A message to Towson University officials from one non-traditional student…
I am what you would call a non-traditional student. I started college right after high school, but took some time off before starting again a few years ago. Not only did I start my first semester at Towson this past fall, I also transferred my math credit back to Anne Arundel Community College, where I earned my associates degree at the age of 28. The degree came in the mail a day after I turned 29.
Due to the interesting position I am in, I thought I would explore the possibility of reaching out to other students like myself. The only problem is that I was told that Towson University has not had a non-traditional student group in years. A quick search of the school website turns up only one page for non-traditional students, which is completely full of self help links.
Being a non-traditional student is not easy, especially when you are more than likely supporting yourself and paying for school at the same time. Due to the current state of the economy, the non-traditional student ranks are growing. I would encourage the administration of this school to re-evaluate how it reaches out to non-traditional students like myself. While 18-22 year olds are desired; non-traditional students can balance a campus community by sharing the real world experience that we endured while not in a classroom. To dismiss real world experience for the sake of the college experience is in my view intellectually dishonest.
This letter was originally submitted to The TowerLight, but they chose not to publish it…so I published it here on my blog. No hard feelings…honestly.
