Motlow College embraces students of all ages
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Most, like Joan Banks, Mary Louise Pendergraff and Paul Miller, fall somewhere in between. And unlike their younger counterparts, they bring many years of life experience to the classroom.
Angie Sills, who teaches biology at Motlow?s McMinnville campus, said, ?When students of mixed ages and backgrounds study together, they contribute and share different learning skills and strategies to maximize learning. Non-traditional students have learned time management skills and help keep other students focused.?
Sills said an example of this is evident in a ?study-buddy? group from one of her classes. The group includes a mother with teen-aged children, a retired veteran, and several younger students. She often meets with this group, and others, and said she, as well as the students, benefit from the ?expanded discussion on various topics.?
Banks, who retired in January after 40 years in human resources at A.O. Smith in McMinnville, is pursuing an associate?s degree in general studies, but earning a degree was not her initial goal.
?Ten years ago, my husband, Bobby, was in the middle of a battle with cancer,? she said. ?It was a very hard situation and I needed something that would allow me one night a week to get away from the situation and help me handle it.?
Banks said she looked to Motlow?s McMinnville Center to provide such an outlet.
?As old as I was, I had no idea if I could successfully take a class or not, so I chose a health and first aid class, which was something I thought I could do and was familiar with.?
After her husband passed away later that year, Joan decided to take more Motlow classes. She has taken one each semester and plans to graduate in May of next year.
Pendergraff, who is retired from the AEDC Federal Credit Union and worked for 16 years for the late Sen. Joseph Montoya in Washington, D.C., said she was inspired to enroll at Motlow after helping her granddaughter, Chelsea, study history.
?I found it fascinating,? Pendergraff said. ?That was the spark that made me want to attend college. Also, I wanted to keep my mind stimulated and wanted to learn. I didn?t want to attend college after high school but felt that I was now ready for it.?
Miller, who grew up in Pennsylvania just after the Great Depression, is taking a music appreciation class at Motlow. His musical training began many years ago when he trained with Frank Sinatra?s former vocal coach, the late John Quinlan, and took guitar lessons from a Julliard University professor.
Banks, who agrees with Miller that anyone at any age can learn, said learning (like most things) takes her longer these days.
?I have to study hard, especially in biology,? she said. ?I?ve had to learn study habits that are more demanding than those of younger students who are just out of high school and are familiar with some of the material. It?s been 40 years since I was in school, and even if I had some of the material before, I wouldn?t remember it!?
Banks, a native of Cannon County, said the college experience has been invaluable to her life and that she has learned something in every class that she uses in her everyday life. She credits her academic success to the helpfulness of Motlow faculty members and finding other students near her age to study with and for moral support.
“I?m always the oldest student in class and usually am older that the teacher,? she said, ?but in every class I?ve found another non-traditional student. Several have become good friends.?
She advises others who are thinking of enrolling at Motlow College to do so, and to ?never say you can?t do it because you can. If I can do it, anyone can.?
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Students over the age of 60 can take classes at Motlow free of charge as an audit student, and those over age 65 can enroll, as a credit student, at a reduced rate. For more information, call the admissions office at 931-393-1520.