| There I was, lying in the dentist chair
this past Saturday morning, white-knuckled and trembling.
The hygienist from the room next door popped in to talk
with the dentist, and exclaimed, “Great Sweatshirt…
Great School!” I was wearing one of my Assumption
College sweatshirts. The hygienist in my room agreed,
saying her daughter is attending Assumption and being
a mother with three children, the college really knew
how to meet learning goals for individuals with busy
lives. I gave the lady the ‘thumbs up’,
knowing exactly what she was talking about. Not an hour
later, I was creeping around the drug store, wondering
if I would be able to speak with half a numb tongue,
when I bumped into Pat Masiello, the administrative
secretary for the Center for Continuing & Career Education at Assumption. I hadn’t seen her in
a long time, so we chatted for a little—I was
amazed that she had remembered me, considering I graduated
in 2003.
Later in the afternoon, I walked into
my church to attend the afternoon mass, and my Priest
shook my hand as he did every week, but also gave me
an extra pat on the back, saying, “You did well
Karen, you did a great job with your education, especially
being a mother and working as well.” “It’s
a great school!” he added as he pointed to my
Assumption sweatshirt. I was again amazed that Father
Gee remembered, as although I see him regularly, it
had been almost three years since he had attended my
graduation party.
Assumption means something to people.
Assumption means something to me. Assumption means a
great deal to those who become a part of the Assumption
family, particularly those who become involved in the
Center for Continuing & Career Education (CCPE).
Many individuals arrive in the CCPE knowing they want
to learn, but not knowing in which direction they want
to go. I was one of those individuals in the fall of
1996. I grew up in a poor family in the UK, the youngest
of six children, and as soon as each one of us reached
school leaving age (15 back then), we took our dutiful
place among the workforce. It’s tough to make
your way in the world when you know you’ve got
a brain but you’re not sure how you want to apply
it. This dilemma presented itself to me over and over
again, but I was never in a position to really alter
the situation until many years later.
Finding myself, much later in life, living
in the United States, and raising two children, as well
as working full time, I knew that I needed to challenge
my mind and embroil myself in that further education
that had been denied earlier in life. I decided to begin
a degree at Assumption—just for fun—and
although I knew that it would be some years before I
could complete it, I reasoned that I would have nothing
better to do for the next six years anyway. Little did
I know that I was embarking on a journey that has not
only brought knowledge, inquiry, accomplishment, reflection,
validation, and much more, but has also brought friendship,
family, spirituality, and continuing discovery in the
thirst for education and all that it encompasses.
It wasn’t long before the fun that
was blossoming through my work and study at Assumption,
developed into a deep, rich, desire to better myself,
and to finally shoot for a career change that would
afford me a professional challenge. Not only was I realizing
this for myself, but I was also being encouraged by
the administration, and the outstanding faculty at Assumption.
The quality of expertise and knowledge that is delivered
by the Assumption faculty, both in the regular day school,
and the continuing education department, is of such
high caliber that they not only seek to develop an individual’s
academic potential, but also their spiritual and social
consciousness too.
Toward the end of my liberal arts degree,
double majoring in the humanities and communication,
and having also earned a Certificate in Communication,
and a Certificate in Creative Writing, I made up my
mind to give back a good deal of the learning that I
had received at Assumption. I decided to change my career
completely and enter into the field of education. Unfortunately,
just a year or two before my decision, the College had
ceased to offer the various program for education licensure
through the evening school.
So I began my own path, registering and
sitting the education licensure exams that all potential
educators need to take, and then taking the subject
matter test of English—but what else from someone
who had always loved writing and literature, but who
had been encouraged and supported throughout her undergraduate
degree from such marvelous professors and instructors
as: Dana Aspinall, Elizabeth Bidinger, Jane Gilligan,
Winslow Meyers, Paul Ady, Linda Ammons, Margarita Halpine
(Holy Cross), Jed Watters, Becky DiBiasio, Paul Gallagher,
Marc LePain, David Thoreen, Tim Connolly, Paula Green,
and Brian McCoy. With the support and encouragement
from these outstanding individuals and the wonderfully
challenging and rich material they opened my mind to,
I was well on the road to a successful teaching career.
I began substitute teaching, getting the
feel for what grade level I might like to focus on,
and applied for a master’s program at Clark University.
Naturally I asked my friends at Assumption to support
my application with recommendations, and was fortunate
to snag one of only seven places in the Master of Arts
in Teaching program for 2003. I graduated from Assumption,
and not a week later, I began my master’s at Clark.
I was hooked now! I was hooked on the
quest for knowledge, the desire to enlighten and expand—the
desire to grow and to flourish. Assumption had done
that for me. Assumption had planted the seed that continues
to sprout and to blossom. I did actually consider, while
studying at Assumption that the prospect of being an
“eternal” student was exceedingly attractive,
and if it were not for financial obligations, I would,
most seriously, have adopted that persona!
