Carmela Lo Presti-Conley:  

Greetings Fellow Classmates & Friends, I have resided in Massachusetts since 1978. Being a Jersey girl as well as an Italian among the New England mind set has been a trip. The whole "Park the Car in the Yard" as well as "Where's the Party", takes on a whole new meaning. I broke tradition and married into an Irish family. I have been married since 1982. We have two daughters. I am currently a few classes away from completing a MBA. I plan to pursue a new career in the teaching field. Darth Vader is my all time Hero. He is so misunderstood. My Hesser Adventure By Carmela E Conley It is an honor and a privilege to be featured in Hesser's CE Times. I want to share with you my mid-life adventure which began July 2000. Have any of you ever received the advertisements in the mail about college? I often would receive the Hesser flier with my newspaper, on the cover it boldly states ¿It¿s not too late to get Your Degree! ACT TODAY!¿ Well, I used to think I was too old, I wasn¿t smart enough for college and I would often wonder, ¿what if¿¿ I rationalized my reasons for not reaching out for my dream. Each year that passed was a missed opportunity for me. Ten years ago, I was encouraged by a story I read of a 90 year old woman that finally became a Doctor. She had all sorts of health issues and she had persevered. I figured, ¿If she can do all that with poor eyesight and could not take notes, than what excuse could I use and I was only 36 at the time¿. However, what had actually prevented me from finding out the answer to ¿what if¿ was an incident I can still vividly recall. A person (for lack of a better term) I had met at another local college in 1995 utterly discouraged me from applying. She actually told me I had three strikes against me. I was a female, I had the wrong last name, and to top it off, I was married. It was a cruel joke. Oh, yeah, I made too much money. Wow, earning $10 an hour is way out there. She further stated I should go home and save my money. I recall holding back my tears when she made those off handed remarks which felt like a slap in the face. She had implied I was not good enough. It took me five years to deal with this rejection. From my Psychology Degree, I had learned that, I allowed her to prevent me from realizing my dream. Flash forward to the year 2000 and I still had the desire to get a degree. I can still recall the day I mustered up the courage to walk into Hesser and I first met Barbara Wagner. I stopped in on a Wednesday afternoon, to ask a few questions about requirements and I wanted to find out what college was all about. Next thing I knew, I began my first class that following Monday in July 2000. When I came home that evening and announced that for the next few years my Mondays and Wednesdays belonged to Hesser. I was not prepared for the response from my family. At the time, my husband was not supportive of the idea of my return to school. He had threatened me with Divorce if I did not stop. He flat out said, ¿He would not support me¿. My daughter¿s were both in High School at the time I started at Hesser and they thought it was great. My daughters would joke with their friends that most people in midlife seem to make unwise choices that ruin their lives; their Mom chose to go to school. When my report card came in the mail, they would love my happy dance. I would get high fives from everyone and place it proudly on the fridge next to theirs. I did not make it an option or a matter for discussion for anyone. I set my mind to getting a degree and I would not allow anyone or anything from preventing me from this course I set for myself. It was something I was compelled to accomplish. I am telling you these bits of personal information in the hope to reach out to others that are where I was and to offer you encouragement on your own journey of discovery. I didn¿t want to be on a ten year plan to complete my degree; I stayed away from the negativity of those unfortunate souls that relish ...Expand for more