With the state’s unemployment rate reaching an all-time high of 12.6 percent in December, quite a few people are taking advantage of government incentives to go back to school and prepare for new careers.

In a sense, the recession was the “bump” that pushed many of them into going back to school, said Kathy Taylor, admissions counselor and director of the Advising Center at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College.

Prior the recession, many wanted to go back to school, but were afraid to risk it.

“The bills keep coming, no matter whether you’re working or not,” she said. “When the job is ending, people are faced with deciding what they are going to do.”

The federally funded Workforce Investment Act is giving these people the financial backing and opportunity to go back to school, she said.

According to Taylor, the recession is also bringing back nontraditional students who still have their jobs, but want to improve their job skills for the sake of job security.

A few years ago, the last thing on Roderick Miley’s mind was going back to school. But in 2008, AstenJohnson closed down its Walterboro factory and he lost his job of 22 years. Miley is now studying information technology at OCtech.

Miley was 40 when he found out he would be losing his job, but he wasn’t really afraid.

“When you get to a certain point in your life, fear is not an option,” he said.

And AstenJohnson had given employees a window of eight months, according to Miley, who spent quite a bit of time looking for a job. His dream was to work with S.C. Electric and Gas or Santee Cooper, but he was always told he needed to be A Plus Microsoft certified.

“That’s what drove me in this direction. ... I’ve never even looked back,” he said.

Miley says with his education and faith in God, he is encouraged about the future and would recommend going back to school to his friends.

“I feel like I’m in a 40-year-old body with a 20-year-old mind,” he said. “But it’s never too late. Don’t be afraid of taking on the challenge.”

Billie Phillips lost her job of 13 years as a knitting machine fixer when the Hanes Brand, Inc. plant where she worked closed and moved to El Salvador last year. She’s returned to school at OCtech where she’s studying to be a nurse through funding from the Trade Adjustment Act and Pell grants.

“We were kind of expecting it from the rumors we heard,” she said. “After thinking about it, I thought this could be a blessing in disguise.”

She’d always wanted to return to school, but couldn’t afford it. Now she’s looking forward to realizing her dream of getting her associate’s degree in nursing and eventually becoming a nurse practitioner. That will require some hours above a master’s degree, she said.

It’s not always easy to go back to school when you’re in your mid-thirties, Phillips said. In addition to the financial issues, she has two sons, 7 and 10.

“It’s kind of tough when you’ve got your own homework and you’ve got to help them with theirs,” she said.

At 55, Carol Ward is a nontraditional student who’s going back to school when many other people are thinking of retiring. She had always wanted to go to college, but she got married and raised a family.

Now, she and her husband, who was recently laid off from his job, are back in school, rubbing shoulders with students who are just out of high school.

“You’re never too old to learn,” she said. “We’re trying to better our education so we can do better in our senior years.”

Ward had worked at a Walmart store in Spartanburg, but there were no openings in the local store when she and her husband moved to the Orangeburg area. That gave her an incentive to go back to school.

Like Phillips, Ward is taking advantage of student loans to work on an associate’s degree in nursing.

“I want something I can feel secure in and have some security,” she said.

According to Taylor, older students generally do very well in their schoolwork.

It’s the determination factor, she said.

“I love it because they come back and are happy and smiling,” she said. “It takes a lot of courage to come back. I admire these people for it.

“When you hear these kinds of success stories, that’s the greatest reward. You can’t put a price on it.”

T&D Staff Writer Dale Linder-Altman can be reached by e-mail at dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5529.

You must be logged in to comment.