Running Head: MY JOURNEY AS AN ADULT LEARNER

My Journey as an Adult Learner

Jessica Turpin

Post University
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My Journey as an Adult Learner

My experience as an adult learner began about 12 years ago. I was a 24 year old single

mother of a two year old with no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up. It was then that I

realized that I was grown up and needed to demonstrate what that meant to this young life that I

was raising. It didnt take me long to realize that the best way to do that was to make sure my

son had something to aspire to and to do that I had to further my education as I had only a high

school diploma and a semester or two of college credits under my belt from when I first

graduated. I didnt yet know where my pursuit would take me at that point but the one thing I

was sure of once the decision had been made was that failure was not an option and that no

matter what I had to finish what I was about to start. The first question that needed to be

answered was where to start and that was the first important decision I would make based on

personal experience.

As a single mother with absolutely no support, financial or otherwise, there was a period

of time that I relied on state assistance to help me care for myself and child. It was during this

period that I realized to get ahead in life or even just survive, education was a must have. I

enrolled in a two year community college with an undeclared major just to get the process

started. It was also during this time that I was told by the people responsible for managing my

benefits that in order to continue receiving them I would have to drop out of school to pursue full

time work. I was working part time at this point while raising my child and going to school full

time and refused to believe that leaving school was the best course of action. I pleaded with the

gentleman, Mr. Green, assigned to my case and was given a three month extension which left me

approximately 8 months away from graduation. At that point Mr. Green notified me that his

supervisor would not allow another extension regardless of how much time I had left to graduate.
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This is the very moment it became clear to me that I needed to major in human services. I told

Mr. Green that I was very grateful for all his help and support and to make sure to pass a

message on to his boss. I will come back someday and I will fire her. Eight months later I

graduated with an Associates degree in Human Services with Highest Honors in May of 2006.

My Associates degree carried me through gainful employment for the next 8 years but

during these years I observed others pass me in rank and pay who had far less experience in the

field. This really bothered me because I now had to report to people who still came to me with

questions about how to do their own jobs while they were responsible for evaluation of my

performance. I applied for one position after another internally but was always passed up for

another more educated candidate. The position I held was given more responsibility with no

increase in pay and little recognition or appreciation. My son grew older and more aware of the

differences between how people are treated based on a number of factors, one of them being

level of education. Again I decided he needed something more to aspire to and I just needed

more in general. I spoke with him prior to making the decision to return to school because I

knew I would need his support and understanding. His reaction was it. His eyes lit up with pride

and he was more excited for me than I had ever seen him be for himself in his 10 years of life.

The decision was made. I took a suggestion from a coworker to check out Post Universitys

online program and it took a matter of days for me to realize this was the answer I was looking

for. Still working in the field of human services I decided to stay in that field while pursuing me

education as well and in December of 2015 I graduated with my Bachelors degree and High

Honors.

I wholeheartedly believe it was the acquisition of my Bachelors degree that lead to my

promotion at work and once I had tasted success I needed more. Though I was happy with my
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new position for a while I still knew there was more I could do, more I could be and most

importantly more my son could aspire to. Another conversation between my child and I sealed

my decision once again to rejoin the world of academia as a student in the Post University

Graduate program in pursuit of a degree in higher education administration. While my goal of

helping people has stayed the same the context in which I accomplish it has changed. The world

of human services has seen many financial insecurities and cutbacks in recent times so I realized

it would be a wiser choice to direct my efforts to help others in a field that would be more apt to

allow me to provide for my family. That is why I chose education and how I ended up where I

am today.

My journey started in 2004 with hope and a mission to make the world a better place for

others like me and to give my son something to aspire to. It has been a continuous journey of

learning and betterment and will foreseeably carry on for as long as I am able to continue this

commitment to learning. It has lead me to Post University where I received my Bachelors

degree, am pursuing my Masters degree, and currently hold employment. Where it will lead me

after this is a story for another day.