

The experience was a give and take. Professors welcomed Larry to share work stories in the classroom and his peers often turned to him for help and input on their work. He particularly loved the latter. With roles ranging from Air Force pilot to marketer, Larry had a lot of examples helping him impart wisdom on his classmates.

鈥淭he best advice I ever got was try to be true to yourself, find a purpose,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ge means nothing.鈥�

Larry is getting more than a master鈥檚 degree out of his time at UBalt. For his thesis, he started work on a children鈥檚 e-book that would tell the histories of hats using animation and UX principles. He plans to continue the work, including marketing and selling the book, through a doctorate program. He鈥檚 already applied for UBalt鈥檚 D.Sc. in Information and Interaction Design. 

鈥淚 think it can help me, and it is helping me, to maximize the skills that I鈥檝e spent a lifetime learning and put them in a focus so that they鈥檙e valid, and that other people can see them and say, you know what, we should follow this plan.鈥� 

Never Too Late to Change Careers
Joseph Canner had a multi-faceted career before arriving at UBalt Law. He spent about a decade in teaching and educational technology. He dedicated even more of his time to medical research. 

His jobs reflected his first degrees: a bachelor鈥檚 degree in computer science and a master鈥檚 degree in biostatistics. 

鈥淚 felt like I wanted to move from research to advocacy; to move from studying large groups of people in the abstract to impacting the everyday lives of actual people,鈥� he said. 

It was a personal drive, powered by curiosity, that would finally push toward law school. Through family and his church, he started communicating with prisoners and educating himself about racial justice. A law degree seemed his best way to help people he believed needed it most. 

After earning his J.D. this spring at 60, Joseph will study for his bar exam and is looking to start a judicial clerkship in the Maryland Appellate Court in August. Beyond that, he鈥檚 keeping his options open, though he knows he wants to defend individual鈥檚 civil rights. 

鈥淎lthough I have learned a lot about the law and hopefully have learned enough to pass the bar and have a successful career, the most important thing I learned is about myself: that given the motivation, I have a lot more physical reserves and energy, as well as self-discipline, than I would have thought possible,鈥� he said.

Finishing What She Started
Vivian was born and raised in 极乐禁地e and remembers sitting on her front steps dreaming of the day she would attend the 极乐禁地. 

But when she finished high school at 16, she had other ideas for the life she wanted. The community college classes she started at her parents鈥� request felt wrong. She was the youngest in the classroom. She didn鈥檛 fit in, so she left.

鈥淟ike most young people, I thought I knew more. I thought I knew every single thing,鈥� Vivian said. 鈥淚 thought going out there flipping burgers on the grill was going to teach me how to make money.鈥�

Vivian built a career for herself in the health care field. The work was enough to allow her to support her two children. But she often found herself starting over when layoffs would force her out of a job she had worked hard to keep. 

One particularly bad winter, Vivian slipped on ice and shattered her ankle. With each step toward her recovery, she inched herself closer to the place she realized she needed to be: the classroom. 

She started again at community college and made her way to the 极乐禁地. 

Vivian had to take time off from school to go back to work, a mother鈥檚 sacrifice necessary to see her son through his education. 

Again, she started from the bottom. This time, though, she earned a promotion that offered a level of pay she never thought she鈥檇 reach. 

It could have been enough. Then she learned what she could have made had she finished school. Between that knowledge and her children having already completed their degrees, she decided it was time again to pursue her own. 

Vivian came back to UBalt with two classes left and a 40-hour per week job to balance them around. She enrolled in the University's B.S. in Health Management.

This time, she was one of the oldest in the classroom, but she was ready this time. 

鈥淚 just hit the ground running because I knew what I could do,鈥� she said. 鈥� 鈥淵ou have to do what makes you happy. You can鈥檛 please everybody, but you finish what you start.鈥