After completing a full time one-year
intensive program in education, I graduated from Clark
in May 2004, and took up my first full-time teaching
position in August of the same year. I teach seventh
grade English language arts and reading at P. Brent
Trottier Middle School in Southborough, Massachusetts.
I am also an executive board member of the Central Massachusetts
Writing Project. Of course, Clark deserves credit for
helping to prepare me for the education world, but it
is, without a doubt, the tremendous wealth of learning
that I was able to reap from Assumption that has continued
to flame the fire within.
I will always consider Assumption a welcoming,
nurturing, and intellectual haven that truly does seek
to form Christ in all who study there. I try to pop
back there often—in particular to lessons and
carols each Christmas (it’s not Christmas without
it!). My biggest regret is that the CCPE does not offer
graduate level classes in education, or educational
disciplines as I would be back in the twinkling of an
eye! As a teacher I am required to continue to study
within my field, within the language arts, and within
literature, and I am currently enrolled in a Graduate
Certificate in Children’s Literature at Framingham
State College. This is going well, but I would much
rather be sitting in a classroom in La Maison or Kennedy,
being challenged by Dr. Aspinall or Dr. Thoreen.
The return on my investment at Assumption
is ten-fold, and then some. I owe my love of learning,
and now my love of helping others to learn, to Assumption.
I have carved out my niche in life which can be attributed
to hard work and the tremendous education and support
that I received at Assumption. So, dental hygienist,
you are absolutely right, “Great Sweatshirt…Great
School!” and I hope I am afforded many more opportunities
to give the ‘thumbs up’ in response.
| 
Karen with her family at home.
|
|
Our Own Reasons for Smiling
When you enter college at 18, it is expected that four
years later you will leave as a different person –
more aware, more mature, and ready to face the world
and all it has to offer. But what is expected when you
enter college at age 50? You’re already aware,
and you’re certainly mature (well, most of the
time). So, why bother? Why put yourself and your family
through the trouble and expense of a college degree
so late in life? Every CE student has his or her own
story; I’m here to tell you mine.
When I dropped out of college at age 18, I made a deliberate
choice to write my own history. It wasn’t a bad
history; I was blessed with a good husband and two wonderful
children and a few interesting jobs along the way. I
have no regrets. But when I dipped my pen into the inkwell
again 33 years later it was perhaps an attempt to write
my epitaph. I really thought I was at the end of that
history and just wanted to cap everything off with a
degree. What I learned over the next five years was
worth more to me than any piece of paper that could
be handed over. Oh yes, the courses were interesting
and I completed all the requirements for that long-awaited
degree. But, although I worked very hard to attain good
grades, it occurs to me now that the most important
things I learned at Assumption were not the things that
were graded!
Susan Melia taught me that it was not my epitaph that
I was writing, but several more chapters of a long and
interesting life. Many psychology courses with Brian
McCoy have taught me how to laugh at myself (as well
as Brian) and to appreciate the many different personality
types that surround me. Friendships and trusts forged
in his Group Therapy class will last a lifetime and
I will always remember to challenge stereotypes. Jed
Watters not only taught me history; he also gave me
a part of my father’s history that Dad wasn’t
able to give me himself. I offer my thanks to Dana Aspinall
for sharing his passion and to Mike Land for his kind
encouragement. I give my sincere thanks to Rockie Blunt
for his friendship and good humor. Rockie, perhaps,
gave me the best gift of all – confidence in myself.
There are others that have changed my life over the
past five years as well – fellow students who
became good friends: Peg Carlson, who brought me to
Assumption initially and has shared more Charlie’s
Express dinners than I could ever count; John Rizzelli,
who physically hoisted me over the fence in Group Therapy
and has done his best to keep me from perching on the
mental/emotional fence ever since (get off the pot,
Terrie!); Greg Richardson, who has picked my brain regularly,
and let me pick his, all while laboriously teaching
me to use chopsticks.
Of course, there are others who have contributed to
my Great Learning Experience – my husband, Ed,
who has learned to do his own laundry and has eaten
far too many bowls of cereal for dinner; my son, Jake,
and my daughter, Nicky, who have encouraged me, teased
me and applauded me all along the way; my various bosses
over the last five years who have “looked the
other way” when I was putting the finishing touches
on a paper during office hours; my employer, WPI, for
footing most of the bill; Brian, Charlene, Diane and
formerly Maureen in the CE office, for all their help
and advice along the way.
As the graduating class of CE students accepts their
diplomas on May 13, we each have our own reason for
smiling, our own memories and our own lessons learned.
What I think we can all agree on is that Assumption
is not a building or an institution; it is a grand collection
of people, family if you will, that have come together
to help each other, teach each other, enjoy each other
and, on some level, love each other. It is so tough
to leave…
Terrie A. Coolberth, Class of 2006 |
