by Charles Ray

Created on: February 04, 2009   Last Updated: February 17, 2009

Confessions of an adult college student

I joined the army right out of high school and went to night school for ten years working on my bachelors degree. A week after my twenty-seventh birthday, I arrived on campus at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas to finish the required residence credits for a degree in business administration. Not only was I the oldest student on campus, but I also happened to be older than the majority of the professors.

There was culture shock, almost as much for others at the school as for me, due not only to my age, but the fact that I had been in the army for ten years and had served one combat tour in Vietnam. This was 1971 at the height of the anti-war protests, and the students and faculty were at a loss as to what to do with a professional warrior in their midst.

I was determined to fit in and make the most of my time on campus (summer school and the fall semester), so I started by living in the dormitory rather than off campus. I joined the drama club and tried out for the football team. As it happens, I am a fairly competent artist, and my set and program designs and wacky cartoons won over most of the campus intellectuals. I was invited to submit art an poetry for the campus literary journal. The football team, though, was what finally made me a part of campus life.

Benedictine College was resurrecting football after many years without a program. As one might imagine, in the Midwest, football players are local heroes. Not on the same level as they are in my native Texas, but still on a pretty high pedestal. That I, a 27-year old, would subject myself to the rigors and pain of training and scrimmage made a significant impact on the rest of the campus. It was also not lost on people that I was four or five years older than the head coach. I didn't get a lot of playing time, but I did get introduced to the crowd at most games as the only military veteran on the team.

Football and theater gave me an in with the student body, and lots of late night study sessions helped me to establish my credentials with the faculty. I managed to maintain a grade average sufficient to graduate cum laude, and I carried a maximum credit load. My instructors were impressed that one of the 'jocks' could hold his own in the classroom.

I found the entire experience invigorating and life-changing. During the seven months I lived in Atchison I learned to appreciate the world view of people ten years younger. It was also a fascinating look into the world of non-secular education, as Benedictine College is a Catholic institution. Having grown up in east Texas where the only religions were Methodist, Southern Baptist and bootlegger, it broadened my horizons to be immersed in a society made up of people who had grown up under completely different influences. I learned to listen, not just with my ears, but with my mind and heart. That experience, like probably no other, has been a defining influence on my practice of leadership and management over the past 37 years.

You are never too old to learn. I grew up hearing that phrase, but never appreciated the truth of it until I spent time discovering that you can 'teach an old dog new tricks.'

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