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Mom, graduating today from college, is inspiration to daughters

May 17, 2008

Family’s lifetime of learning

HEIDI ROCCOGRANDI Times Leader Correspondent

KINGSTON – Carol Fahnestock, who will graduate from Misericordia University today, hopes her 18-year-old daughter will take a smoother – and shorter – route to a bachelor’s degree.

Thirty years ago, Fahnestock, 47, was graduating from Bishop Hafey High School in Hazleton. She began studying medical technology at the University of Scranton that fall.

Then she decided to take some time off.

“I thought, ‘Well I’m just going to take a year or two off and decide what I’m going to do,’ ” she recalled. “Then a year or two turned into many years.”

Actually it was a couple of decades.

Fahnestock always had hopes of returning to school, but life – marriage, two children, full-time work, divorce and another marriage – kept her out of the classroom.

In 2000, she enrolled in paralegal classes at Luzerne County Community College and landed a job in Selinsgrove and restarted her studies at Susquehanna University. After about three years there, she moved back home after her father died, graduating with a paralegal degree at LCCC in May 2006.

With an associate’s degree in tow, Fahnestock headed to Misericordia as part of the Expressway program, which is geared toward the nontraditional student.

Tom O’Neill, dean of the Center for Adult and Continuing Education, said because balance is key for these students, classes are available on the weekend, in the evening and online.

“All Misericordia courses are in a predictable schedule that allow adult learners to plan and balance life," he said. “Our idea for adult learners is to make sure there are options. We know one size does not fit all.”

O’Neill said Expressway programs take into account that its students have “life experiences” to bring to the classroom, as most are working full time while taking courses.

“It’s then that we can relate the classroom to the world of work,” O’Neill said. “You become a community of learners and problem-solvers.”

Because convenience is key, university spokesman Paul Krzywicki said students may take classes at the main campus in Dallas Township, and in Nanticoke, Hazleton, Scranton, Tannersville and online. Bachelor degrees are offered in professional studies, health care management, information technology, management, marketing, business administration and nursing (for registered nurses).

The Expressway program, which started in 1999, has 283 students enrolled, Krzywicki said. So far, 535 people have graduated from the program.

“It really is a good program. It’s for anyone who works. It’s time-consuming, because there’s a lot of work that they expect you to do prior to the classes,” said Fahnestock, who will graduate with honors with a degree in business management and a minor in management and information systems. “It wasn’t easy and then, of course, all the little blips along the way. It really came down to a lot of discipline,” she said, noting she worked full time while completing her studies.

Fahnestock said the fact that her daughter, Caitlin, was approaching the end of high school inspired her to finish. Fahnestock also has a 15-year-old daughter Erin.

“Probably the fact that she was getting close to going to college and I didn’t want her to feel like, ‘Well it doesn’t matter if I don’t finish, Mom didn’t finish, you know I can take 30 years to do it.’ ”

Caitlin, who will graduate from Crestwood and head to Penn State Hazleton in the fall, said she’s proud of her mother. “I wouldn’t have the dedication that’s for sure. I don’t know how she did it.”

Working full time and going to school meant sacrifices often had to be made, Fahnestock said. It was difficult to have to miss her daughters’ sporting events or school activities because she had a class. She hopes her daughters realize – or will one day realize – why she did what she did.

“I wanted them to see that I was going to persevere and finish up. Many times it would have been easy to just stop and say it’s not going to get me any further at this point in my life, but I just wanted to finish.”

Along the way to her degree, Fahnestock dealt with personal issues that tested her resilience. In November 2005, her mother’s breast cancer returned. In January 2006, Caitlin was in a serious car accident that forced Fahnestock to put off starting at Misericordia for few months. And later that year, her husband Michael was diagnosed with colon cancer.

As she dealt with those situations and the normal day-to-day hustle and bustle of career and family, Fahnestock said some people questioned why she wanted to get her degree.

“They’d say, ‘Why are you spending all this time and killing yourself? And others say, ‘Well what are you going to do now (with your degree).’ If something comes up in the future, great. If not, at least I have my degree.”

Fahnestock said her husband’s support has been extremely important to her. He smiles proudly when asked about his wife’s achievement.

“She wanted to finish because it’s a pride thing. She wanted to finish because it means something to her,” he said. “I have a great deal of respect for anyone who attempts to go back to school after being away for any extended time. You have gotten on with your life and being able to get back into that academic mode after being away for any amount of time is not an easy task.”

Fahnestock said that often people put off things – such as getting married or having a baby – in hopes that they’ll be in a better position down the road.

“I don’t think there’s ever a right time to do anything. I just think between my mother having cancer and Michael having cancer and Caitlin in that accident, you just don’t know what’s going to happen, ever. If you have the time to do it, get it done.”

And during this graduation season, you’ll hear many espouse their wisdom on the graduates. Fahnestock has her own advice to offer.

“If I thought it would change one kid, I would go to seniors in high school and say, ‘Listen, in today’s day and age you’re not going to go anywhere without a degree, so go those four years, enjoy it and you’re going to make friends that you’ll have for a lifetime.

“And you don’t want to take a lifetime to do it, believe me.”

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