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the entire Fall 2007 newsletter here  

Fall 2007

Katherine Fernie
"Best in Show" winner in the KSU 24th Annual Student Juried Exhibition!

Talk about eclectic talent! Interviewing Katherine Fernie, a KSU adult learner, is a jaw dropping experience. As her story unfolded it became clear that she possesses the adult learner attributes of self-discipline and tenacity.

Katherine was born in Tucson, Arizona and raised from one year of age in a single parent home by her lawyer mother. She was married at 19 and became a mother at age 23. Katherine moved around a bit. She has lived in Arizona, Virginia and Georgia, and is now on her way to Cleveland, Ohio.

Always interested in art, as evidenced by her drawings at an early age (you can view it on her website), Katherine attended community colleges, and took a couple of classes at the University of Arizona. While her major was in theater/art, and here at KSU is in Fine Art/Graphic Design, she is also an achiever in several other areas. One hobby is reading, where her self-taught skills and attraction to technology used Readerware software to catalog 600 of her reference and fiction book collection. As a student employee this spring semester she has worked in the KSU Visual Research Center doing technological projects such as posters, editing, web design and some DVD development. You can see some of her talent in another hobby—juggling--plus her videography skills at her website http://opalcat.com/Fun/juggling. She enjoys dancing, including belly dancing, and also writing; she has had an article published in the Family Advocate magazine, and has written a study skill tips plan for a professor.

One reason for her return to college is typical for adult learners moving from one stage of life to the next. Divorced after having been a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, Katherine, though skilled at technology, could not get a job that would support her and her son. She found a job in a small firm, multitasking in many different areas. Though she liked the work, she realized that she would need a degree to be able to get a better job in her field of interest—and one that included a great deal of creativity. Katherine began her KSU experience in January 2006, and has consistently been a 4.0 student. She has two years to go on this degree, though other life changes mean another move and taking online KSU classes until she gets settled at Cleveland State.

A major challenge Katherine has faced in coming back to school full time has been financial—“it was scary to have no income, just taking the plunge and putting all effort into school”. The other challenge was how to meet her son’s needs without family in the area to help. Having to choose classes around her son’s hours meant she sometimes took classes at night, so was not home for a couple of hours twice a week. She set up a schedule for her son of dinner and homework, and spent a lot of time communicating with him through text messaging. Yes, college has changed her life, but Katherine states that she has more fun now, even with some different stressors. Though she has had to adjust her lifestyle to live on a finite amount of money, the campus community has provided rewarding friendships.

Katherine’s advice for other adult learners:

• Don’t treat your university experience as job training—take the journey.
• Develop study skills to get the grade.
• Don’t be afraid to throw yourself into the college experience; be a student, not just an adult taking classes.
• Utilize student campus resources such as the Counseling and Advising Programs Services (CAPS).