Return to Learn
Alma College has joined the Governor’s Office and other participating higher education institutions in a statewide campaign inviting Michigan adults to “return to learn” by either completing or initiating study leading to a postsecondary degree.
When you “return to learn,” you create better job opportunities for yourself and greater potential for the Michigan economy to grow and prosper. Consider these facts:
- Michigan’s economic future depends on an educated workforce.
- Those who earn college degrees also benefit economically – there is a direct link between learning and earning.
- Hundreds of thousands of Michigan citizens have attended college but have not obtained a college degree.
- Michigan’s colleges and universities are welcoming these working/working-age adults back with open arms, helping them to develop and pursue a “Return to Learn” plan.
Alma College will help any prospective student create a degree completion plan — a road map that can open up new doors of economic opportunity. An admissions representative can talk to you about the availability of financial aid, how to build on previous coursework, how to transfer credits from one institution to another, and how to pursue the degree and career you are most interested in.
To talk with an Alma College admissions representative, call 1-800-321-ALMA or send an e-mail inquiry to the Admissions Office.
Mary Rosalez: Returning to College "Was the Smartest Thing I've Ever Done"
The year was 1998. Alma resident Mary Rosalez was 36 years old, newly divorced, the mother of five children, and unsure how to support her family.
Mary Rosalez
“Everybody told me I had to go back to school,” she says. “I had done well in high school and was salutatorian of my class. At first I thought about going to a community college.”
A friend told her to try Alma College, but Mary had a million excuses.
“I told her I couldn’t afford it, Alma was too hard, I didn’t know how to use a computer, and I hadn’t read much of anything,” she says. “But she convinced me to get my ACT scores out of the archives and apply for admission.”
She not only was accepted at Alma, she qualified for enough financial aid to cover full tuition. She also received several local scholarships to cover her books and some home expenses.
She started taking classes in 1999 with no idea what she wanted to do. She took English 101 her first semester and fell in love with it.
“The approach to literature and writing had changed a lot since I was in high school,” she says. “It was a lot more fun.
“I had a an absolutely fabulous experience at Alma. The students were incredibly accepting of me, and I made a lot of friends. I got involved on campus. There were a few times when being a single mom was an issue, but I only missed class twice in four and one-half years. Being a single mom in college was definitely doable,” she says.
She graduated in 2003 with a major in English and then went on to Central Michigan University for her master’s degree. Now she’s back at Alma College, teaching rhetoric and literature courses and telling others about the benefits of a college education.
“Going back to college was the smartest thing I’ve every done,” she says.
Tracey Roberts Fuller: Making a better life for her family
The frustrations of balancing a full-time job with being a full-time student resulted in Tracey Roberts Fuller leaving Alma College after only three semesters.
But she never gave up on her dream to be a teacher.
Tracey Roberts Fuller
“There’s nothing more I would like to do than teach special education,” says Tracey, who dropped out of college in 1998 but returned in 2003. The 27-year-old plans to graduate in 2006 with a degree in education.
Marriage, the birth of two babies and a preference to stay at home with her young children delayed Tracey’s return to college. But she had only to look to her mother, Brenda Roberts, for inspiration. Brenda, over the course of many years, took one college course at a time until eventually graduating from Alma in 1998.
“My mother wanted a college degree to improve her economic situation, to make a better life for her family,” says Tracey, who directs the Gratiot County Special Olympics Basketball Program in addition to being a wife, mother and college student.
Tracey also is secretary of Alma’s Non-traditional Students Organization, which serves as a support group for adult students. The group holds regular meetings and raises money for a local baby pantry in Alma.
“I have no regrets about returning to college,” says Tracey. “I see more and more non-traditional students who are focused on finishing up their degree requirements.”
