Taking the Non-Traditional Path
By December 2023 graduate Karley Coday
After graduating high school there tends to be a huge push to go straight to college. I know I felt this push, especially as a (mostly) straight-A student. My family pressured me, everyone kept asking what college I was going to attend, and there really were no other options laid out for me. So that’s what I did. My school of choice was Nebraska Wesleyan. A great school with wonderful professors. And unfortunately, a pretty high price tag. At eighteen, it’s hard to know the implications of going to an almost $ 40,000-a-year school. I had scholarships, but not enough to cover the entire cost. I was two years into my degree when I felt overwhelmed, depressed, and just generally unhappy. I tried to persevere and stick out the following two years. By the end of the third, I was unable to go to class, could not motivate myself to do any assignments, and felt completely resigned. I was burnt out. So, I decided to take a year off, work full-time to save up some money, and give myself a mental break.
“It felt impossible to go back.”
I’m sure many of you have heard the statistics about leaving college without finishing and the high percentage that will never return to complete their degree. According to a Forbes article, only 13% of students that leave college will return within five years. I didn’t think I would be part of the 87% that didn’t return, but after leaving it felt impossible to go back, financially and mentally. One year turned into another, turned into another and another. Suddenly it was seven years later and all I could think was, how in the world did so much time pass so quickly?? Don’t get me wrong, I had some good experiences during this extended break. I traveled a lot, saved up money to pay off some debt, and purchased a new car. Yet, there was always a part of me that knew I wanted to finish what I started and get my degree.
“The Nebraska Promise would take that anxiety off my shoulders.”
In 2020 amidst the pandemic, UNL announced its new program, The Nebraska Promise. This program would cover a Nebraska resident’s tuition for an undergraduate degree, given that the person’s income was less than $65,000 a year. When I heard about this, I knew it was the missing piece I needed to go back to school. Being a little older and understanding the extent of college debt a bit more than I did at eighteen, I had been anxious about taking out massive loans to complete my degree. The Nebraska Promise would take that anxiety off my shoulders and allow me to focus on school without borrowing thousands of dollars. I applied, enrolled, and in August of 2021 stepped onto campus for my second first day of college.
“Everyone’s timeline is different.”
Fast forward to December of 2023 and I did it! A Bachelor of Arts degree in English with Spanish and Ethnic Studies minors. I received my degree in the mail just yesterday, as I made the personal decision not to walk for graduation. And let me tell you, opening the mail and seeing that degree felt good! Here’s the thing I’ve finally realized: it took me a long time between graduating high school and receiving my undergraduate degree, BUT THAT IS OKAY. I’ve struggled a lot over the years with feeling like I was so behind in life compared to where I should be. I was always getting asked by family, friends, and acquaintances what I was doing with my life and what my future goals were. Add in social media where every year I’d see people my age, and then younger, graduating college, buying houses, having careers, and I would feel so defeated and lost. Once I started college again, I felt imposter syndrome almost daily. How was I going to handle the stress and workload of college after taking a break? Would I connect with fellow students since I was a little older? Did I have anything important to say in class and my papers? I failed once, what if I failed again? These were just a few of the questions I asked myself almost constantly in the beginning. But as I got more into the groove of doing college again, it got easier, and I found opportunities around campus that I really enjoyed. I joined Laurus, the undergraduate literary magazine on campus, and became vice president my second year of working on it. I did an internship with “Prairie Schooner” on campus, the more widely read and prominent literary magazine published nationally. I enjoyed my Spanish classes and did a conversation exchange program with a student in Honduras. I had some absolutely amazing and incredibly intelligent professors that challenged me to think differently and question things I hadn’t thought of before. And I’m thankful to have had all these opportunities and experiences, all because I made the decision to finish what I had started almost ten years ago.
Having my degree feels very satisfying and a bit scary. I don’t have a definite career path laid out in front of me, but I have ideas of things I want to pursue. Going back to school later in life has taught me that it’s okay if I don’t have every step planned out. That I can take steps one at a time and enjoy the experience, and everything will work out eventually. It may not be on a perfect timeline, but everyone’s timeline is different. And that is okay.
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