Public Relations

Great grades motivate non-traditional student

           BENTONVILLE (January 21, 2008) - LaVonda Hurlbut must have “checked a thousand times” this past December to see if her fall 2007 grades were posted online.

            After choir practice one night, she thought what the heck, one more time.

            And there they were – her first grades in 42 years – three shining new A’s all lined up in a row.

            “I got an A in Biology I, English Composition I and pre algebra,” she exclaimed. “I was so excited. I couldn’t stand it. I got a 4.0 grade point average!

            “No one was more shocked than I.”

            Or pleased, she said.

            Her quest for A’s began early in the semester. She earned an A on a beginning algebra quiz early last fall.

            “That first A was powerful,” she said. “I had no idea. When I left class that day, I must have been in the car in three steps.” She was walking on air.”

            The feeling, she said, was addictive, which drove her to work even harder.

            “I wanted more,” she said. “I didn’t want Cs anymore.”

            Four decades out of high school, LaVonda Hurlbut (pictured at right) entered NWACC this past fall.

            “Terrified,” she said.

            Fortunately, she had “an angle.”

            “Lynda Lloyd was a godsend,” she said. “The woman has angel wings.”

            Not really, said Lloyd.

            “LaVonda is such a great story and testament to a student never being too old to begin a new program or to learn,” said Lloyd, director of NWACC’s Career Center. “She came into my office last summer for advising. She was a 58-year-old first-time college student interested in a degree in respiratory therapy.”

            Lloyd said Hurlbut, a Bella Vista resident, questioned her ability to succeed as well as having a heightened awareness of the value the time required to complete an academic program at her stage in life.

            “We had a couple of very frank discussions about the reality of her goal, but I strongly encouraged her to pursue it,” Lloyd said.

            They stayed in contact during the semester.

            “Believe me, there were times when I believed she questioned her sanity in making the choice to enter college,” Lloyd said. “I assured her that it was just a matter of getting into the habit and learning how to study.”

            That didn’t come natural to the non-traditional student.

            Hurlbut went to beauty school after high school and held a beauticians license for 38 years.

            She’s a mother to two grown children. Her husband owned a small chain of convenience stores when they moved to Bella Vista seven years ago.

            Both of them worked in real estate, she until her recent departure for college. She was encouraged to check out NWACC by an associate of hers in the real estate business – former NWACC dean Dr. Steven Brown.

            College, she said, was not an option out of high school. Honor society meetings were not on her social calendar, which she said was packed. Finances for college were prohibitive for a “C” student.

            A college education, though, remained something she always wanted.

            Growing up, she wanted to be a doctor, said she; she was passionate about it.

            “Money and fear kept me away from that,” she said. “Now, I’m too old to become a doctor but I still have a passion for health care.”

            Physical therapy and possibly nursing may be too much of a stretch for her, she said. She is interested in NWACC’s respiratory program.

            “Lynda helped me with my expectations and helped me set a time to get through respirator therapy,” Hurlbut said. “Lynda helped me see the real job opportunities in respiratory therapy.”

            Before enrolling at NWACC, she met with Health Professions Dean Dr. Monte Gagliardi. She said he opened her eyes to a multitude of opportunities available to NWACC grads.

            “I read up on respiratory therapy and met with (program director) Alan Clark,” she said. She visited dozens of web sites.

            “I decided on respiratory therapy. That’s something I can do.”

            She hopes to enter the program in fall 2009.

            Hurlbut is back at NWACC for the spring 2008 term, enrolled in three classes that include Anatomy and Physiology I. She takes two of her classes at NWACC’s Bella Vista Center, close to home.

            She suffers greatly from math anxiety, she said, and is in hopes NWACC can offer her help overcoming her phobia. In high school, algebra was the only subject she ever failed.

            “That’s haunted me for 42 years,” she said, somewhat solemnly.

            “I know she worked very hard this past semester and LaVonda was in my thoughts quite a bit,” Lloyd said. “I hoped I hadn’t encouraged her to take on too much, but I believed she had to at least try for her own personal growth.”

            Lloyd’s caution may be too late; Hurlbut is hooked on A’s.

            “Of course, this is only the beginning of her journey,” Lloyd said, “but I am already looking forward to the day we see her walk across the stage with diploma in hand.”

            In the meantime, Hurlbut has become an ambassador to other potential non-traditional students.

            “If I can motivate one potential student on a better future though education, encourage them to go forward, it will be a good thing,” she said.

            Just like the experience of checking her grades.

For questions/comments on this content, please contact Jim Hall.