Nontraditional student finds her niche second time around

By Jeannie Stone

LITTLE ROCK — (Editor’s Note: This is the first of a four-part series on nontraditional students attending colleges and universities in the River Valley and Ozark area.)Christine Gifford, 35, of Mayflower has

been there, tried that, but this time she’s

determined to finish.

A single mother of three, Gifford is

scheduled to graduate from the University

of Central Arkansas with a double major in

criminology and computer science in spring

2009, about the same time her daughter

Stephanie will be finishing up her freshman

year there.

Gifford attended UCA right after high

school, but didn’t stick with it. Now she ispresident of the University of Central Arkansas Nontraditional Student Organization.

As a nontraditional student, Gifford’s perspectives have expanded the organization’s presence on campus at a time when government statistics show adult students make up the fastest-growing educational demographic nationwide.

What that means at the University of Central Arkansas is that approximately 2,200 of the 12,230 students are considered nontraditional. Gifford’s job is to help them fit in.

The Nontraditional Student Organization is an outreach of Career Services and is open to any student who has transferred from another school, is married, has children or is at least 25 years old.

“I think a lot of people have a dream, and I don’t think anybody should be afraid to chase that dream,” Gifford said. “You just can’t make it on one income anymore. We don’t want older students to feel as if they have to settle for their lot in life,” she said. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Gifford’s own dream is to work in a crime lab. “I want to help get bad guys off the street,” she said. “When I took psychology class, I got really excited, and I am so hooked on the TV show Criminal Minds, especially when this character who works in the lab is trying to solve a puzzle. He inspired me.”

A Web site had also captured Gifford’s interest, www.achildis missing.org. “They help publicize Amber alerts when kids are missing, and they have so many volunteers that make phone calls at the onset of a disappearance that children have been found in their own neighborhoods with the abductor before they actually made it out of the area.”

Gifford, a self-described people observer with an analytical mind, knows what she likes and what she doesn’t.

“When I was 18, I didn’t understand why we had to take all those general ed courses,’ Gifford said. “Now, I know. Because it was the exposure to that psych class that sparked my interest in criminology.”

Regina Thomas, assistant dean of career services at UCA, said, “Going back to school after taking a break can make you feelill at ease, especially competing against someone younger when it comes time to interview for a job. I didn’t expect to see such a lack of confidence in the nontraditional students I see.

“Older students have so much to offer. They are very serious, as a whole, and are better prepared for class, and the workplace. Their whole work ethic is totally different than the average member of the younger generation. It’s hard to impress on the traditional students simple concepts like arriving to an interview on time,” Thomas added.

Gifford agreed with Thomas. “I met a man who told me that he would love to go back to school, but everyone had told him he was too stupid.” Gifford shook her head. “It might not be easy, but anybody can do this. We are here to help them succeed. I tell everyone to research their options.

Gifford might not be helping find lost children or criminals at large, yet, but she is helping college students identify and reach for their dreams.

Gifford enjoys administering a test to students that lines up their abilities, values and interests. “The really great part about the test is that it takes all this information you have filled out and gives you career options with the expected earning potential in those fields,” she said.Students can browse the online Discover Program at their leisure and as their interests fluctuate.

“I believe you perform so much better at your job if you wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work,” Gifford said. “When I took that test, it revealed I needed to consider a career in law enforcement or building computers. I thought, no way, but here I am as happy as I could be.”

Helping students wade through the daunting paperwork required for financial help is a big part of Gifford’s job. “I try and locate any community resources that can be of use to nontraditional students, whether that be a scholarship, an internship, a job, college work study, whatever.”

And she offers her spacious office as a lounge, of sorts, for the nontraditional students to congregate. “The Student Center tends to be too noisy for the likes of our older students,” she said, “so, I try and make my office a place for them to unwind, watch a movie, visit or play a game.”

Gifford and her three children, Stephanie, 17, Stephen, 13, and Lane, 9, live with her parents in Mayflower. She said her family encourages her to meet her goals.

On attending college alongside her daughter next year,Gifford said, “We are very close, and she’s very excited to go to school at the same time I am. She already comes to work with me whenever she’s able.”

(In Thursday’s River Valley & Ozark Edition, meet Arkansas Tech nontraditional student Jamie Dalton.)

River Valley Ozark, Pages 140, 152 on 05/11/2008